Table 5.
Thematic analysis of participants’ responses
| Theme | Description | n (%) | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| In what ways did the WeClick app help you? (n = 91) | |||
| Provided advice and direction | Helped participants learn practical skills, provided information and direction. It also served to highlight alternative actions to utilise in future situations | 42 (46.2) |
‘gave me a few suggestions on how to approach friends’ ‘useful information on how to deal with my emotional problems in different circumstances’. |
| Opportunity for reflection on self and relationships | Helped participants understand themselves better by reflecting on how they have managed their own relationships and consider alternative approaches. | 33 (36.3) |
‘to understand a few of my problems more’ ‘to realise what actions and thoughts were unhelpful’ |
| Normalised own experiences through social comparison | Helped participants realise that other people have similar experiences and feelings as they do by relating to the characters and scenarios | 21 (23.1) |
‘to realise I am not alone with the issues I have’. ‘to realise I’m not the only person who’s dealing with this’ |
| Provided emotional support | Helped participants feel better and positive, calming and comforting support | 8 (8.8) |
‘provided comfort’ ‘made me feel slightly calmer’ |
| Promoted sense of agency | Helped participants to feel in control of their own problems and as though they could overcome future problems | 5 (5.5) |
‘made me feel a bit more in control of my feelings’ ‘next time I will know how to react and respond’. |
| Positive distraction | Helped by redirecting participants’ attentions and enabling them to think about something other than their worries or concerns | 2 (2.2) | ‘it was a good distraction’ |
| Unclear response | Responses that were unclear and unable to be coded | 6 (6.6) | N/A |
| What could we do to make WeClick better? (n = 47) | |||
| Increase content | More resources, suggestions and stories covering cover a wider range of scenarios | 20 (42.6) |
‘just expand on what is already on WeClick’. ‘wasn’t much content and could easily be completed in an hour… Honestly there just wasn’t enough stuff to do on it’ |
| Increase interactivity | More interactivity and visual elements such as images, journal, and a social component | 9 (19.2) |
‘make it a social platform so other teens could talk to each other about what they are going through’ ‘put more interactive story stuff’ |
| Improve usability | Repairing technical issues and making the app more user friendly | 5 (10.6) |
‘make it easier to navigate the app’ ‘it hadn’t saved or something cause I had to do the whole thing over again’. |
| Include reminders/notifications | Increasing push notifications to remind them to use the app | 4 (8.5) |
‘daily messages or reminders to make people feel better and also remind them to use it’. ‘notifications so people don't forget to use it’ |
| Decrease time to complete | Reducing some of the content and changing the type of activities | 4 (8.5) |
‘less text responses, I rarely had the time to respond in full sentences’ ‘less content’ |
| Target to specific audience | The app may be more appropriate for younger teens or those who have not sought help before. | 3 (6.4) |
‘could be very helpful for someone who's never reached out before’. ‘it should be directed more at younger kids’ |
| Increase personalisation | Making the app more personalised | 3 (6.4) | ‘different advice according to the user’s choices in the app’ |
| Unclear responses | Responses that were unable to be coded | 7 (12.8) | N/A |
For the ‘In what ways did the WeClick app help you?’ question, n = 91 provided 117 responses which indicated that some participants reported more than one reason the app was helpful. For the ‘What can we do to make WeClick better?’ question, n = 47 provided 55 responses which indicated that some participants reported more than one suggestion for improvement. The percentages therefore reflect the prevalence of the theme among these participants.