UC Irvine

This study extended the Narrative Engagement Theory by testing culturally-grounded, animation narrative videos designed to reduce undocumented students’ perceived barriers to talking to a mental health professional (MHP). Students were randomly assigned to view one of four conditions: a control video, a Confidentiality & Stigma video, a Procedural Knowledge video, or both intervention videos. Undocumented students who strongly identified with the characters in the Confidentiality & Stigma video or both intervention videos reported greater intentions to talk to an MHP at the immediate post-test and one-month later. For highly stressed undocumented students, viewing the Procedural Knowledge video or both intervention videos led to seeing an MHP more since baseline. The findings were mixed for the U.S.-born sample.