Evaluation of the effectiveness of a youth mobile help-seeking ToolKit

This project investigates the effectiveness, acceptability and usability of a newly developed Toolkit "Niggle" app in conjunction with the Kids Helpline (KHL) services treatment as usual (TAU) compared to TAU in young people accessing KHL services. The Toolkit encompasses support and intervention in five steps. Step 1: Users are invited to reflect on their current mental and physical condition and to select up to three problems (called "Niggles" within the app) they are currently dealing with. This step aims to promote self-reflection and to offer mood- and problem-tracking over time. Step 2: Users are provided with support information (tip sheets, videos, audios-podcasts, health apps and personal stories from previous KHL clients. The Tipsheets and Health apps are also available on the Kids Helpline website - https://kidshelpline.com.au/ The Podcasts, and Videos are only available through the app. The Personal stories presented in the app have been modified from the version appearing on the website to be more concise and associated with specific issues. Step 3: Upon choosing the sources that are most relevant to their 'niggle', an automated customised Kids Helpline-specific activities list is proposed allowing users to schedule activities to deal with their 'niggle'. Those activities are only available within the app and not on the Kids Helpline website. They include issue-specific actions such as "Write a list of our strengths"; "Ask someone you trust how they cope with setbacks"; "Call the Police in an emergency if you or someone is getting hurt"; "Write down a list of people you feel safe around", etc. Step 4: Users are invited to regularly track their activities, as compared to issues/moods logs. Visual feedback provides users with the opportunity to verify which activities are associated with the least amount of issues and the most positive moods. Users are invited to submit their own recovery story aiming to promote reflection and peer-support. Step 5: The app offers four validated mental health scales for symptom tracking of Depression, Anxiety, Resilience and Wellbeing. Issues including suicidality, severe depression and anxiety trigger a warning message stating “It sounds like you’re having a really tough time. We think it would be a good idea for you to chat to a counsellor” promoting contact with Kids Helpline Services (telephone/chat/email) or emergency hotline 000 for high-risk issues. Participants allocated to the app condition will use the app as often as they choose to for three months and will complete follow-up assessment measures monthly (1, 2 and 3 months post Baseline) They will receive automated SMS messages to remind them to use the app 7, 14 and 21 days after recruitment. Automatic 'Backend' app usage data capture is implemented which will capture each individual's app use. The backend data will include time of app access, screens viewed, moods logged, support resources viewed, activities scheduled, activities completed, etc.