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People accessing health advice online can feel they have no choice but to put their trust in websites they visit despite having misgivings, suggests a University of Southampton study. Researchers found users felt that convenience, ease of use and, crucially, a lack of alternatives outweigh their concerns about privacy and data security.

The team explored the feelings of people, both with and without lived experience of a mental health condition, toward internet-based technologies (IBTs) and sites that make use of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in e-Health applications.

They found there was no clear difference in levels of trust between the two mental health status groups. However, they revealed concern across both groups about trustworthiness and feelings of "digital resignation" regarding features such as cookies.

Lead author and psychologist Dr. Emma Palmer-Cooper explains, "Our original concern was that people with serious mental health conditions, who can sometimes display more mistrust of others and of 'cyber' technologies, may be more likely to avoid IBTs designed to help them due to a level of paranoia or fear.

"We set up our study to explore this possibility, but our results showed this as less of an issue and that more general concerns about trust in digital technologies—common to both participant groups—were more prevalent."

-based adult participants: eight with lived experience of a mental health condition and 14 without.

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