Evaluating the Impact of an Online Virtual Program on Mental Health Literacy, Stigma, and Help-seeking Intentions for Patients with Social Anxiety Disorder

Abstract Objectives: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a prevalent but underdetected and undertreated mental disorder, largely due to barriers to help-seeking. Reduced barriers can enhance professional help-seeking. In this study, we intended to evaluate an online virtual patient (VP) program, designed to improve SAD literacy, reduce stigma, and enhance help-seeking attitudes in the general public, as well as to examine its effects on professional help-seeking intentions among patients with SAD. Methods: Adult participants were recruited online. The program comprised an SAD VP intervention, two vignettes (SAD and major depressive disorder [MDD]), literacy tests for both conditions, and other relevant measures. Assessments of mental health literacy, stigma, and help-seeking attitudes were done before and after VP learning, alongside validated self-report measures of SAD and MDD severity and diagnosis. Results: We recruited 466 eligible study participants for analysis. The VP program significantly improved SAD literacy ( p < 0.001), reduced stigma ( p < 0.001), and increased positive attitudes toward professional help for SAD ( p < 0.001). Significantly more improvements were also seen in MDD-related measures ( p < 0.05). Among participants with SAD, help-seeking intentions were predicted primarily by previous professional help-seeking ( p < 0.001), employment status ( p < 0.05), and pre-existing beliefs in professional helpfulness ( p < 0.01), rather than by improvements in literacy, stigma, or attitudes gained from the program. Conclusion: The VP program was an effective tool for improving public literacy, reducing stigma, and fostering positive attitudes toward professional help-seeking for SAD. But these gains did not directly translate into increased help-seeking intentions. We suggest that future research should address this gap by examining how such improvements can be linked to actual help-seeking behaviors, potentially leveraging emerging technologies.