Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services and Mobile Technology to Support the Management of Depression Among Black American Women: Cross-Sectional Survey Study
BackgroundDepression is a common mental health condition among Black American women. Many factors may contribute to the development of depressive symptoms, such as gender and racial discrimination, financial strain, chronic health conditions, and caregiving responsibilities....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| Online Access: | https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e45766 |
| _version_ | 1797733955860955136 |
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| author | Terika McCall Meagan Foster Todd A Schwartz |
| author_facet | Terika McCall Meagan Foster Todd A Schwartz |
| author_sort | Terika McCall |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundDepression is a common mental health condition among Black American women. Many factors may contribute to the development of depressive symptoms, such as gender and racial discrimination, financial strain, chronic health conditions, and caregiving responsibilities. Barriers such as the stigmatization of mental illness, less access to treatment, the lack of or inadequate health insurance, mistrust of providers, and limited health literacy prevent marginalized populations from seeking care. Previous literature has shown that mobile health interventions are effective and can increase access to mental health services and resources.
ObjectiveWe aimed to understand the attitudes and perceptions of Black women toward using mental health services and determine the acceptability and concerns of using mobile technology (ie, voice call, video call, SMS text messaging, and mobile app) to support the management of depression.
MethodsWe launched a self-administered web-based questionnaire in October 2019 and closed it in January 2020. Women (aged ≥18 years) who identify as Black or African American or multiracial (defined as Black or African American and another race) were eligible to participate. The survey consisted of approximately 70 questions and included topics such as attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, the acceptability of using a mobile phone to receive mental health care, and screening for depression.
ResultsThe findings (n=395) showed that younger Black women were more likely to have greater severity of depression than their older counterparts. The results also revealed that Black women have favorable views toward seeking mental health services. Respondents were the most comfortable with the use of voice calls or video calls to communicate with a professional to receive support for managing depression in comparison with SMS text messaging or mobile apps. The results revealed that higher help-seeking propensity increased the odds of indicating agreement with the use of voice calls and video calls to communicate with a professional to receive support for managing depression by 27% and 38%, respectively. However, no statistically significant odds ratios (all P>.05) were found between help-seeking propensity and respondents’ agreement to use mobile apps or SMS text messaging. Moderate to severe depression severity increased the odds of using mobile apps to communicate with a professional to receive support for managing depression by 43%; however, no statistically significant odds ratios existed for the other modalities. Privacy and confidentiality, communication issues (eg, misinterpreting text), and the impersonal feeling of communicating by mobile phone (eg, SMS text messaging) were the primary concerns.
ConclusionsBlack American women, in general, have favorable views toward seeking mental health services and are comfortable with the use of mobile technology to receive support for managing depression. Future work should address the issues of access and consider the preferences and cultural appropriateness of the resources provided. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:37:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-41c33c454c514542883713520ead2979 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1438-8871 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:37:11Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-41c33c454c514542883713520ead29792023-08-29T00:05:00ZengJMIR PublicationsJournal of Medical Internet Research1438-88712023-07-0125e4576610.2196/45766Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services and Mobile Technology to Support the Management of Depression Among Black American Women: Cross-Sectional Survey StudyTerika McCallhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8143-5393Meagan Fosterhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9730-5158Todd A Schwartzhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0232-2543 BackgroundDepression is a common mental health condition among Black American women. Many factors may contribute to the development of depressive symptoms, such as gender and racial discrimination, financial strain, chronic health conditions, and caregiving responsibilities. Barriers such as the stigmatization of mental illness, less access to treatment, the lack of or inadequate health insurance, mistrust of providers, and limited health literacy prevent marginalized populations from seeking care. Previous literature has shown that mobile health interventions are effective and can increase access to mental health services and resources. ObjectiveWe aimed to understand the attitudes and perceptions of Black women toward using mental health services and determine the acceptability and concerns of using mobile technology (ie, voice call, video call, SMS text messaging, and mobile app) to support the management of depression. MethodsWe launched a self-administered web-based questionnaire in October 2019 and closed it in January 2020. Women (aged ≥18 years) who identify as Black or African American or multiracial (defined as Black or African American and another race) were eligible to participate. The survey consisted of approximately 70 questions and included topics such as attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, the acceptability of using a mobile phone to receive mental health care, and screening for depression. ResultsThe findings (n=395) showed that younger Black women were more likely to have greater severity of depression than their older counterparts. The results also revealed that Black women have favorable views toward seeking mental health services. Respondents were the most comfortable with the use of voice calls or video calls to communicate with a professional to receive support for managing depression in comparison with SMS text messaging or mobile apps. The results revealed that higher help-seeking propensity increased the odds of indicating agreement with the use of voice calls and video calls to communicate with a professional to receive support for managing depression by 27% and 38%, respectively. However, no statistically significant odds ratios (all P>.05) were found between help-seeking propensity and respondents’ agreement to use mobile apps or SMS text messaging. Moderate to severe depression severity increased the odds of using mobile apps to communicate with a professional to receive support for managing depression by 43%; however, no statistically significant odds ratios existed for the other modalities. Privacy and confidentiality, communication issues (eg, misinterpreting text), and the impersonal feeling of communicating by mobile phone (eg, SMS text messaging) were the primary concerns. ConclusionsBlack American women, in general, have favorable views toward seeking mental health services and are comfortable with the use of mobile technology to receive support for managing depression. Future work should address the issues of access and consider the preferences and cultural appropriateness of the resources provided.https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e45766 |
| spellingShingle | Terika McCall Meagan Foster Todd A Schwartz Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services and Mobile Technology to Support the Management of Depression Among Black American Women: Cross-Sectional Survey Study Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| title | Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services and Mobile Technology to Support the Management of Depression Among Black American Women: Cross-Sectional Survey Study |
| title_full | Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services and Mobile Technology to Support the Management of Depression Among Black American Women: Cross-Sectional Survey Study |
| title_fullStr | Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services and Mobile Technology to Support the Management of Depression Among Black American Women: Cross-Sectional Survey Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services and Mobile Technology to Support the Management of Depression Among Black American Women: Cross-Sectional Survey Study |
| title_short | Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services and Mobile Technology to Support the Management of Depression Among Black American Women: Cross-Sectional Survey Study |
| title_sort | attitudes toward seeking mental health services and mobile technology to support the management of depression among black american women cross sectional survey study |
| url | https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e45766 |
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