Abstract
Digital interventions are important tools to promote mental health literacy among university students. “Depression in Portuguese University Students” (Depressão em Estudantes Universitários Portugueses, DEEP) is an audiovisual intervention describing how symptoms can be identified and what possible treatments can be applied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of this intervention. A random sample of 98 students, aged 20–38 years old, participated in a 12-week study. Participants were recruited through social media by the academic services and institutional emails of two Portuguese universities. Participants were contacted and distributed into four study groups (G1, G2, G3 and G4): G1 received the DEEP intervention in audiovisual format; G2 was given the DEEP in text format; G3 received four news articles on depression; G4 was the control group. A questionnaire was shared to collect socio-demographic and depression knowledge data as a pre-intervention method; content was then distributed to each group following a set schedule; the depression knowledge questionnaire was then administered to compare pre-intervention, post-intervention and follow-up literacy levels. Using the Scheffé and Least Significant Difference (LSD) multiple comparisons test, it was found that G1, which received the DEEP audiovisual intervention, differed significantly from the other groups, with higher depression knowledge scores in post-intervention stages. The DEEP audiovisual intervention, compared to the other formats used (narrative text format; news format), proved to be an effective tool for increasing depression knowledge in university students.
Highlights
There are many digital resources that provide mental health information and support.Digital technology has become an addictive element used by young university students as a privileged tool to access information [1]
This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the DEEP digital audiovisual intervention on Portuguese university students
The DEEP digital intervention is based on an audiovisual strategy, grounded in a clinical-social approach, with the aim of improving the depression knowledge of Portuguese university students and with the intention of increasing quality of life and creating a state of full well-being
Summary
There are many digital resources that provide mental health information and support.Digital technology has become an addictive element used by young university students as a privileged tool to access information [1]. There are many digital resources that provide mental health information and support. It is not surprising that young people seek support and information about mental health on the Internet [2,3,4]. University students are exposed to specific challenges given their new responsibilities and are reported as a risk population for mental health problems, namely anxiety and/or depression [13], which can trigger other, more serious, disorders [11]. Young people are often reluctant to seek professional help for a mental/psychological disorder [7,14], due to preconceived ideas imposed by society, low mental health literacy and fear of being exposed [15,16]
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