The purpose of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of an online format of the group-based intervention "Honest Open Proud-College" among Canadian post-secondary students.
Mental health issues have been highlighted as a growing concern within the post-secondary student population. Studies show that one significant concern for post-secondary students pertains to disclosing their mental challenges to others. Disclosure decisions are especially relevant for postsecondary students in the context of academic and social support. Students with mental health challenges who do not receive helpful accommodations may experience greater stress related to academics. Students also note that, in navigating their social sphere, they often need to consider what aspects of their mental health challenges to share in what situations. As such, students often need to make decisions about whether to conceal or disclose their mental health challenges, both of which have their own pros and cons. Disclosure is a complex decision that requires consideration of personal and contextual factors. Honest, Open, Proud-College (HOP-C) is a peer-led, group-based intervention, that supports post-secondary students in the process of making decisions to disclose their mental health conditions. This study will evaluate the impacts of HOP-C administered through a videoconferencing platform on personal, social, and disclosure related outcomes.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
63
The program consists of three weekly workshops that are two hours in duration. There is a fourth booster workshop (two hours in duration) one month following program completion. All workshops will be held over an online videoconferencing platform. HOP-C is a group program led by trained peer facilitators who have lived mental illness experience. Major topics that the program covers are: 1. discussing different types of disclosure; 2. conducting a cost-benefit analysis of disclosing in different situations; 3. strategies to anticipate how certain people will respond to disclosure when deciding on who to disclose to; 4. disclosure via social media; and 5. a guided creation of participants' own disclosure narrative. During the booster workshop, participants will be encouraged to reflect on their disclosure decisions, and periodically revisit their disclosure cost-benefit analysis in deciding if and when to disclose in the future.
Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale-Short Form (Corrigan et al., 2012)
Time frame: Baseline, Post Intervention (3 weeks), and Post Booster (7 weeks)
Attitudes to Disclosure Questionnaire (Mayer et al., 2022)
Time frame: Baseline, Post Intervention (3 weeks), and Post Booster (7 weeks)
Empowerment Scale (Rogers et al., 1997)
Time frame: Baseline, Post Intervention (3 weeks), and Post Booster (7 weeks)
Stigma Stress Scale (Rüsch, Corrigan, Powell, et al., 2009; Rüsch, Corrigan, Wassel, et al., 2009)
Time frame: Baseline, Post Intervention (3 weeks), and Post Booster (7 weeks)
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965)
Time frame: Baseline, Post Intervention (3 weeks), and Post Booster (7 weeks)
Self-Efficacy about Disclosure Scale (Conley et al., 2019; Rüsch et al., 2014)
Time frame: Baseline, Post Intervention (3 weeks), and Post Booster (7 weeks)
Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet et al., 1988)
Time frame: Baseline, Post Intervention (3 weeks), and Post Booster (7 weeks)
General Help Seeking Questionnaire (Wilson et al., 2005)
Time frame: Baseline, Post Intervention (3 weeks), and Post Booster (7 weeks)
Actual Help Seeking Questionnaire (Rickwood et al., 2005)
Time frame: Baseline, Post Intervention (3 weeks), and Post Booster (7 weeks)
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