Sociodemographic and mental health characteristics associated with participating in a digital mental health screening platform on college campuses.

OBJECTIVE

The authors sought to identify sociodemographic and mental health characteristics associated with participating in an online mental health screening platform.

PARTICIPANTS

US college students who participated in the Interactive Screening Program (ISP, n = 2,817) or the Healthy Minds Study (HMS, n = 17,880) at ten campuses that administered both between 2016 and 2022. The HMS was used as a proxy of the study body at that institution.

METHODS

This cross-sectional analysis linked data from the HMS and the ISP. Logistic regression was used to model the odds of ISP participation.

RESULTS

In multivariate regression models, female gender (aOR 1.87, 95% CI: 1.01-3.47; REF: male gender) and PHQ-9 ≥ 10 (aOR 5.74, 95% CI: 2.05-16.06, REF: PHQ-9 < 10) were associated with ISP participation.

CONCLUSIONS

The ISP is more likely to be used by students with moderate depression symptoms. The ISP's ability to engage male students could be strengthened.