Young people's evaluation of an online mental health prevention program for secondary school students: A mixed-methods formative study

Introduction

This study describes the formative evaluation of students’ perspectives and feedback on the OurFutures: Mental Health program, with particular attention toward insights for future iterative design and implementation of the program.

Methods

An online mixed-methods evaluation survey was administered to 762 Australian Year 8 secondary school students (Mage = 13.5 years) who completed the online, cartoon-based, OurFutures: Mental Health program. Quantitative items assessing program satisfaction, relevance and perceived utility were summarised and qualitative data were analysed using deductive thematic analysis.

Results

Most students rated the OurFutures: Mental Health program as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ (60%), felt the program would help ‘somewhat’ or a ‘great deal’ to deal more effectively with future problems (69%) and found the program information ‘somewhat’ or ‘extremely helpful’ (58%). However, less than half (49%) of students thought the program storylines were ‘completely’ or ‘somewhat relevant’ to their lives, 38% of students felt they were ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to use the skills/information in the program, and 29% of students stated they would recommend the program to friends. Males, and students with probable depression or anxiety diagnoses were more likely to enjoy the program. Qualitative findings identified several positive aspects and areas for future improvement.

Discussion

Findings illustrate that while most students rated the OurFutures: Mental Health program favourably, and some students found it relevant, helpful, and useful; many students did not find the storylines in the program relevant to their own lives. These findings provide important insight for improving the OurFutures: Mental Health program relevance and inclusivity to engage all students, including those without and without existing mental health symptoms