None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
This online randomised controlled trial aims to test the effectiveness of a 4-minute purpose-made intervention video on increasing Australian men's intentions to seek help from others when they are experiencing mental health difficulties, compared with a control video. We hypothesise that there will be a significant change in scores on the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire - Self from baseline (T1) to post-intervention (T2 - after viewing the video) in the group that views the intervention video (intervention group), but not in the group that views the control video (control group). The video takes a well-known song and adapts the lyrics with the intention to encourage men to seek support from others when they are experiencing mental health difficulties. The lyrics focus on how men are typically encouraged to remain stoic, to keep their difficulties to themselves, and to never cry, but encourages them to express their feelings and seek support when they are not coping well. The video focuses on a group of diverse men who meet in a large community hall; it has the appearance of a support group. The video begins with a single man beginning to sing the lyrics to the adapted song; he is gradually joined by others until all men have stood and are taking part in this spontaneous 'choir'. The video ends with the call to action printed on the screen 'When the going gets tough. Get Talking' and a link to the study website, which will house information for gaining various types of mental health support. If the video has no negative effects on participants, it will subsequently be released into the public domain and promoted using a largely social media campaign.
Interventions
The intervention is a music video developed for this study of approximately four minutes' duration. The video takes a well-known song and adapts the lyrics with the intention to encourage men to seek support from others when they are experiencing mental health difficulties. The lyrics focus on how men are typically encouraged to remain stoic, to keep their difficulties to themselves, and to never cry, but encourages them to express their feelings and seek support when they are not coping well.
The intervention is a music video developed for this study of approximately four minutes' duration. The video takes a well-known song and adapts the lyrics with the intention to encourage men to seek support from others when they are experiencing mental health difficulties. The lyrics focus on how men are typically encouraged to remain stoic, to keep their difficulties to themselves, and to never cry, but encourages them to express their feelings and seek support when they are not coping well. The video focuses on a group of diverse men who meet in a large community hall; it has the appearance of a support group. The video begins with a single man beginning to sing the lyrics to the adapted song; he is gradually joined by others until all men have stood and are taking part in this spontaneous 'choir'. The video ends with the call to action printed on the screen 'When the going gets tough. Get Talking' and a link to a website, which will house information for gaining various types of mental health support. Participation in this RCT is open to all men living in Australia, given the trial will be conducted completely online. Potential participants will register their interest online and be sent a Plain Language Statement detailing the study. All participants will attend an online orientation session in which the researchers and a study psychologist will further discuss the trial protocol, and participants will sign an online consent form and complete the T1 questionnaire. They will then be randomised. A psychologist will contact any participant who scores 2 or above on the suicide risk screening questionnaire, the Depression Symptom Inventory - Suicidality Subscale. Participants will be excluded if they are at imminent suicide risk or likely to experience harm from continued participation. Participants will be referred for further mental health support as needed. All participants have access to the study psychologist up to four weeks following completion of the trial. The men participating in the trial will access this intervention video or a control video online using a link sent from the online data collection system via email as soon as they are randomised (T1). Participants will be encouraged to watch the video multiple times over one week. They will receive the video link via email again on days 3 and 7. Participants will receive the Time 2 (T2) questionnaire one week post-baseline (T1). Participants will be sent a follow-up questionnaire (T3) four weeks after completing T2. To assess participants' viewing behaviour related to the intervention and control videos, and thereby their adherence to the intervention, we will record at an individual level how many times the video was started, how many times it was watched beginning to end, when the video was paused, the number of times the participant tried to navigate away from the video page (e.g., by closing the tab or browser) and at what timepoints in the video the participant left the video page (e.g., 14 secs). At T2, participants will be asked if they have watched the video, if they indicate 'no', they will skip all questions related to the video. We will ask all participants who have watched the video one 'attention' question related to the content of the intervention or control video at T2. This is a question the participant can only answer by attentively watching the video. Participants will be reimbursed for their time with up to AUD100 in vouchers for completion of all three questionnaires (T1 = AUD30, T2 = AUD30, T3=AUD40).
Sponsors
The University of Melbourne
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
Male
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Identifies as male. Aged 18 years or over at the time of consenting to participate in the trial. Lives in Australia. Can read and understand English to a level sufficient to complete the trial participant tasks.
Exclusion criteria
Participants will complete the suicide risk screening questionnaire, the Depression Symptom Inventory -Suicidality Subscale, at T1 (Joiner, T. E., Pfaff, J. J., & Acres, J. G. (2002). A brief screening tool for suicidal symptoms in adolescents and young adults in general health settings: Reliability and validity data from the Australian National General Practice Youth Suicide Prevention Project. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40(4), 471–481). Those participants who score 2 or above on the scale will be contacted by a study psychologist. Together, the participant and psychologist will determine whether the participant will continue in the study. The participant will be excluded if the psychologist determines the participant is at imminent risk of suicide or could be harmed by further participation in the study.
Outcome results
None listed