Apolinário-Hagen J, Vehreschild V, Alkoudmani RM. (2017). Current views and perspectives on e-mental health: An exploratory survey study for understanding public attitudes towards internet-based psychotherapy. JMIR Mental Health. 4(1): e8. doi: 10.2196/mental.6375
Researchers used social media, professional networks, and undergraduate courses to recruit 1558 participants in Germany to take a survey assessing awareness of, and attitudes about, internet-based psychotherapy. Most participants (73.3%) had no awareness of internet-based psychotherapy prior to the study. Attitudes were assessed based on a 5 point Likert scale (0-4), ranging from negative (<1.5), to neutral (1.5-2.5), to positive (>2.5). Most participants had negative attitudes about internet-based therapy, but some participants’ attitudes were positive enough that attitudes were neutral on average (1.79). Participants held negative attitudes about the effectiveness, compatibility, and facilitating factors of internet-based psychotherapy and demonstrated low willingness to use internet-based psychotherapy. Participants were positive about the potential for internet-based psychotherapy to increase access to therapy and compensate for long wait times for face-to-face therapy.