Personalization Strategies for Increasing Engagement With Digital Mental Health Resources: Sequential Multiple...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mental Health Interventions

Background:

• Web-based mental health resources offer scalable solutions but suffer from low user engagement.
• Many users disengage before accessing beneficial mental health tools online.
• Barriers to traditional treatment increase the importance of effective online resources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate if personalized tailoring improves engagement on a self-guided mental health website.
• To compare the effectiveness of tailoring based on demographics versus perceived need and intended next steps.

Main Methods:

• A sequential multiple assignment randomized trial was conducted on the Mental Health America website.
• Participants were randomized into conditions involving demographic surveys or 'Next Steps' surveys for tailoring.
• Engagement was measured by disengagement rates and clicks on featured versus general resources.

Main Results:

• Adding tailoring questions initially increased disengagement odds by 14%.
• Tailoring resources to demographics significantly reduced disengagement by 10% and increased featured resource clicks by 90%.
• Tailoring to perceived need or next steps did not significantly reduce disengagement but showed modest increases in resource clicks.

Conclusions:

• Personalization, particularly tailoring to demographics, can enhance engagement with online mental health resources.
• While initial tailoring questions may slightly increase disengagement, demographic tailoring proves most effective.
• Findings offer design implications for optimizing user engagement in digital mental health platforms.