Persuading people with depression to seek help: respect the boomerang.
People with depression are likely to process information with a negative bias when confronted with self-relevant information. Accordingly, we feared exposing depressed people to a public service announcement (PSA) addressing the stigma of depression would possibly boomerang and result in less intention to seek help and in increased self-stigma. College students (N = 271; Mage  = 22.51, SD = 4.71; 63.1% female; 37.3% White, 31.9% Hispanic, 12.9% Asian, 6.8% multiethnic, 3.4% Black, 7.6% other) were randomly assigned to receive a print ad focused on depression or a nonrelevant comparison ad. A paper-and-pencil survey consisting of the Beck Depression Inventory-II, Self-Stigma of Seeking Help scale, help-seeking intentions, and demographics followed. Regression analysis indicated that viewing a depression ad caused people with greater depressive symptoms to experience greater levels of self-stigma than depressed people exposed to a nonrelevant comparison ad. Bootstrap mediation analysis showed that for individuals who viewed a depression PSA, self-stigma mediated the relationship between depressive symptoms and professional help-seeking intentions. While this current study offers no direct evidence in regard to the utility of current and past depression campaigns, results indicate a definite need for caution when developing materials targeting people with depression to seek help.
a School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences , Claremont Graduate University.
Brianna A
BA
Lienemann
Jason T
JT
Siegel
William D
WD
Crano
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009341:Negativism; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult