A randomized controlled trial of targeted vs. General direct-to-consumer marketing to address psychotherapy attitudes and stigma in military service members and Veterans

Many military service members and Veterans who experience a psychological need do not seek psychotherapy, which may be due to negative attitudes and stigma toward mental health services. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of a general vs. military-specific direct-to-consumer psychotherapy marketing video to address psychotherapy attitudes in a nationwide sample of military service members and Veterans (N = 262). Participants were randomly assigned to watch a general commercial produced by the American Psychological Association (APA Video), a military-specific commercial produced by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA Video), or a control video.

After watching the video, they were asked to complete measures assessing public and self-stigma, attitudes, intentions, and preferences for psychotherapy. Consistent with our hypotheses, participants in the direct-to-consumer marketing conditions reported experiencing significantly less self-stigma and more positive attitudes and preferences for psychotherapy after watching their videos, compared to participants in the control condition. Participants who viewed the APA video also reported significantly less public stigma than those in the control condition. Contrary to our hypotheses, the targeted VA video did not outperform the general APA video on any of the dependent variables. These results support the use of direct-to-consumer psychotherapy marketing videos, general or targeted, with military service members and Veterans. Limitations and future directions are discussed.