Frontline professionals’ use of and attitudes towards technology to support interventions for adolescents with depression symptoms: A mixed methods survey

Abstract

Depression is common in adolescence, and subthreshold symptoms even more so. Untreated, it is disabling. Yet, upscaling traditional clinic-based provision would be prohibitively expensive. We aimed to investigate frontline, non-specialist professionals’ use of and attitudes towards technology to increase the availability of early help. Method: Cross-sectional survey of a convenience sample of professionals in the UK (N = 115, including low intensity practitioners, GPs, education staff, school nurses). The survey included rating scales and free text boxes. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively, and we used reflexive thematic analysis for the qualitative data. Results: Frontline professionals rate their technological competence as good and have favourable attitudes towards using technology to support adolescents with depression symptoms. They rated online resources as most useful with mild-moderate symptoms, compared to severe symptoms (t(110) = 14.54, p