Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Dec 3, 2018
Date Accepted: Mar 24, 2019
Evaluating an online, school-based, mental health service for secondary students: Protocol for a Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Mental health problems are prevalent among secondary school youth yet help-seeking is low. Schools offer an ideal setting in which to address these concerns. The Black Dog Institute has developed an online, schools-based, mental health service that is modelled on the principles of stepped-care. The Smooth Sailing service aims to improve help-seeking and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression in secondary school students. The acceptability of this service has been demonstrated in a pilot trial and a full trial is now timely.
Objective:
This is a study protocol for a Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial that aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Smooth Sailing service for improving help-seeking and reducing depressive and anxiety symptoms, alongside other mental health measures, when compared to a school-as-usual control group in secondary school youth.
Methods:
This RCT aims to recruit 16 secondary schools across NSW. Schools are randomly allocated to the intervention or school-as-usual control at the school level. A cohort of students are recruited from each school, in one or multiple grades. Participants complete outcome measures at three timepoints: baseline, 6-week, and 12-week endpoint. Participants in the intervention condition register to the online stepped-care service at baseline and receive care based on their symptom severity. Participants in the control condition receive school as usual.
Results:
It is expected the results of this trial will demonstrate improved help-seeking attitudes among students in the intervention condition, alongside greater reductions in symptoms of depression, anxiety and distress and other mental health outcomes when compared to the control.
Conclusions:
This is the first time that an online mental health service based on the principles of stepped-care will have been integrated into, and evaluated, in the school environment. The findings of this trial will have implications for the suitability of this type of service model in schools, and for school-based delivery of mental health services more broadly. Clinical Trial: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12618001539224
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