Influencing Help-Seeking for Depression with Public Service Announcements: An Examination of Message Sidedness and Functional Matching

Unlike physical illnesses, the severity of depressive symptomatology is negatively associated with help-seeking. This set of studies examined message sidedness and functional matching as means of influencing the effectiveness of depression public service announcements (D-PSAs) seeking to increase help-seeking. Message sidedness refers to whether a message is one-sided (i.e., supportive statements), nonrefutational two-sided (i.e., supportive statements and counterarguments), and refutational two-sided (i.e., supportive statements, counterarguments, and refutational statements). Functional matching refers to addressing the target attitude’s psychological motivation in a persuasive communication. The current set of studies focused on two types of attitude functions in regards to help-seeking for depression. A social-adjustive attitude function is the motivation to maintain one’s social relationships, while an object-appraisal function is the motivation to determine if an object has favorable or unfavorable implications. Two online MTurk studies were completed with U.S. adults. Study 1 participants (N = 1142) were randomly assigned to view print message-sidedness D-PSAs or a control. Refutational messages were more effective at increasing help-seeking attitudes and intentions toward interpersonal sources for individuals with elevated depressive symptomatology than control messages. Study 2 participants (N = 567) with mild to severe depressive symptomatology were randomly assigned to view video message-sidedness by attitude function D-PSAs or control messages. Functionally matched D-PSAs were more effective than mismatched D-PSAs and control messages. Even though one-sided and refutational matched D-PSAs were similarly associated with positive help-seeking outcomes, refutational mismatched D-PSAs were associated with more negative help-seeking outcomes than one-sided mismatched D-PSAs and control messages. Both Studies 1 and 2 found that negative cognitions toward D-PSAs mediated the relationship between depressive symptomatology and the help-seeking outcomes. Depressive symptomatology was associated with more negative cognitions, which was in turn, associated with more negative help-seeking outcomes. Ineffective D-PSAs (e.g., Study 2 mismatched D-PSAs) can bolster the negative effects of depressive symptomatology on help-seeking, while effective D-PSAs (e.g., Study 1 refutational D-PSAs and Study 2 matched D-PSAs) can initiate the help-seeking process. Help-seeking for depression can lead to improved symptomatology, a better quality of life, and reduced likelihood of suicide.