Social Media, Teen Moms and PPD

Summary

Approximately 400,000 live births occur to adolescents in the United States annually. Of the 50% of adolescent mothers who experience depressive symptoms, less than 25% comply with referrals for depression evaluation and treatment due to lack of knowledge of depression symptoms (literacy), negative attitude towards mental health treatment, perception that individuals with depression are stigmatized (subjective norms), lack of understanding of health resources that are available to her and under her control (perceived control), and lack of time. Social media is a promising vehicle to reach and educate adolescent mothers since most adolescent mothers use social media for communication and to search for health information. Based upon the Theory of Planned Behavior, the investigators will target 11 counties in Kentucky with a social media ad campaign that will result in adolescent mothers (n=140) from those counties enrolling in an internet based intervention related to postpartum depression. The previously tested intervention includes vignettes from other adolescent mothers, questions and answers, resources, and an option to enroll in text message service. Before the intervention, after the intervention, and two weeks later the adolescent mothers will complete established questionnaires to determine if the intervention improved attitude and subjective norms towards depression and depression treatment, perceived control and intention related to seeking depression treatment, and the number of adolescent mothers with symptoms of depression who receive depression treatment. Data will be compared to scores on the same instruments from adolescent mothers (n=140) from the control group (18 other counties in Kentucky) that have not been targeted with the social media ad campaign or participated in the intervention. Data from the adolescent mothers in the control group will be collected in partnership with community agencies. The overall purpose of this trial is to test a cost effective and feasible method for reducing the cognitive and emotional barriers to accessing depression treatment in adolescent mothers. The specific aims are to (1) measure the extent to which a social media ad campaign is effective as a recruitment strategy; (2) test the effectiveness of an internet based social marketing intervention on both intention to seek treatment and rates of depression treatment, and (3) examine the dose effect of the intervention.

Conditions

• Postpartum Depression

Interventions

OTHER

Use of internet based social marketing intervention

Eleven counties in Kentucky will be targeted with ads on Google and Facebook that direct adolescent mothers to an Internet-based social marketing intervention. The ads will be implemented using Facebook's and Google's ad network. The ads are setup, configured, and adjusted online. Facebook has identified key words that are recommended for adolescent mothers: "16 and pregnant," "teen mom,' and names of television shows with subject matter specific to adolescent mothers. We will target the ads to correspond to a geographical area that specifies a distance from the largest city in each county, and we will specify county lines. Ads will only appear on the Internet in the counties that are targeted for the intervention.

OTHER

No use of social media

No social media ads will be available in these counties.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Louisville

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mimia C Logsdon, PhD · University of Louisville

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

13 Years

Max Age

21 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2013-06-30

Primary Completion

2015-12-31

Completion

2015-12-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations