Abstract
College students are at an increased risk for mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and loneliness. These problems can have a significant impact on students’ academic performance, relationships, and overall well-being. Digital interventions are increasingly being used to address mental health problems in college students. However, there is limited research on the efficacy of these interventions. This study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the efficacy of digital interventions for college students using Woebot and Happify. The study was conducted over a period of four months (March to June 2023) and included students from the College of Natural Sciences and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Sungkyunkwan University. Initially, 63 students were recruited, but after one month, the number of participants decreased to 31, and after two months, the number of participants decreased to 28. This suggests that attrition rate is an important issue to consider when designing digital interventions for college students. The quantitative data was collected using a self-report survey that assessed participants’ levels of loneliness, depression, and anxiety. The qualitative data was collected through focus group interviews with participants.The results of this study suggest that well-designed digital interventions for college students can be effective in reducing loneliness and depression. However, it is also important to consider the factors that contribute to students’ attrition from digital interventions, such as the effectiveness of the apps, the lack of personalized services, the poor UI, and the one-sided nature of the interventions.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2023 Special Focus: Digitizing Health and Wellbeing
KEYWORDS
DIGITAL INTERVENTION, MENTAL HEALTH, COLLEGE STUDENTS, MENTAL HEALTH LITERACY
