Dataset for Prompting Help-Seeking to Reduce Psychological Distress: A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Internet Intervention

Abstract

Many individuals who experience persistent problems with anxiety or depression do not seek treatment. The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to test the efficacy of a brief online social-cognitive intervention designed to increase help-seeking behavior and decrease psychological distress. The trial involving randomly assigning a distressed sample of 276 participants (151 females, 123 males, 2 others) aged 18-77 years (M = 36.64, SD = 13.08) either to a modeling and vicarious reinforcement condition focused on help-seeking or to a waitlist control. The study measured help-seeking self-efficacy, help-seeking outcome expectancy, help-seeking behavior, and distress at pre- and post-intervention. At post-intervention the treatment group, compared to the control group, showed significant effects on overall distress levels but not on the other variables. The positive effect on distress was maintained in the intervention group at two-month follow-up. The results show that an online intervention based on help-seeking modelling and reinforcement can decrease psychological distress but they do not show the mechanism of the effect.