What was linked to mental health app use among community college students?

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Mental health concerns are a significant issue among community college students, who often have less access to resources than traditional university college students. Mobile apps could increase access to mental health care, but little research has examined factors associated with their use in this population. The study aimed to understand facilitators of and barriers to mental health app use among community college students.

Researchers administered a web-based survey to a randomly selected sample of 500 community college students from April 16 to June 30, 2020. They used structural equation modeling to test relationships between mental health app use and perceived stress, perceived need to seek help for mental health concerns, perceived stigma, past use of professional mental health services, privacy concerns, and social influence from other people using mental health apps.

Of the 500 participants, 106 (21.2%) reported using mental health apps. Perceived stress, perceived need to seek help, past use of professional services, and social influence were positively associated with app use. The effect of stress was mediated by a perceived need to seek help. Privacy concerns were negatively associated with app use. Stigma, age, and gender did not have a statistically significant effect.

The authors concluded that these findings can inform new digital interventions and appropriate outreach strategies to engage community college students in using mental health apps.