A New Approach for Developing Ads for Increasing Help-Seeking Among People with Elevated Depressive Symptomatology: An Attitude Strength Diagnostic

The current presentation describes a series of studies that used a novel approach (i.e., an attitude-strength diagnostic) to determine potential targets for campaigns seeking to increase help-seeking among people with depressive symptomology. Even attitudes towards help-seeking become increasingly negative as depressive symptomology increases, the strength and complexity of these negative attitudes have rarely been explored. The current studies assessed five components of attitude strength (attitude ambivalence, accessibility, knowledge, importance, and extremity) with the goal of discovering weaknesses in the attitude structure (Part 1). Once these weaknesses were identified, we then created ads targeted the weakest attitude components (Part 2).

Part 1 Methods: Participants (Study 1 N = 479, Study 2 N = 357) were recruited from Mechanical Turk. After assessing depression using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), we assessed numerous attitude components (i.e., attitude ambivalence, accessibility, knowledge, importance, and extremity) regarding participants’ perceptions of their past, present, and future (Study 1); in Study 2, we assessed numerous attitude components regarding participants’ perceptions of help-seeking toward various sources (Study 2).

Part 1 Results: Higher BDI-II scores were associated with more negative attitudes toward various sources of help-seeking, greater accessibility of negative beliefs, and more extreme attitudes in both studies. Indicating a potential weak point in attitudes of individuals with depression, BDI-II scores were negatively correlated with accessibility of positive beliefs.

Part 2 Introduction: Guided by the results of Part 1, we created ads that attempted to make the positive aspects of help-seeking salient with the goal of weakening the strength of negative attitudes toward help seeking.

Part 2 Method: Participants (N = 236) were recruited from Mechanical Turk. After filling out the BDI-II, participants were randomly assigned to view two experimental ads, comparison ads, or a no ad control group. Help seeking intentions from nine sources and help seeking outcome expectancies were then measured.

Part 2 Results: Participants who received the help-seeking ads highlighting the positive outcomes associated with help-seeking report more favorable help-seeking expectations and intentions then participants exposed to a control ad or a comparison ad.

The current studies revealed a successful content area for campaign messages seeking to increase help-seeking among people with elevated depressive symptomatology: prime the positive outcomes associated with help-seeking. Even though prior attempts to persuade people with elevated depressive symptomatology have previously backfired, the proposed attitude-strength diagnostic approach revealed a weakness in the attitude structure that allowed us to successfully increase help seeking intentions.