SRI-SPR Study: Networks Mental Health RCT Project
The Networks Mental Health RCT Project, led by Emma Smith, PhD candidate at Harvard University, investigates the effect of a mental health awareness campaign conducted through WhatsApp on various aspects of mental health behaviors. The study tests how having a friend share mental health information influences recipients' use of mental health services, their attitudes toward mental health stigma, and their perception of the benefits of using mental health services relative to the reputational costs associated with seeking help.
Mindset played a critical role in the execution of the study by completing substantial data collection. This included conducting 407 SRI Baseline Surveys, 1,707 SRR Baseline Surveys, 2,700 SRR Midline Surveys, and 320 SRR Endline Surveys. These surveys were integral in evaluating the effectiveness of the mental health awareness campaign and understanding the broader implications on mental health service utilization and stigma reduction.
The project was structured across four waves of data collection, with the WhatsApp intervention introduced between waves three and four. In addition to examining recipient-level outcomes, the study also explores whether message senders are influenced by social image concerns when deciding whether to share mental health information. This includes how the sharing of information may impact both the sender’s and the recipient’s social image.
