Young People's Satisfaction With and Perceived Impact of a Multichannel Mental Health Helpline During and After COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Analysis of Cross-Sectional Survey Data.

Young people who contacted the helpline during the pandemic reported greater satisfaction after the first lockdown compared to those who contacted it during the gradual easing period.

• Data collected from February 2020 to October 2023 from The Mix, the UK's leading online mental health support service for young people
• The pandemic period imputed sample was n=295
• Comparisons were made across pandemic sub-periods: first lockdown, gradual easing period, and second and third lockdowns
• Greater satisfaction was specifically observed after the first lockdown relative to the gradual easing period

Young people reported a stronger perceived impact on their well-being after the first lockdown and during the second and third lockdowns compared to those who contacted the helpline during the gradual easing period.

• Perceived impact on well-being was measured as part of a cross-sectional user survey sent via email following helpline contact
• The pandemic period imputed sample included n=295 participants
• The gradual easing period served as the reference comparison group for well-being impact differences
• Both the post-first-lockdown period and the second and third lockdown periods showed stronger perceived impact than the gradual easing period

During the pandemic, phone users reported higher satisfaction than those using the contact form.

• The helpline was described as 'multichannel,' encompassing at least phone and contact form modalities
• Channel type was a significant predictor of satisfaction during the pandemic period
• This finding was based on the imputed pandemic sample of n=295
• No specific effect size or p-value was reported in the abstract

Postpandemic, helpline users who identified as 'other' in terms of gender reported less satisfaction, while male users reported a greater impact on their well-being compared to female users.

• The postpandemic imputed sample was n=501
• Gender categories analyzed included female, male, and 'other'
• Users identifying as 'other' gender had lower satisfaction compared to the reference gender group
• Male users reported greater perceived impact on well-being compared to female users postpandemic

Qualitative analysis of open-ended survey responses identified themes of 'feeling heard' and 'being empowered' as ways participants felt supported, alongside areas for improvement in service delivery, protocol, and technicalities.

• Of 796 survey respondents, 486 provided open-ended responses totaling 1183 entries
• 731 open-ended responses (approximately 60% of total responses) were coded by 2 independent coders
• Excluded responses included single words (e.g., 'thanks'), irrelevant text, or duplicated entries
• Areas for improvement spanned three domains: service delivery, protocol, and technical infrastructure

Approximately 16,000 users aged 16–25+ years contacted The Mix's helpline between February 2020 and October 2023, but the survey response rate was only 5% with a completion rate of 65.3%.

• All users were sent an email by The Mix following helpline contact to complete the user survey
• 796 participants aged 16–25+ years answered the survey out of approximately 16,000 contacted
• The response rate of 5% prompted use of multiple imputation to address potential nonresponse bias and missing data
• Multiple Imputation by Chained Equations (MICE) package in R was used, yielding a pandemic sample of n=295 and a postpandemic sample of n=501