ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Digit. Health
Sec. Digital Mental Health
This article is part of the Research TopicPublic Health Strategies to Improve Mental Health in the Education Sector: Perspectives and ApplicationsView all 26 articles
Improving Adolescents' Knowledge about Mental Health and Depression: A Randomized Experimental Study of Web-Based Information
Provisionally accepted
Maria Willemina Henriette Kloek1*
Carolin Zsigo1Regine Primbs1Lucia Iglhaut1Sara Kaubisch1Charlotte Elisabeth Piechaczek1Pia-Marie Keim1Lisa Feldmann1,2
Gerd Schulte-Körne1,2
Ellen Greimel1,2- 1LMU Munich University Hospital, Munich, Germany
- 2German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Munich-Augsburg, Germany
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Adolescents often lack adequate knowledge about mental health and available professional support, which hinders timely help-seeking. As many adolescents seek information online, providing reliable web-based resources may enhance their mental health literacy. This randomized experimental study (preregistered at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05300217) examined the effectiveness and reception of innovative online information designed to improve adolescents’ knowledge of depression and mental health. A total of 77 adolescents aged 12–18 years were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1) web-based information on depression or (2) web-based information on strategies to promote mental health. Both interventions were derived from the evidence-based website “ich bin alles” (English translation: “I am everything”). Primary outcomes were knowledge of depression and knowledge of strategies to promote mental health, assessed immediately after the intervention and at 2- and 4-week follow-ups. Secondary outcomes included perceived visual aesthetics, ease of use, utility, and enjoyment. Adolescents showed significant increases in knowledge of depression (F(3, 76.67) = 13.29, p < .001) and knowledge of strategies to promote mental health (F(3, 76.41) = 7.89, p < .001) over time, attributable to the assigned information. Participants also rated the website’s visual aesthetics, ease of use, utility, and enjoyment positively. Age-appropriate, visually appealing web-based information effectively improved adolescents’ knowledge of depression and mental health. Freely accessible, evidence-based online resources represent a scalable strategy to strengthen mental health literacy among young people.
Keywords: adolescents, Web-based information, Online, knowledge, Depression, Mental Health
Received: 03 Jun 2025; Accepted: 03 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kloek, Zsigo, Primbs, Iglhaut, Kaubisch, Piechaczek, Keim, Feldmann, Schulte-Körne and Greimel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Maria Willemina Henriette Kloek, maria.kloek@med.uni-muenchen.de
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