261. Digital cultural and tourism resources: paths to constructing social connections for depressive groups

Abstract Background Depressive groups commonly suffer from social disconnection, which exacerbates their symptoms and hinders recovery. Existing interventions mainly focus on psychological counseling and medication, with limited exploration of the role of cultural and tourism resources. With the digital transformation of cultural and tourism industries, digital cultural and tourism resources have shown potential in improving social engagement due to their accessibility and interactivity. However, few studies have systematically analyzed the paths through which these resources construct social connections for depressive groups. This study aims to fill this gap, explore effective paths, and provide a new perspective for the non-pharmaceutical intervention of depression. Methods A mixed-methods study was conducted, including 180 depressive participants (aged 18-65) recruited from three mental health centers. Participants were randomly divided into the experimental group (n = 90) and the control group (n = 90). The experimental group was exposed to customized digital cultural and tourism resources (e.g., virtual cultural heritage tours, online cultural experience workshops) for 12 weeks, while the control group received routine health education. Social Connection Scale (SCS) was used to measure social connection levels at baseline, 6th week, and 12th week. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 participants from the experimental group to explore their experience. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 for quantitative analysis and NVivo 12 for qualitative thematic analysis. Results Quantitative analysis showed that there was no significant difference in baseline SCS scores between the two groups of study subjects (p>.05), indicating good comparability; At 6 weeks of intervention, the SCS score of the experimental group increased by 21.47% compared to the baseline period, while the control group only increased by 2.26%. The difference between the groups was statistically significant (p<.05); At 12 weeks of intervention, the experimental group showed a cumulative increase of 37.97% in scores compared to the baseline period, while the control group showed a cumulative increase of 3.78%. The difference between the two groups further widened (p<.001), as shown in Table 1 for specific data. Discussion The research results confirm that digital cultural and tourism resources can effectively build social connections among individuals with depression, with the "resource experience emotional resonance interpersonal interaction" path being the most prominent. This discovery provides a practical basis for integrating digital cultural and tourism resources into depression intervention practices. However, this study has certain limitations: the sample only came from three mental health centers, and the geographical representation is insufficient; The intervention duration is limited to 12 weeks, and the long-term effect is not yet clear. Future research can expand the geographical and age coverage of the sample, focusing on exploring the differences in intervention effects of different types of digital cultural and tourism resources such as virtual reality and interactive games.