Impact of alternative terminology for depression on help-seeking intention in adults living in Australia

The scenario intervention consists of half an A4 page of text (approx 250 words), which takes no longer than 1 minute to read. It will be administered as an online survey (created by a research assistant) via the Qualtrics survey platform. Participants will be asked to imagine that over the past few months they have not been feeling themselves, so they go to their general practitioner (GP) and explain how they have been feeling. Each scenario depicts an appointment with the participants’ GP. The symptoms described are the same in all conditions, except for a slight difference between men and women. LABEL CONDITION: Participants will be randomised to one of four groups. The first group is the control which is detailed below. In the second group, the doctor provides the label of ‘depression’ to explain their symptoms. The third group will receive the label of ‘burnout’ for their reported symptoms and the final group will receive the label ‘functional impairment syndrome’. RECOMMENDATION CONDITION: Participants will also be randomised to receive either a recommendation to see a “clinical psychologist” or a “mind coach”. Adherence to the intervention will be monitored by accessing Qualtrics analytics (i.e. randomisation count, time taken to complete survey).