Health e-cards as a means of encouraging help seeking for depression among young adults: Randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: There is a need to identify interventions that increase help seeking for depression among young adults. Objective: The aim was to evaluate a brief depression information intervention employing health e-cards (personalized emails containing links to health information presented on a Web page). Methods: A randomized controlled trial was carried out with 348 19- to 24-year-olds drawn from the community. Participants were randomized to receive one of three conditions, all of which delivered a short series of health e-cards. Two active conditions involved the delivery of depression information designed to increase help-seeking behavior and intentions and to improve beliefs and knowled..