QT-Digital Mental Health Engagement Study

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations are disproportionately impacted by mental health concerns relative to their heterosexual and cisgender peers. Despite high need, SGM populations continue to report unmet mental health needs because they cannot or do not access mental health services. Digital Mental Health (DMH) services have been recognized as feasible, economical, and effective options to broaden the availability of mental health care to consumers who face barriers to mental health help-seeking. SGM consumers cite a preference for DMH care and this delivery format holds promise to attend to major mental health care access barriers experienced by this consumer group. Yet, the availability of DMH services tailored to the needs of SGM consumers is limited, and a dearth of research examines SGM populations' actual engagement with DMH services. A potential solution to fully understand how SGM populations utilize DMH services would be to characterize their engagement within a natural setting. Leveraging an established partnership with Mental Health America (MHA), a non-profit mental health advocacy group offering free, evidence-based screenings and self-guided DMH resources, this study will follow a large, naturalistic sample of SGM DMH consumers with the aim to test tailored engagement strategies with SGM DMH consumers using a micro-randomized trial (MRT) design. Results of this study will inform if delivering engagement strategies can meaningfully increase initial and sustained engagement with MHA resources and which types of strategies, specifically, work best for which users.