Effectiveness of an online bulletin board for depression

INTERVENTION: Arm 1: Intervention condition. The intervention condition involves participants visiting and posting to an online bulletin board for depression called BlueBoard. BlueBoard is a free, online supportive bulletin board that has been developed and is provided by researchers at CMHR, ANU. The board can be accessed 24 hours a day and is monitored by trained moderators between the hours of 7am and 10pm, 7 days a week. The board is moderated to ensure the appropriateness of posted material and to protect the safety of the members of the board. Participants allocated to the BlueBoard intervention will nominate a username (not their real name) and password to access the board and will be encouraged to use the board for a period of 6 months. Participants will receive automatically generated e‐mails reminding them to use the board if they have not logged on to the board for 14 days or longer. CONDITION: Depression PRIMARY OUTCOME: Change in mean depression score (Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES‐D) SECONDARY OUTCOME: Change in days lost and days unproductive due to emotional problems (4 items from Sheehan Disability Scales) Change in empowerment (Empowerment Scale) Change in mean anxiety score (GAD‐7) Change in mean quality of life score (EUROHIS‐8) Change in mental well‐being (Warwick‐Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale) Change in self‐compassion (Self‐Compassion Scale ‐ Short form) Change in self‐esteem (Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale) Change in self‐stigma (Self‐Stigma of Depression Scale) Change in social support (MOS Social Support Survey and UCLA Loneliness Scale) Satisfaction with the intervention (Likert scale) Types of treatments used to treat depression (self‐report, selected from a provided list of treatments) Website participation and usage (amount of the intervention completed using a graded scale) INCLUSION CRITERIA: Aged 18 years or older Regular access to the Internet A current, regularly used e‐mail address Current diagnosis of depression or symptoms of depression, or a history of depression Willingness to regularly participate in an online bulletin board support group