BACKGROUND
Mental illness among Malaysian youth, particularly depression and anxiety disorders are reaching an alarming point. Unfortunately, the rate of professional help-seeking among young people is low. This is mainly attributed to both low mental health literacy and high stigma. Documented interventional studies focusing on mental health literacy are concentrated among school students in high-income countries, using face-to-face methods.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to develop and evaluate the effect of ‘KUAT’, an information motivation and behavioural (IMB) theory-based website on mental health literacy among young people in Malaysia. The word ‘KUAT’ in the Malaysian language translates as ‘strong’ in English.
METHODS
A fully online randomized controlled trial was conducted among foundation students in one of the public universities in Malaysia. The intervention was developed according to the IMB theory and was delivered via a website. The intervention was conducted for two weeks. The main outcome of this study was mental health literacy, measured by depression and anxiety literacy, stigma, and help-seeking attitudes. The measurement was done using an online ‘Google form’ at baseline, 2 weeks post-intervention and 1-month follow-up. The outcome was analyzed using a Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE).
RESULTS
A total of 94 participants were recruited and randomly allocated to either the intervention or control group. There is a 15% and 11% attrition rate for the intervention and control groups, respectively at 1-month follow-up. There was a significant difference between the intervention and control groups for depression and anxiety literacy at post-intervention (p-value <0.001) and follow-up (p-value=0.004), after controlling for covariates. However, there was no significant difference in stigma and help-seeking attitudes between the intervention and control groups.
CONCLUSIONS
This study showed that ‘KUAT’, the IMB-based website intervention is effective in increasing depression and anxiety literacy, but not stigma and help-seeking attitudes among young people.
CLINICALTRIAL
This study was registered at the Thai Clinical Trials Registry (TCTR20210705006)