Are You(r Family) Depressed?: Two Ways to Improve Depression Campaigns in South Korea

Abstract

Major depressive disorder, commonly known as depression, is a serious mental disease that can lead to detrimental outcomes. Unfortunately, public campaigns in Korea have been unsuccessful in encouraging the depressed individuals to seek help. To address this issue, the current study applies the extended parallel process model (EPPM) to build a fear appeal message that encourages regular mental health checkup. Moreover, this research addresses a novel variable—target of threat—to test whether mental health-related messages are more effective when the threat is directed toward the self or loved ones (e.g., family). A 2 (threat: high vs. low) X 2 (efficacy: high vs. no) X 2 (target of threat: self vs. loved ones) between-subject experimental design was used to examine the role of threat, efficacy, target, and their interaction on message acceptance and rejection. Findings indicate that a) campaign messages must convey feasible information with which individuals can take actions (i.e., efficacy statements), and b) it is more effective to target the message toward loved ones, not the depressed individuals themselves.