title: A qualitative study of sexual minority young people's experiences of computerised therapy for depression.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual or sexual minority youth who used a form of computerised therapy (Rainbow SPARX) for depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  25 adolescents (20 with significant depressive symptoms) who had trialled Rainbow SPARX took part in semi-structured interviews. The general inductive approach was used to analyse interview data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Feedback consisted of five main themes: 'appealing aspects'; 'applying it to real life'; 'things to improve'; 'aspects that did not appeal'; and 'other themes'. Young people suggested that there should be more sexuality-specific ('rainbow') content in the computer program. Seventeen participants thought computerised therapy helped them feel better or less depressed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consumer perspectives are increasingly being sought and this user input is especially useful for improving services. Our study provides important in-depth feedback on Rainbow SPARX from the perspective of sexual minority youth, and it highlights that computerised therapies can be successfully modified for groups traditionally under-served by mainstream mental health interventions.
authors.affiliation: Lecturer and research fellow, Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand m.lucassen@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Mathijs F G
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Lucassen
authors.affiliation: Professor of psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa University, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hatcher
authors.affiliation: Senior lecturer and research fellow, Department of Psychological Medicine and Department of Paediatrics, Child and Youth Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Theresa M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Fleming
authors.affiliation: Research fellow, Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Karolina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stasiak
authors.affiliation: Lecturer, School of Counselling, Human Services and Social Work, Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Shepherd
authors.affiliation: Professor of child and adolescent psychiatry, Head of Department Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Sally N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Merry
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006716:Homosexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards
keywords: adolescent; bisexual; depression; gay; lesbian; psychotherapy