Young People as Online Mental Health Advocates: What Helps Filipino Students Speak, Share, and Support Others Online

Article information

Amik, A. M. R., Concepcion, H. S. C., Villamor, H. J. A., & Cleofas, J. V. (2025). Digital affordances and the self: A mixed methods study on the resources for online mental health advocacy engagement among Filipino senior high school students. Journal of Applied Youth Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43151-024-00153-y 

What this study is about

Young people are facing a global mental health crisis. Many need help, but professional mental health services are often difficult to access. In the Philippines, this problem is especially serious because youth mental health needs remain high while counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and school-based mental health services remain limited. 

At the same time, young Filipinos are active online. Social media is not only a place for entertainment. It has also become a space where young people learn about mental health, talk about stigma, share resources, join campaigns, and support friends who may be struggling. 

This study asks two main questions:

1. How do Filipino senior high school students engage in online mental health advocacy?
2. What resources help them become online mental health advocates?

The study is important because it treats young people not only as “at risk” or “in need of help,” but also as possible advocates, supporters, and participants in mental health promotion.

What the researchers did

The researchers conducted a convergent mixed methods study with 157 Filipino senior high school students from a private university in Manila. The students were selected because they identified themselves as mental health advocates. 

The study collected both numbers and written responses through an online survey. The quantitative part measured:

• online mental health advocacy engagement;
• mental health literacy;
• social media competence; and
• active social media use across platforms such as Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. 

The qualitative part asked students open-ended questions about how they advocate for mental health using social media and what skills or resources they need to become better online advocates. 

The mixed methods design allowed the researchers to see both the patterns and the meanings behind students’ online advocacy practices.

---

What the study found

1) Students practiced different levels of online mental health advocacy

The study used three types of online advocacy engagement.

The first is latent engagement, which means seeking and consuming information about mental health online. This includes reading posts, watching videos, searching for mental health resources, and learning more about mental health concerns. This was the most common form of engagement among the students. 

The second is follower engagement, which means joining or supporting advocacy activities started by others. This includes sharing petitions, attending online events, joining campaigns, or reposting advocacy content.

The third is expressive engagement, which means creating or initiating advocacy actions oneself. This includes posting original mental health content, commenting publicly, or starting conversations online.

According to Table 1 on page 10, latent engagement had the highest mean score, while follower and expressive engagement were lower. In plain language: students were more likely to learn about mental health online than to publicly create advocacy content or organize actions themselves. 

2) Sharing mental health posts was a common advocacy practice

Students described online advocacy as liking, sharing, reposting, retweeting, commenting on, or echoing mental health-related content. Many saw sharing as a simple but meaningful way to spread awareness. 

This matters because online advocacy does not always look dramatic. For young people, even sharing an easy-to-read post about depression, anxiety, stigma, or help-seeking can be a way of making mental health more visible.

The qualitative findings in Table 2 on pages 12–13 show that students shared mental health materials, supported mental health content creators, commented on posts, and joined awareness campaigns. 

3) Learning about mental health was also advocacy

The study found that students saw self-education as part of advocacy. They wanted to understand mental health better before speaking about it publicly. Some students said they researched issues first, fact-checked information, and tried to deepen their understanding before sharing posts. 

This is important. It shows that youth advocacy is not only about speaking. It is also about preparing oneself to speak responsibly.

4) Some students provided direct mental help online

One of the most important qualitative findings was not fully captured by the original quantitative scale. Students said they also used online platforms to provide direct support to friends, family members, or peers experiencing distress. This included private messaging, listening without judgment, comforting friends, encouraging open communication, and sometimes suggesting professional help. 

This is a major contribution of the study. It expands the idea of online mental health advocacy. Advocacy is not only public posting. It can also happen quietly through direct messages, peer support, and private conversations.

5) Digital affordances helped students engage

The first major resource identified in the study was digital affordances. This means the opportunities made possible by digital tools.

Quantitatively, having more active social media accounts predicted higher online mental health advocacy engagement. In bivariate results, Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, and TikTok use were positively linked with several forms of engagement, while YouTube use was negatively linked. 

Qualitatively, students named practical digital resources: internet connection, phones, laptops, social media accounts, cameras, microphones, and editing tools. The categories in Table 4 on page 16 show that students understood online advocacy as something that requires infrastructure—not only passion. 

In simple terms: young people can advocate online only when they have the tools to be online.

6) The “self” was also a resource

The second major resource was the self. This means the advocate’s own capacities: knowledge, skills, values, judgment, and well-being. 

Mental health literacy mattered. Students with higher mental health knowledge reported higher advocacy engagement. Students also said advocates need to understand mental health before posting or supporting others.

Social media competence also mattered. Students who were better at using social media, interpreting content, generating content, and reflecting before posting were more engaged in online advocacy. 

Students also emphasized the ability to assess misinformation. They wanted to know how to fact-check, find credible sources, avoid spreading false claims, and identify misleading mental health content. This is crucial because mental health misinformation is common online.

Finally, students said advocates need a healthy sense of self. They recognized that helping others online can be emotionally demanding. Advocates also need self-awareness, self-care, resilience, and boundaries. 

7) The model explained a meaningful part of advocacy engagement

The regression model showed that three factors significantly predicted online mental health advocacy engagement:

• more active social media accounts;
• higher mental health literacy; and
• higher social media competence. 

Together, these factors explained 21.3% of the variance in advocacy engagement. This means they are meaningful resources, though not the whole story. Other resources—such as time, confidence, family support, school culture, peer networks, and economic resources—may also matter.

Bottom line

This study shows that young Filipino mental health advocates do not all engage online in the same way. Many begin by learning. Some share and echo existing content. Some create or comment publicly. Others support peers privately through messages. 

The study also shows that youth advocacy depends on resources. Students need digital tools, internet access, mental health literacy, social media competence, misinformation-checking skills, communication skills, and personal well-being.

The key message is clear: to support youth mental health advocacy, we must support both their digital access and their inner capacities as advocates.

---

Policy/practice recommendations

1. Train youth advocates in mental health literacy
   Mental health organizations and schools should teach basic mental health concepts, stigma reduction, help-seeking, crisis awareness, and referral pathways.
2. Teach social media advocacy skills
   Students need support in creating clear posts, interpreting content, engaging safely, responding to comments, and using platform tools responsibly.
3. Include misinformation-checking in mental health advocacy training
   Youth advocates should learn how to verify sources, identify misleading claims, avoid oversimplified advice, and share only credible information.
4. Support private peer-help practices
   Since some students provide direct help through private messages, schools should teach boundaries, active listening, crisis referral, and when to seek adult or professional support.
5. Provide digital resources
   Internet access, devices, editing tools, and platform access are part of advocacy capacity. Digital inequality can limit youth participation.
6. Protect the well-being of youth advocates
   Mental health advocacy can be emotionally heavy. Programs should include self-care, supervision, psychological safety, and burnout prevention.
7. Move beyond performative awareness campaigns
   Sharing posts is useful, but youth advocacy programs should also build deeper skills: critical thinking, empathy, communication, referral literacy, and community action.

---

Glossary of key terms

• Online mental health advocacy engagement — Actions done online to support mental health awareness, reduce stigma, share resources, encourage help-seeking, or support people experiencing distress.
• Mental health advocacy — Efforts to promote mental health education, reduce stigma, improve access to care, support people in need, and defend the right to mental health.
• Latent engagement — Quiet or indirect engagement, such as reading, searching, watching, or learning about mental health online.
• Follower engagement — Supporting advocacy actions started by others, such as sharing a petition, reposting a campaign, or joining an online event.
• Expressive engagement — Creating or initiating advocacy content or action, such as posting original content or publicly commenting about mental health.
• Digital affordances — The opportunities for action made possible by digital technologies, such as social media platforms, phones, laptops, internet access, cameras, and editing tools.
• Resource theory — A theory suggesting that participation in civic or advocacy activities depends partly on available resources, such as time, knowledge, tools, skills, and social access.
• Mental health literacy — Knowledge and beliefs that help people recognize, understand, manage, prevent, or respond to mental health concerns.
• MAKS / Mental Health Knowledge Schedule — A scale used to measure mental health knowledge and attitudes.
• Social media competence — The ability to use social media effectively, critically, creatively, and responsibly.
• Technical usability — Knowing how to use social media tools and platform features.
• Content interpretation — The ability to understand and critically evaluate online content.
• Content generation — The ability to create and communicate messages through social media.
• Anticipatory reflection — Thinking about the possible consequences of a social media action before posting or engaging.
• Health misinformation — False, misleading, or unsupported information about health or mental health.
• Fact-checking — Checking whether information is accurate, credible, and supported by reliable evidence.
• Peer support — Emotional or practical support offered by people of similar age, experience, or social position.
• Direct mental help online — Supporting someone through private messages, listening, comforting, encouraging help-seeking, or referring them to formal services.
• Mixed methods study — A study that combines quantitative data, such as survey scores, with qualitative data, such as written responses.
• Convergent mixed methods design — A design where quantitative and qualitative data are collected during the same period, analyzed separately, and integrated during interpretation.
• Youth digital citizenship — Young people’s participation, responsibility, identity, and action in digital spaces.