Mental health messaging and speaker credibility: exploring farming community members’ preferences

Purpose: The present study examined preferred senders and channels of mental health information among members of the farming community in Ireland, as well as testing whether mental health sender nuance impacted perceived speaker believability, trustworthiness, and credibility, and whether mental health stigma differed based message framing.Design/Methodology/Approach: Two-hundred and fourteen farming community members were randomly assigned to read one of three vignettes which differed in terms of how the speaker discussed mental health, either by overemphasizing mental health concerns (n = 66), underemphasizing mental health concerns (n = 79), or adopting a more balanced approach (n = 69). Participants then rated believability, trustworthiness, credibility, senders and channels of mental health information, and mental health stigma.Findings: The most preferred senders were licensed mental health providers and licensed medical providers. The most preferred channels were one-on-one in person and internet/ websites. Participants rated the speaker that underemphasized mental health concerns as significantly less believable, trustworthy, and credible than the speaker that employed relatively more nuance and the speaker that overemphasized mental health concerns. Message framing was not evidenced to impact stigma.Practical Implications/Theoretical Implications/Value: These findings have implications for professionals targeting mental health in farming communities and inform ongoing applied intervention work.