Developing an interactive website for adolescents with a mentally ill family member.
Adolescents with a mentally ill parent are at high risk for developing a disorder themselves. It is widely recommended that these adolescents be provided with preventive interventions designed especially for them, but their avoidance of professional help is a common problem. Because most teenagers in Western societies use the World Wide Web as a means of social interaction, use of the Internet for reaching these young people would appear to be a promising option. In this article, the authors describe the development of Survivalkid.nl, an interactive, Internet-delivered, preventive intervention for supporting adolescents with a mentally ill family member. Usage statistics with regard to frequency and duration of visits and amount of activity during visits suggest that: (a) the target group has been better served than before the site was launched; and (b) we have accomplished our goal of expanding the range of support.
Drost
Louisa M
LM
Indigo/GGZ Drenthe, Community Mental Health Centre; University of Groningen, the Netherlands. louisa.drost@ggzdrenthe.nl
Cuijpers
Pim
P
Schippers
Gerard M
GM
D000293:Adolescent; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008603:Mental Health; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012944:Social Support