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An Evaluation of Bite Back: A Mental Health Challenge I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration.

Submitted as PSY30011 Evaluation Due date: January 3, 2021 Word Count: 1415 APA 6th

2 Bite Back mental fitness challenge, Australia’s first online positive psychology program aimed at young people and offered by the Black Dog Institute, is a program created to build wellbeing in young people aged 13-16. The Black Dog Institute, is an independent not-for-profit medical research institute in Australia that investigates many areas of mental health. The program is targeted at managing pressure, improving focus and expanding young people’s potential via setting and working towards mental wellness objectives, and improve their connections. Bite Back is appropriate for participants 12-18 but has a particular focus on 13-16-year-old young Australians. The program is presented as a free 6-week challenge with participants receiving tips, information and weekly activities to assist with their progress. Each week presents a different positive psychology domain including gratitude, social connection, meaning and purpose, mindfulness, and strengths, followed by the creation of a mental fitness plan in week six. Bite Back consists of six weekly challenges to help improve mental fitness, increase happiness, reduce stress, improve friendships and focus. There is a combination of quizzes, interactive activities, videos and more. Each week begins with a ‘check-up’ quiz related to the concept, results are presented with the offer of tips to strengthen the area and links to a learning area as well as an online tool to further practice in the domain; for example, the mindfulness week offers a page with recorded audio exercises/meditations covering different actions designed to increase mindfulness.

3 Depression, anxiety and behaviour disorders are startlingly widespread amongst young people intensifying the need for ways to address or prevent these high numbers being necessary (Baños, Etchemendy, Mira, Riva, Gaggioli, & Botella, 2017 & Barrett, Farrell, Ollendick & Dadds, 2006). Additional concern are the low rates of young people seeking help (Manicavasagar, Horswood, Burckhardt, Lum, Hadzi-Pavlovic, & Parker, 2014). Poor mental health has the potential to affect the healthy development of young people and their ongoing success, it also poses a huge public cost. Development of interventions that cut risk factors while building protective considerations is possible in the prevention of mental illness (Hosman, Jane Llopis, & Saxena, 2004), and positive psychology interventions delivered directly (Bolier, Haverman, Westerhof, Riper, Smit, & Bohlmeijer, 2013) and via the internet have been shown to be beneficial in both the prevention and management of some conditions when administered (Mitchell, Stanimirovic, Klein, & Vella-Brodrick, 2009). The importance of attention on adolescents is judicious with the rates of mental-illness in this group being reportedly high both nationally and internationally (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2009 & Garrido et al., 2019). Further motivation comes from the reality that it is not just mentalillness that is of concern, adolescents also show concerning numbers reporting low selfesteem, increased feelings of not belonging and escalated doubt around their ability to succeed (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2019). Positive Psychology provides content for interventions geared to this need while information communication technologies (ICTs) and the internet provide a means of delivery. Research indicates encouraging consequences relating to the positive psychology domains used in Bite Back. Mindfulness, being present in the unfolding of each moment free of judgement, often practice via meditation, has been shown to have beneficial effects with clinical and non-clinical participant (Ivtzan & Lomas, 2016), produce a reduction in psychopathological symptoms and boost mental health (Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007).

4 Brown, Ryan, & Creswell (2007) also proposed an association between mindfulness and improved social connectedness. The combination of mindfulness and character strengths together support what is best in people and the ability to face and manage anguish (Ivtzan & Lomas, 2016). The use of strengths by an individual is linked to greater performance and well-being and the attainment of goals (Linley, Nielsen, Wood, Gillet & Biswas-Diener, 2010). Connection to others has been related to increased well-being and energy (Reis, Sheldon, Gable, Roscoe, & Ryan, 2000). Meaning in life is an indicator of well-being (Chamberlain & Zika, 1992 as cited in Bonebright, Clay & Ankenmann, 2000) and also enhances positive feelings which in turn augment the experience of meaning in life (King, Hicks, Krull & Del Gaiso, 2006). And finally, gratitude which studies show is linked to an increase in the experience of positive emotions and alertness (Emmons & McCullough, 2003 & Emmons, 2007) positive well-being and reduced cognitive and emotional disturbance (Emmons & McCullough, 2003). There is a growing need for tools to support and build on young people’s mental health and well-being. One option to address this is the preventative and beneficial aspects of positive psychology and information technologies. Providing interventions for the management or prevention of mental illness to young people most vulnerable in a way that is both easily accessed and engaging proves an ongoing challenge (Garrido et al., 2019). Online means of delivery options are growing (Garrido et al., 2019) and most young people’s lives, activities and relationships are fully immersed in the digital world and they access the internet on a daily basis (Baños, Etchemendy, Mira, Riva, Gaggioli, & Botella, 2017 & Välimäki, Anttila, Anttila, & Lahti, 2017). Positive psychology, a term used to describe work that looks to explore what it takes to produce increased happiness, functioning and mental wellness (Gable & Haidt, 2005; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) and offers an all-inclusive approach to mental health (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2009). And while this approach is still

5 developing and further research into its effect on the adolescent population is required, support for positive psychology interventions (PPIs) in fostering the mental health of adolescents is steadily accumulating (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2009). PPIs and ICTs together provide a method that is in line with the world young people are immersed in currently and results from previous research supports the idea that these tools can produce significant change in areas of anxiety and depression in the short term (Baños, Etchemendy, Mira, Riva, Gaggioli, & Botella, 2017 & Välimäki, Anttila, Anttila, & Lahti, 2017); Bite Back also showed these results when used for 30 minutes or more per week (Manicavasagar, Horswood, Burckhardt, Lum, Hadzi-Pavlovic, & Parker, 2014). Interventions must be focused on fulfilling the particular needs of the target audience (Baños, Etchemendy, Mira, Riva, Gaggioli, & Botella, 2017 & Välimäki, Anttila, Anttila, & Lahti, 2017). Bite Back found that although the tool is acceptable for 12-18-year old’s, the older cohort tended to get bored with the content (Manicavasagar, Horswood, Burckhardt, Lum, Hadzi-Pavlovic, & Parker, 2014). Research has also noted that while implementing such tools in school eliminates recruitment challenges through reaching a wide audience, students may see the program as just more school work requiring their time (Barrett, Farrell, Ollendick & Dadds, 2006), finding alternative ways of reaching young people may be of more benefit. It is therefore crucial to identify components that make them most successful and engaging for young users (Schueller & Parks, 2012 & Garrido et al., 2019). Garrido et al. (2019) suggested that young people enjoyed interventions with a game-like feel and relevant, interactive content. Further, educational materials were seen as boring, and young people were distracted by off-putting interfaces and technical problems (Garrido et al., 2019). Garrido et al. (2019) conceived when pooled together results indicated more positive results regarding depressive symptoms than no interventions with young people hypothesising that in the contest of preventative intervention the results were sufficient to be of value. Seligman,

6 Steen, Park & Peterson (2005) in a study looking at internet-based PPIs for adults, found an increase in happiness and decreased depressive symptoms in the short term as has been noted with adolescents. However, they also noted the degree to which participants actively continued their assigned exercise on their own and beyond the prescribed one-week period mediated the long-term benefits. This poses the question of further long-term advantages should young people continue to carry out prescribed exercises beyond the period allocated. In conclusion the high prevalence of mental health problems in young people and adolescents is of significant concern and coupled with low rates of help seeking this becomes even more of a public health concern. Bite Back is put forward as a mental health prevention program with the potential to provide widespread delivery in a form that is acceptable to young people (Manicavasagar, Horswood, Burckhardt, Lum, Hadzi-Pavlovic & Parker, 2014). While there is mixed evidence around the success or otherwise of online type interventions using positive psychology concepts the benefits shown in the research included in this paper indicates potential and the ease of access, self-paced delivery and wealth of activities and information provided by Bite Back together with zero cost makes it a program worth considering.

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