Effects of a media and information literacy (MIL) intervention: an experimental study on Tiktok mental health help-seeking

Abstract

Seeking and sharing mental health information on social media is often linked to informal help-seeking behaviors. The purpose of this study was to develop an educational media and information literacy (MIL) intervention and test its effectiveness by examining whether exposure to the MIL intervention affects individuals’ video rating competency and confidence in video rating to evaluate the quality of mental health content on TikTok. The current study also explored whether receiving the MIL intervention influences intention to engage in further help-seeking behavior, using the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) framework. A total of 368 college students were randomly assigned to either (1) the MIL intervention group, or (2) a control condition. Participants were exposed to treatment videos based on their assigned conditions, followed by stimuli messages (TikTok mental health videos) that they were asked to rate in terms of quality. Results showed that exposure to the MIL intervention positively affected participants’ video rating competency, with the effect being driven by ability to identify a poor-quality video. However, this competency was not associated with RAA variables of attitudes, norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC), or intention to seek help. In contrast, the intervention did not affect participants’ confidence in their video rating, yet perceived confidence is positively associated with attitude, norms, and PBC. Participants’ subjective norms and PBC were significantly associated with their intention to seek help.