(PS5-40) Website features associated with the perceived usefulness of mental health resources

Background: To improve the translation of mental health research, many professionals have turned to disseminating mental health information online due to its wide accessibility. Professional organizations, such as ABCT, have developed websites (e.g., websites containing factsheets about anxiety or CBT) to raise public awareness of mental health concerns and evidence-based care. Although initial evidence suggests users hold favorable impressions of these websites, there is limited information about what website features (e.g., design, hosting organization, actionability) influence these impressions.

Aim: This study solicited feedback from users to explore what website features (e.g., design, hosting organization, actionability) predict the perceived usefulness of mental health websites.

Methods: Mental health professionals initially nominated 346 free, online mental health websites covering 10 mental health topics (e.g., depression, anxiety, substance use). Undergraduate students (n=366) were then invited to interact with each website, express their likes and dislikes of the website through a semi-structured interview, and complete a survey rating the website’s usefulness. This procedure was repeated so each participant viewed four to five websites, and each of the 346 websites was rated by five participants. Two coders then independently coded the website for design and navigation features (e.g., photos, videos, links, search bars); hosting organization (e.g., professional organization, patient-facing organization, open-access collaborative platforms); actionability (e.g., coping tools, hotlines), and tailored content (e.g., intended actor and beneficiary).

Results: Multilevel linear regression results showed that the inclusion of photos (B = .47, p<.001), videos (B = .48, p<.005), internal links to other pages on the site, (B = .59, p<.01), and information to immediate help (B = .60, p<.001) predicted higher usefulness ratings. Resources hosted on open-access collaborative platforms (i.e., Wikipedia) (B = -1.44, p<.001), containing external links to other sites (B = -.32, p<.01) and containing content primarily for mental health providers (B = -.90, p<.001) predicted lower usefulness ratings. Additional analyses from semi-structured interviews will be presented and expand upon these findings.

Discussion: Findings suggest that design and navigation features, hosting organization, actionability, and tailored content predict the usefulness of mental health websites. Specifically, these results suggest users’ perceptions of the usefulness of mental health information are not only influenced by the content, but also on how it is presented and where it is disseminated online. Additional implications of these findings on future evidence-based care dissemination efforts will be discussed.