Jackson, Hayley M.Gulliver, AmeliaHasking, PenelopeLeach, LianaBatterham, Philip J.Calear, Alison L.Farrer, Louise M.2025-06-122025-06-12ORCID:/0000-0001-6351-9844/work/172744088ORCID:/0000-0002-7028-725X/work/172744092ORCID:/0000-0001-5694-4631/work/172744587ORCID:/0000-0003-3686-2553/work/172744981http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85202852246&partnerID=8YFLogxKhttps://hdl.handle.net/1885/733759654Objective: Digital interventions can be effective in preventing and treating common mental health conditions among university students. Incorporating student experiences and perspectives in the design and implementation of these programmes may improve uptake and engagement. This qualitative study explored university students’ perspectives of a low-intensity video-based mental health intervention, their recommendations for implementing the programme in university settings, and their views and recommendations to address barriers to engagement. Methods: Participants (N = 115) were students (mean = 20.63 years, SD = 2.10) with elevated distress from 31 Australian universities drawn from a randomised controlled trial of the Uni Virtual Clinic-Lite (UVC-Lite). Data from students randomised to the intervention condition were collected via semi-structured interviews (n = 12) and open-ended questions during post-intervention surveys (n = 103). Data were analysed using content analysis. Results: Participants generally reported positive views of the intervention, and most felt it should be offered to students as a universal intervention. Multiple methods of disseminating the intervention were suggested, including through university counselling, official platforms (e.g. student support services) and informal channels (e.g. word-of-mouth promotion). Difficulty integrating the programme into everyday life, pre-existing beliefs about mental health and technology-related factors were highlighted as barriers to engagement. Conclusion: A low-intensity video-based mental health intervention was generally considered to be acceptable and appropriate for students with mild to moderate distress. Participants provided several suggestions to encourage uptake of the intervention and possible pathways to disseminate the intervention to students. The effectiveness of these should be examined in future trials.The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by a grant from Australian Rotary Health. LMF is supported by a fellowship from the Australian Research Council, DE190101382. ALC is supported by NHMRC Fellowship 1173146. We would like to thank Natasha Katruss for her work in the randomised controlled trial of the UVC-Lite intervention. We would also like to thank Hanna Saltis for advising on the analytic method for this study. The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by a grant from Australian Rotary Health. LMF is supported by a fellowship from the Australian Research Council, DE190101382. ALC is supported by NHMRC Fellowship 1173146.enPublisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.engagementinternet-based interventionmental healthqualitative researchstudentsUniversitiesyoung people2024-01-0110.1177/2055207624127717585202852246