Attitudes toward seeking mental health services and use of mobile technology survey

Objective: This study aimed to understand Black American women’s attitudes toward seeking mental health services and using mobile technology to receive support for managing anxiety and depression. Methods: A self-administered web-based questionnaire was launched in October 2019 and closed in January 2020. Women who identify as Black/African American were eligible to participate. The survey consisted of approximately 70 questions and covered topics such as attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, acceptability of using a mobile phone to receive mental health care, and screening for anxiety and depression. Results - Anxiety: The findings of the study (N=395) showed that younger Black women were more likely to have greater severity of anxiety than their older counterparts. Respondents were most comfortable with the use of a voice call or video call to communicate with a professional to receive support to manage anxiety in comparison to text messaging or mobile app. Younger age, higher income, and greater scores for psychological openness and help-seeking propensity increased the odds of indicating agreement with using mobile technology to communicate with a professional. Black women in the South region of the U.S. had twice the odds of agreeing to the use of mobile apps than women in the Midwest and Northeast regions. Results - Depression: The results showed that younger Black women were more likely to have greater severity of depression than their older counterparts. The results also revealed that Black women have favorable views toward seeking mental health services. Respondents were the most comfortable with the use of voice calls or video calls to communicate with a professional to receive support for managing depression in comparison with SMS text messaging or mobile apps. The results revealed that higher help-seeking propensity increased the odds of indicating agreement with the use of voice calls and video calls to communicate with a professional to receive support for managing depression by 27% and 38%, respectively. However, no statistically significant odds ratios (all P>.05) were found between help-seeking propensity and respondents’ agreement to use mobile apps or SMS text messaging. Moderate to severe depression severity increased the odds of using mobile apps to communicate with a professional to receive support for managing depression by 43%; however, no statistically significant odds ratios existed for the other modalities. Pr