Prevalence and predictors of distress associated with completion of an online survey assessing mental health and suicidality in the community

Philip J. Batterham; Alison L. Calear; Natacha Carragher; Matthew Sunderland

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2017.08.048

Prevalence and predictors of distress associated with completion of an online survey assessing mental health and suicidality in the community

Philip J. Batterham^*, Alison L. Calear, Natacha Carragher, Matthew Sunderland

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

While there is evidence that mental health surveys do not typically increase distress, limited research has examined distress in online surveys. The study investigated whether completion of a 60-minute online community-based mental health survey (n=3620) was associated with reliable increases in psychological distress. 2.5% of respondents had a reliable increase in distress, compared to 5.0% with a reliable decrease, and decreased distress overall across the sample (Cohen's d = −0.22, p<0.001). Initial depression/anxiety symptoms were associated with increased distress, but suicidality was not. Online mental health surveys are associated with low prevalence of increased distress.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	348-350
Number of pages	3
Journal	Psychiatry Research
Volume	262
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.08.048
Publication status	Published - Apr 2018

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abstract = "While there is evidence that mental health surveys do not typically increase distress, limited research has examined distress in online surveys. The study investigated whether completion of a 60-minute online community-based mental health survey (n=3620) was associated with reliable increases in psychological distress. 2.5% of respondents had a reliable increase in distress, compared to 5.0% with a reliable decrease, and decreased distress overall across the sample (Cohen's d = −0.22, p<0.001). Initial depression/anxiety symptoms were associated with increased distress, but suicidality was not. Online mental health surveys are associated with low prevalence of increased distress.",

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AU - Carragher, Natacha

AU - Sunderland, Matthew

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AB - While there is evidence that mental health surveys do not typically increase distress, limited research has examined distress in online surveys. The study investigated whether completion of a 60-minute online community-based mental health survey (n=3620) was associated with reliable increases in psychological distress. 2.5% of respondents had a reliable increase in distress, compared to 5.0% with a reliable decrease, and decreased distress overall across the sample (Cohen's d = −0.22, p<0.001). Initial depression/anxiety symptoms were associated with increased distress, but suicidality was not. Online mental health surveys are associated with low prevalence of increased distress.

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ER -

Prevalence and predictors of distress associated with completion of an online survey assessing mental health and suicidality in the community

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