A Facebook Intervention to Improve Mental Health and Social Support for Young Black Men: The Young Black Men, Masculinities, and Mental Health (YBMen) Project

PURPOSE: The media’s coverage of the 2014 events in Ferguson, Missouri underscored tensions associated with the societal and environmental conditions of young black men. This paper reports the findings from a Facebook-based intervention piloted in Jackson, Michigan during the fall of 2014 called the Young, black men, masculinities, and mental health (YBMen) project. METHODS: The YBMen project is a five-week, group-based intervention for 18 to 26 year old black men that uses gender- and culturally-relevant prompts from pop culture and social media (e.g., song lyrics, images, YouTube videos) to educate black men about the importance of mental health, well-being, and social support. RESULTS: Thirty young black men from Jackson College enrolled in the YBMen pilot: 11 in the intervention group and 19 in the comparison group. Baseline depressive symptomology scores indicated that a sizable proportion of participants—between 20% (using the Gotland Male Depression Scale; GMDS) and 53% (using the Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9) —met criteria for some form of depression; none reported severe impairment associated with their depression. No group differences in demographic characteristics or outcome measures were detected at baseline. Eight of the eleven men assigned to the intervention group joined the YBMen Facebook group that delivered the YBMen intervention. Eighty-eight percent of the Facebook group members viewed postings at least once a week over the course of the five-week intervention; 63% actively participated each week by posting comments or new material in the group. Preliminary analyses comparing baseline and immediate post-intervention data indicated that over the course of the intervention, depression scores on the PHQ-9 decreased among intervention group men (t=3.81, p=.007), while increasing non-significantly among comparison group men. Group differences in these changes in depression neared marginal significance (t= -2.11, p=.12), which is noteworthy given the small sample size and power of this pilot study. Depression scores on the GMDS also decreased among intervention group men and increased among comparison group men, though these changes did not approach statistical significance. While the quantitative pilot data provided insight on specific changes over time and between our intervention and comparison groups, the qualitative data provided more in-depth insights about the experiences of the YBMen pilot participants. IMPLICATIONS: We anticipate that our session attendees will gain some valuable information by attending our session. For example, at the conclusion of our session, attendees will be able to list 3 to 5 advantages of using Facebook-based health interventions for young black men. Second, attendees will be able to discuss the social determinants that influence the lives of young black men (e.g., socio-economic position, criminal justice system, racial identities, masculine identities, self-esteem, and mastery) through the use of social media (i.e., Facebook). Finally, our attendees will be able to identify creative ways to direct resources (such a low-cost, high impact Internet-based interventions) to young black men appropriately.