‘It is just a prediction; it’s, like, not fact’: youth attitudes towards risk prediction tools and personalised preventive interventions for depression and anxiety

BACKGROUND: Risk prediction tools may help identify youth who are at risk of developing depression or anxiety and allow personalised preventive interventions to be delivered. However, with concerns for implementation, it is important to directly engage with youth to understand their attitudes. OBJECTIVE: To qualitatively explore UK-based youth attitudes towards risk prediction tools and personalised preventive interventions for depression and anxiety. METHODS: Online semistructured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of youth aged 16-25 years (n=25) and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. FINDINGS: encapsulates participants' belief regarding human involvement in development and implementation. CONCLUSIONS: While youth appear open to risk prediction tools and personalised preventive interventions, they highlighted concerns that must be addressed before implementation, including ethics, accuracy, privacy and feasibility. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Going forward, researchers should prioritise stakeholder involvement, using active collaboration to identify ways in which these concerns can be addressed, which may increase acceptability and uptake. Human contact, alongside agency and choice, are further factors to consider.