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Context: Depression in primary care remains challenging; patients with depression often do not seek help. Interventions to increase help-seeking (HS) behavior have been ineffective or decreased HS. Mental Contrasting and Implementation Intentions (MCII) is a behavioral intervention to create action plan in advance. It has been effective among patients seeking to increase exercise, reduce smoking, and other health behaviors. However, it has not been used for initiating help- seeking for depression. Objective: To assess whether an online MCII training program increases HS or the intention to seek help at 2 weeks post-intervention among those with elevated depressive symptoms, compared to information-only controls (C). Study Design and Analysis: RCT comparing HS and C at 2 weeks using pre-post survey. Analysis using t-test and ANOVA; intention to treat. Setting: MTurk online cloud research toolkit (Feb-March 2020). Population Studied: Adults with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) score of 14 (mild depressive symptoms) or above and who were not seeking professional help at baseline. Intervention: Published online MCII intervention. Outcome Measures: Primary: Self-reported help seeking success (single-item). Secondary: Strength of Implementation Intentions Scale (SIIS), depressive symptoms (BDI-II), current perceived depression (single item). Results: Of the 2134 participants prescreened for depression and HS, 228 met eligibility criteria (37.2 [+ or -] 12.1 yrs, 65% F, 67% white). Demographics and disease severity were similar between groups at baseline. The HS group (n=105) reported greater HS success (p = .013) as well as intention to seek help (p = .001) 2 weeks post intervention compared to C (n=124). Further, perceived HS success was more likely for those who received the HS intervention and either did not perceive themselves as currently depressed at Time 2 (OR = 3.7) or individuals whose actual BDI-II score at follow up was below 14 points (OR = 10.6). Conclusions: Among participants with elevated depression symptoms, an online training in MCII effectively increased help-seeking behavior and intention to seek help compared to information-only control participants 2 weeks after delivery. The intervention is relatively brief and potentially scalable. Further research is warranted to determine clinical utility., Presenters Amanda Keeler, MA, Liesl Nydegger, PhD, [...]

IntroductionAsian Americans are the fastest growing immigrant group in the United States and are more likely to be light and intermittent smokers (LITS) compared with non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs). LITS experience adverse health effects related to smoking. Previous research has aggregated Asian American ethnic groups, masking important differences between groups. We sought to compare LITS rates among Asian American subgroups before and after the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with NHWs in California utilizing data from the California Tobacco Surveys (CTS).MethodsWe combined 1990, 1992, and 1996 CTS (pre-MSA) and the 1999, 2002, 2005, and 2008 CTS (post-MSA) to examine changes in LITS (

Many people enrolled in drug diversion programs are not receiving evidence-based prevention for HIV or hepatitis. This study translated basic research from cognitive science to increase screening for infection and condom use in this population. A parallel three-condition randomized trial was conducted in a drug diversion sample (N = 358), comparing a memory practice condition with two active control conditions. Outcomes were condom use frequency and testing for infection (hepatitis B/C, HIV). At 3-month follow-up, participants in the memory practice condition were at least twice as likely (OR = 2.10 or greater, p < .01) to self-report testing compared to those in the control conditions and also reported more frequent condom use compared to a health education condition [B = .37, t(1) = 2.02, p = .02]. Basic research on memory can be effectively translated to brief interventions on infection screening and risk prevention in existing drug diversion programs., Author(s): Alan W. Stacy [sup.1] , Liesl A. Nydegger [sup.2] , Yusuke Shono [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000 0004 0389 8602, grid.254271.7, School of Community and Global Health, Claremont Graduate [...]

Background: There are many reasons why individuals with depression may not seek help. Among those with elevated depressive symptomatology, some previous interventions aimed at increasing help-seeking have unintentionally decreased help-seeking intentions. Beck's cognitive theory of depression posits that individuals with elevated depressive symptomatology process information differently from those without depression (i.e., increased cognitive errors, negative bias); potentially explaining the iatrogenic results of previous interventions. Mental contrasting and implementation intentions (MCII; a self-regulatory strategy) interventions have successfully influenced physical and mental health behaviors. However, MCII has not been used specifically for initiating help-seeking for depression. The goal of this research was to ascertain whether an online MCII intervention could increase actual help-seeking or the intention to seek help for depression. Method: Two online randomized pre-post experiments were conducted to measure the primary outcome measures 2 weeks post-intervention (Study 1 collected Summer 2019: information-only control ["C"], help-seeking MCII intervention ["HS"], and comparison MCII intervention ["E"]; Study 2 collected Winter 2020: "C" and "HS"). At Time 1, adults recruited from MTurk had a minimum Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) score of 14 (mild depressive symptoms) and were not seeking professional help. Results: Study 1 (N =74) indicated that the intervention was feasible, provided preliminary support, and clarified intervention components for Study 2. Study 2 (N=224) indicated that the HS group reported greater intentions to seek help and actual help-seeking than the C group. Proportionally, actual help-seeking was more likely among individuals who received the HS intervention and either did not perceive themselves as depressed at Time 2 or had BDI-II scores indicating that their depressive symptomatology decreased from Time 1. Limitations: Participation was limited to US residents who self-reported data. Discussion: These studies indicate that a brief online MCII intervention to encourage help-seeking is feasible and preliminarily successful. Future studies should consider using ecological momentary assessment measurements to establish the temporal precedence of intervention effects and whether MCII is effective for encouraging help-seeking among individuals prone to experiencing cognitive errors who may not be experiencing negative bias (e.g., bipolar disorder or anxiety). Clinicians may find this method successful in encouraging ongoing treatment engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]