Depression, mental health culture, and graduate students: A low-cost, poster-based intervention using attribution messages.

Abstract

Objective: This research effort developed, implemented, and evaluated an inexpensive poster campaign designed to influence on-campus mental health culture and stigma. Participants: 124 students at a Californian graduate-only university participated in the evaluation. Methods: A single-group, pretest-posttest, quasi-experimental design tested the effect of exposing graduate students to posters carrying attribution-based messages. The campaign lasted for seven weeks in 2023. Results: Although not all outcomes were influenced, statistically significant increases in perceptions of mental health culture and willingness to disclose mental health struggles to peers and faculty were detected with medium effect sizes. There were also statistically significant increases in visits to an intervention website advertised exclusively on campaign materials. No backfiring effects were detected, an issue that campaigns must be vigilant about. Conclusion: Given the low cost of implementation, this mental health campaign represents an inexpensive, low-effort approach that can favorably influence graduate student perceptions of campus mental health culture and willingness to disclose.