A School Survey on Use and Knowledge of Apps and Websites for Promoting Mental Wellbeing

Mental wellbeing is the combination of feeling good and functioning well. Digital technology widens the opportunities for promoting mental wellbeing, particularly among those young people for whom technology is an ordinary part of life. This paper presents the findings of a school survey on apps and websites that have a primary purpose of promoting mental wellbeing, involving 308 young people (12–16 years) and 86 staff from seven schools across a region of Scotland, UK. Nearly half of the young respondents displayed a lack of understanding of mental wellbeing or misunderstood mental wellbeing as mental health problems, and a very few reported using an app or website with a primary purpose of promoting mental wellbeing. The main contribution to HCI is identifying a problem area in need of further exploration: how to improve the use and knowledge of good quality apps and websites for promoting mental wellbeing among young people aged 12–18 years.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Andrea Taylor

Conference

Publication date: July 2018

Publication date (Print): July 2018

Pages: 1-5

Affiliations

[0001]The Glasgow School of Art

Moray, UK

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/HCI2018.107

SO-VID: 11aa2c73-4bf9-4c27-be15-e0fc8de91ca3

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Proceedings of the 32nd International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference

Conference acronym: HCI

Conference number: 32

Conference location: Belfast, UK

Conference date: 4 - 6 July 2018

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Human Computer Interaction Conference

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/HCI2018.107

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

References

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P. Best R. Manktelow & B. Taylor (2014) Online communication, social media and adolescent wellbeing: A systematic narrative review Children and Youth Services Review 41 27–36.
N. Bidargaddi P. Musiat M. Winsall G. Vogl V. Blake S. Quinn S. Orlowski G. Antezana & G. Schrader (2017) Efficacy of a web-based guided recommendation service for a curated list of readily available mental health and well-being mobile apps for young people: Randomized controlled trial J Med Internet Res 19(5):e141.
Education Scotland What is Curriculum for Excellence? http://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/What%20is%20Curriculum%20for%20Excellence? (retrieved 28 Mar 2018).
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] J. Aked N. Marks C. Cordon & S. Thompson (2008) Five ways to wellbeing: the evidence http://neweconomics.org/2008/10/five-ways-to-wellbeing-the-evidence/ (retrieved 20 Mar 2018).

[2] P. Best R. Manktelow & B. Taylor (2014) Online communication, social media and adolescent wellbeing: A systematic narrative review Children and Youth Services Review 41 27–36.

[3] N. Bidargaddi P. Musiat M. Winsall G. Vogl V. Blake S. Quinn S. Orlowski G. Antezana & G. Schrader (2017) Efficacy of a web-based guided recommendation service for a curated list of readily available mental health and well-being mobile apps for young people: Randomized controlled trial J Med Internet Res 19(5):e141.

[4] Education Scotland What is Curriculum for Excellence? http://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/What%20is%20Curriculum%20for%20Excellence? (retrieved 28 Mar 2018).

[5] F. Huppert (2009) Psychological well-being: Evidence regarding its causes and consequences Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being 1 2: 137–164.

[6] C. Keyes (2014) Mental health as a complete state: how the salutogenic perspective completes the picture. In: G.F. Bauer & O. Hämmig (eds). Bridging occupational, organizational and public health Springer Netherlands 179–192.

[7] Mental Health Taskforce. (2016) The five year forward view for mental health http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Mental-Health-Taskforce-FYFV-final.pdf (retrieved 28 Mar 2018).

[8] D. Neal A. Campbell L. Williams Y. Liu & D. Nussbaumer (2011) “I did not realize so many options are available”: cognitive authority, emerging adults, and e-mental health Library and Information Science Research 33 (1).

[9] New Economics Foundation. (2008) Five ways to wellbeing: the evidence http://neweconomics.org/2008/10/five-ways-to-wellbeing-the-evidence/ (retrieved 28 Mar 2018).

[10] NHS Health Scotland. (2009) A critical review of the literature on children and young people's views of the factors that influence their mental health http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/3678.aspx (retrieved 28 Mar 2018).

[11] NHS Health Scotland. (2010) Mental health improvement terminology and working understandings http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/4614.aspx (retrieved 28 Mar 2018).

[12] Ofcom. (2017) Adults' media use and attitudes http://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/102755/adults-media-use-attitudes-2017.pdf (retrieved 20 Mar 2018).

[13] Ofcom. (2016) Children and parents: media use and attitudes report http://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0034/93976/Children-Parents-Media-Use-Attitudes-Report-2016.pdf (retrieved 20 Mar 2018).

[14] H. Richardson (2015) Children seeking mental health advice on internet http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-34423949 (retrieved 28 Mar 2018).

[15] SAMH. Survey on school staff training in mental health http://www.samh.org.uk/get-involved/going-to-be/well-trained (retrieved 31 May 2018)

[16] Scottish Government. (2017) Mental Health Strategy 2017–2027 http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/03/1750/downloads (retrieved 28 Mar 2018).

[17] J. Secker C. Armstrong & M. Hill (1999) Young people's understanding of mental illness Health Education Research 14 (6): 729–39.

[18] J. Shucksmith J. Spratt K. Philip & R. Mcnaughton (2009). A critical review of the literature on children and young people's views of the factors that influence their mental health http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/3678.aspx (retrieved May 31 2018).

[19] L. Simons M. Craven & J. Martin (2015) Learning from the labs volume 2: Evaluating effectiveness, lessons and reflections http://www.innovationlabs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Learning-from-the-Labs-Volume-2-Evaluating-Effectiveness.pdf (retrieved 28 Mar 2018).

[20] World Health Organization. (2013) Mental health action plan 2013–2020 http://www.who.int/mental_health/publications/action_plan/en/ (retrieved 28 Mar 2018).

[21] World Health Organization. (2014) Mental health: a state of well-being http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/mental_health/en/ (retrieved 28 Mar 2018).

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