Understanding Attitudes Towards Mental Health and Wellness Apps Among College Students
Mental health and wellness applications are apps which are designed to increase overall well-being, mood, and other aspects of mental health. They can be used both to better one’s overall mental state, and also to receive interventions for different forms of mental health problems (i.e., depression, anxiety). Additionally, given their ease of accessibility, they have the potential to provide treatment on a widespread scale, while also potentially closing the “treatment gap.” However, mental health apps face a big challenge in the form of low user-engagement; individuals do not seem to be using these applications on a consistent and long-term basis. Given their recency, research on this phenomenon is very limited. In particular, the question of college students’ attitudes towards these apps has not yet been explored in the literature. Therefore, in this study we aimed to understand college students’ attitudes towards mental health applications. In particular, we sought to answer three overarching questions which, put together, present a composite and vivid description of overall attitudes towards these apps: what do college students find most helpful about these apps, what do they find most engaging, and finally what are the biggest criticisms had towards these apps among college students?
Using thematic analysis, we were able to identify recurring themes which arose throughout our data. When it comes to the most helpful features of these apps, college students report relief from stress and anxiety, and mindfulness exercises as the most popular responses. Similarly, college students report the aesthetic and functional design of these applications as the most engaging feature. Finally, the biggest criticism towards mental health apps reported among college students was the cost associated with using the app. By assessing college students' attitudes towards mental health apps, we hope app developers may improve upon the existing frameworks to increase overall user-engagement. Similarly, we hope that this study provides valuable information for research and development going forward.
Comments
Hi Gabriel! Thanks so much…
Hi Gabriel!
Thanks so much for taking on this important question. As the developer of a mental health app, I am particularly interested in your findings, especially with regard to the importance of the aesthetics and flow of the app to user engagement. I was also unware of the APA App Evaluation Model or the App advisor, so that's helpful to know about. (I know a good deal about PsyberGuide and have used their scale (the uMARS) to have users rate my app in our clinical trials.)
I am curious about which apps your sample actually had experience with. My guess is that the vast majority had tried Headspace, Calm, Smiling Mind or another popular mindfulness meditation app. It's worth noting that those apps are NOT intended to treat psychopathology. Indeed, it's not clear if we should even call those "mental health" apps as opposed to overall wellbeing apps or even lifestyle apps. It seems unlikely that a casual user would consult a professional resource of any kind for that sort of app, nor should they really.
One final issue remains with respect to ongoing user engagement. While the business model of the app companies may depend on repeat payments, a true mental health app is designed to teach skills in order to help someone recover from a disorder (be it insomnia, depression, anxiety or IBS). If the app developers have done their job, people shouldn't NEED to keep using the app for longer than a few months. That's how the self-help model (especially of CBT) should work! So engagement should be measured differently - more along the lines of how many modules or components of the app did the person actually access, and did they engage with the interactive elements of the app fully. If they did that for 6-8 weeks, got better, and never needed to use the app again, I'd call that very successful engagement!
In any case, your results on personalizing and maximizing the aesthetics and flow are informative and useful. So thanks!
Cheers,
Dr. Hunt
Interesting!
Hello Gabriel, This is a very informative and valuable study. I am curious to learn more about the participants' previous experiences with similar apps, as well as their typical phone usage. I feel both of these would affect participants' attitude and willingness to engage with such apps. Your findings about the aesthetic and functional design are illuminating, drawing attention to potential set-backs of otherwise valuable apps!
Thanks.
Caroline Connolly