Is the pen mightier than the app? Self-reported willingness to use and information-seeking, on digital mental health interventions vs. print media in a national sample of U.S adults (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Self-help interventions have the potential to increase access to evidence-based mental health care. Self-help can be delivered via different formats, including print media or digital mental health interventions (DMHIs). However, we do not know which delivery format is more likely to result in higher engagement. OBJECTIVE The aims of this study were to identify if there is a preference for engaging in print media vs. DMHIs and whether there are individual differences in relative preferences. METHODS Participants were 423 adults between the ages of 18 and 82 years old (48% female) recruited on Prolific to be a nationally representative sample of the US population (Non-Hispanic White=69%, Non-Hispanic Black=12%, Asian 7.3%, Hispanic=5.9%, Other=5.2%). We provided individuals with psychoeducation on different self-help formats and measured their willingness to use print media vs. DMHIs. We also measured participants’ demographics, personality, and perception of each format’s availability and helpfulness and used these to predict individual differences in the relative preferences. RESULTS Participants reported being more willing to engage with print media than DMHIs (B=.41, SE=.08, t=4.91, P<.001, d=.24, 95% CI=.05–.43). This preference appeared to be influenced by education level (B=.22, SE=.09, t(422)=2.37, P=.02, d=.13, 95% CI=-.06–.32), perceived helpfulness (B=.78, SE=.06, t(12)=13.66, p < .001, d=.46, 95% CI=.27–.66), and perceived availability (B=.20, SE=.58, t(12)=3.25, P=.001, d=.12, 95% CI=.07–.30) of the self-help format. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests an overall preference for print media over DMHIs. Future work should study whether receiving mental health treatment via participants’ preferred delivery format can lead to higher engagement.