Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2014 Dec 23:15:504.
doi: 10.1186/1745-6215-15-504.

Out & Online; effectiveness of a tailored online multi-symptom mental health and wellbeing program for same-sex attracted young adults: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Jo-Anne M Abbott  1 , Britt Klein, Suzanne McLaren, David W Austin, Mari Molloy, Denny Meyer, Bronte McLeod
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Out & Online; effectiveness of a tailored online multi-symptom mental health and wellbeing program for same-sex attracted young adults: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Jo-Anne M Abbott et al. Trials. .

Abstract

Background: Same-sex attracted young adults have been found to experience higher rates of mental health problems and greater difficulties in accessing specialist mental health care services compared to their heterosexual peers. Internet-based mental health interventions have the potential to be more engaging and accessible to young adults compared to those delivered face-to-face. However, they are rarely inclusive of lesbian women and gay men. Thus, the current study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an online mental health and wellbeing program, Out & Online (http://www.outandonline.org.au), in comparison to a wait-list control group, for reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms in same-sex attracted young adults aged between 18 and 25 years.

Methods/design: We are recruiting, through media and community organisations, 200 same-sex attracted young adults with anxiety and/or depressive symptoms and mild to moderate psychological distress (Kessler-10 score between 16 to 21). Participants will be randomly allocated to the intervention (the online program) or the wait-list control group based on a permuted blocked randomisation method to allow for stratification by gender. Participants in the intervention group will receive a tailored program for up to three types of mental health difficulties simultaneously. The primary outcome of anxiety and/or depressive symptoms, and secondary outcomes related to psychological distress, wellbeing and health behaviour will be measured at pre-intervention (0 week), post-intervention (8 weeks) and at a 3-month follow-up (20 weeks).

Discussion: This online mental health and wellbeing program will be one of the first online interventions to be designed specifically to be relevant for same-sex attracted individuals. If the program is found to be effective it will improve access to specialist same-sex attracted-relevant mental health services for young adults and will facilitate wellbeing outcomes for these individuals. This program will also be a significant development in the delivery of tailored interventions that target multiple types of mental health conditions simultaneously.

Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12611000700932. Date registered: 7 July 2011.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of the study design.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Burton CM, Marshal MP, Chisolm DJ, Sucato GS, Friedman MS. Sexual minority related victimization as a mediator of mental health disparities in sexual minority youth: a longitudinal analysis. J Youth Adolesc. 2013;42:394–402. doi: 10.1007/s10964-012-9901-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Marshal MP, Dietz LJ, Friedman MS, Stall R, Smith HA, McGinley J, Thoma BC, Murray PJ, D'Augelli AR, Brent DA. Suicidality and depression disparities between sexual minority and heterosexual youth: a meta-analytic review. J Adolesc Health. 2011;49:115–123. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.02.005. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Russell ST, Joyner K. Adolescent sexual orientation and suicide risk: evidence from a national study. Am J Public Health. 2001;91:1276–1281. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.91.8.1276. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wichstrøm L, Hegna K. Sexual orientation and suicide attempt: a longitudinal study of the general Norwegian adolescent population. J Abnorm Psychol. 2003;112:144–151. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.112.1.144. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Almeida J, Johnson RM, Corliss HL, Molnar BE, Azrael D. Emotional distress among LGBT youth: the influence of perceived discrimination based on sexual orientation. J Youth Adolesc. 2009;38:1001–1014. doi: 10.1007/s10964-009-9397-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms