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Young students' use of the Internet for mental health information and support
Author(s) -
HORGAN Á.,
SWEENEY J.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1365-2850
pISSN - 1351-0126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2850.2009.01497.x
Subject(s) - mental health , the internet , mainstream , psychological intervention , psychology , descriptive statistics , information seeking behavior , medical education , medicine , psychiatry , world wide web , computer science , philosophy , statistics , theology , mathematics
Accessible summary• Young people experience difficulties in accessing mainstream mental health services, yet are experiencing increasing rates of mental health problems. • There is a growth in the use of the Internet for health information and support. • This study aimed to elicit the views of 922 students on using the Internet for health information and support. • The findings of this study can help inform website design and web‐based interventions for young people with mental health problems.Abstract It is recognized that young people experience difficulties in accessing mainstream mental health services particularly because of the stigma that remains associated with mental health problems. One potential solution is to use the many websites available offering information and support for mental health problems, such support and information could be offered by Psychiatric Nurses. However, young peoples' usage and views on using the Internet for this purpose has yet to be examined. This quantitative descriptive study aimed to elicit the views of 922 University students, aged between 18 and 24 years, on using the Internet for mental health information and support. Data were collected using a 30‐item self‐designed questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings indicated that 72.4% of participants used the Internet several times a day. In addition, 30.8% had previously searched for mental health information online, predominantly on depression. While it was found that 68% of participants indicated that they would use the Internet for mental health support if they needed to, 79.4% would still prefer face to face support. It is concluded that young people are willing to use the Internet for mental health information and that it represents a viable source of support for this age group.