Wie Studierende eine Online-Intervention für psychische Gesundheit wahrnehmen: eine qualitative Interview-Studie

TY - JOUR

T1 - Wie Studierende eine Online-Intervention für psychische Gesundheit wahrnehmen

T2 - eine qualitative Interview-Studie

AU - Irish, Madeleine

AU - Zeiler, Michael

AU - Kuso, Stefanie

AU - Musiat, Peter

AU - Potterton, Rachel

AU - Wagner, Gudrun

AU - Karwautz, Andreas

AU - Waldherr, Karin

AU - Schmidt, Ulrike

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Background: University students are at a heightened risk of developing mental health disorders. Online interventions are becoming increasingly popular in this target group, both to prevent the development of mental health disorders and to treat existing ones. The PLUS (Personality and Living of University Students) programme is a web-based targeted prevention intervention which has been tested across two European countries. Completion of this programme has been relatively poor. Understanding university students’ opinions, experiences and perceptions of the PLUS programme can lead to future improvements in intervention design, engagement and dissemination. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with university students from the UK (n = 10) and Austria (n = 14) who had previously had access to PLUS. Students were asked about their perception and experiences of the programme, and how it could be improved. Results were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Experience of online prevention programmes in general were limited and as a result of this, few had specific expectations of the PLUS programme before signing up. The lack of guidance and accountability due to the online nature of the programme made engagement challenging for many, however, frequent reminder emails helped mitigate this. In terms of positives of the programme, participants found the flexibility suitable for students and many noticed that the programme created change in how they thought or behaved. Conclusion: Overall, the PLUS programme was well received by students, despite study retention being poor. Although PLUS was viewed as a useful tool to integrate into the university setting, several improvements were suggested to increase engagement. By considering this feedback, uptake and intervention completion can be improved for future preventative interventions.

AB - Background: University students are at a heightened risk of developing mental health disorders. Online interventions are becoming increasingly popular in this target group, both to prevent the development of mental health disorders and to treat existing ones. The PLUS (Personality and Living of University Students) programme is a web-based targeted prevention intervention which has been tested across two European countries. Completion of this programme has been relatively poor. Understanding university students’ opinions, experiences and perceptions of the PLUS programme can lead to future improvements in intervention design, engagement and dissemination. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with university students from the UK (n = 10) and Austria (n = 14) who had previously had access to PLUS. Students were asked about their perception and experiences of the programme, and how it could be improved. Results were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Experience of online prevention programmes in general were limited and as a result of this, few had specific expectations of the PLUS programme before signing up. The lack of guidance and accountability due to the online nature of the programme made engagement challenging for many, however, frequent reminder emails helped mitigate this. In terms of positives of the programme, participants found the flexibility suitable for students and many noticed that the programme created change in how they thought or behaved. Conclusion: Overall, the PLUS programme was well received by students, despite study retention being poor. Although PLUS was viewed as a useful tool to integrate into the university setting, several improvements were suggested to increase engagement. By considering this feedback, uptake and intervention completion can be improved for future preventative interventions.

KW - E‑mental health

KW - Internet

KW - PLUS programme

KW - Prevention

KW - Qualitative

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85098108005&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s40211-020-00383-5

DO - 10.1007/s40211-020-00383-5

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85098108005

SN - 0948-6259

JO - NEUROPSYCHIATRIE

JF - NEUROPSYCHIATRIE

ER -