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Moggia D, Lutz W, Kazantzis N, Schwartz B, Bakker D. Symptom Reduction and Engagement in a Cognitive-Behavioral Mobile Phone App: A Study of User Profiling to Determine Prognostic Indicators. Behav Ther 2024; 55:217-232. [PMID: 38418036 DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2023.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE We investigated the presence of latent transition profiles in a sample of users of a cognitive-behavioral mental health app for the general population. Users' baseline characteristics were used as predictors of the profiles. The role of engagement with the app in the transition profiles was examined. METHOD A total of 541 users completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the General Anxiety Disorder-7 when started using the app and 30 days after. Random-Intercept Latent Transition Analysis was implemented to identify users' profiles and transition patterns as classes. The age of the users and the Emotional Self-Awareness Scale-Revised (ESAS-R) were used as predictors of class membership at baseline. The Homework Rating Scale-Mobile Application (HRS-MA; as a measure of engagement) was used as a predictor of class membership at 30 days of app use. RESULTS A 3-class solution was obtained according to the severity of symptoms (from mild to moderately severe). Age and ESAS-R predicted class membership initially; the higher the age and ESAS-R, the higher the probability of starting using the app with lower distress levels. The HRS-MA predicted class membership at 30 days of app use; the higher the engagement for more symptomatic and younger users, the higher the probability of improvement. However, older users tended to engage less. CONCLUSION Our findings underpin the relevance of easily accessible digital interventions for young adults with mild to moderate mental health problems. Further studies and developments are required to enhance these apps for older cohorts.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Nikolaos Kazantzis
- Cognitive Behavior Therapy Research Unit; Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy
| | | | - David Bakker
- Monash University; University of Tasmania; Cognitive Behavior Therapy Research Unit
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McEvoy PM, Bendlin M, Johnson AR, Kazantzis N, Campbell BNC, Bank SR, Egan SJ. The relationships among working alliance, group cohesion and homework engagement in group cognitive behaviour therapy for social anxiety disorder. Psychother Res 2024; 34:54-67. [PMID: 36630684 DOI: 10.1080/10503307.2022.2161966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Few studies have investigated the role of generic relational factors, such as group cohesion and working alliance, in group cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD). The aim of this study was to examine the temporal associations among working alliance, group cohesion, and an index of a CBT-specific factor, homework engagement, as correlates of fear of negative evaluation and symptoms of social anxiety in group CBT for SAD. METHOD There were 105 participants with a diagnosis of social anxiety disorder who were randomly assigned to 12 sessions of group imagery-enhanced or standard CBT. Participants completed measures at various time points during the 12-session interventions, and the relationship among variables was examined through random-intercept cross-lagged panel models. RESULTS Group cohesion was significantly associated with social anxiety symptoms at the end of treatment, however there was no significant relationship with working alliance. Greater homework engagement predicted lower social interaction anxiety, but only during mid-treatment. CONCLUSION The results highlight the importance of supporting group cohesion and maximising homework engagement during core components of social anxiety treatment such as behavioural experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter M McEvoy
- Curtin enAble Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
- Discipline of Psychology, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
- Centre for Clinical Interventions, Perth, Australia
| | - Martyna Bendlin
- Curtin enAble Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
- Discipline of Psychology, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
| | - Andrew R Johnson
- Discipline of Psychology, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
| | - Nikolaos Kazantzis
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Research Unit, Melbourne, Australia
- Beck Institute for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Research, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | | | - Sarah J Egan
- Curtin enAble Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
- Discipline of Psychology, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
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Bijkerk LE, Oenema A, Geschwind N, Spigt M. Measuring Engagement with Mental Health and Behavior Change Interventions: an Integrative Review of Methods and Instruments. Int J Behav Med 2023; 30:155-166. [PMID: 35578099 PMCID: PMC10036274 DOI: 10.1007/s12529-022-10086-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Engagement is a complex construct consisting of behavioral, cognitive, and affective dimensions, making engagement a difficult construct to measure. This integrative review aims to (1) present a multidisciplinary overview of measurement methods that are currently used to measure engagement with adult mental health and behavior change interventions, delivered in-person, blended, or digitally, and (2) provide a set of recommendations and considerations for researchers wishing to study engagement. METHODS We used an integrative approach and identified original studies and reviews on engagement with mental health or behavior change interventions that were delivered in-person, digitally, or blended. RESULTS Forty articles were analyzed in this review. Common methods to assess engagement were through objective usage data, questionnaire-based data, and qualitative data, with objective usage data being used most frequently. Based on the synthesis of engagement measures, we advise researchers to (1) predefine the operationalization of engagement for their specific research context, (2) measure behavioral, cognitive, and affective dimensions of engagement in all cases, and (3) measure engagement over time. CONCLUSIONS Current literature shows a bias towards behavioral measures of engagement in research, as most studies measured engagement exclusively through objective usage data, without including cognitive and affective measures of engagement. We hope that our recommendations will help to reduce this bias and to steer engagement research towards an integrated approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Esther Bijkerk
- Department of Family Medicine, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - Anke Oenema
- Department of Health Promotion, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Nicole Geschwind
- Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Mark Spigt
- Department of Family Medicine, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- General Practice Research Unit, Department of Community Medicine, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
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Joyce KM, Rioux C, MacKinnon AL, Katz LY, Reynolds K, Kelly LE, Klassen T, Afifi TO, Mushquash AR, Clement FM, Chartier M, Xie EB, Penner KE, Hunter S, Berard L, Tomfohr-Madsen L, Roos LE. The Building Emotional Awareness and Mental health (BEAM) program developed with a community partner for mothers of infants: protocol for a feasibility randomized controlled trial. Pilot Feasibility Stud 2023; 9:35. [PMID: 36895006 PMCID: PMC9996593 DOI: 10.1186/s40814-023-01260-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/11/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Drastic increases in the rates of maternal depression and anxiety have been reported since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Most programs aim to improve maternal mental health or parenting skills separately, despite it being more effective to target both concurrently. The Building Emotional Awareness and Mental health (BEAM) program was developed to address this gap. BEAM is a mobile health program aiming to mitigate the impacts of pandemic stress on family well-being. Since many family agencies lack infrastructure and personnel to adequately treat maternal mental health concerns, a partnership will occur with Family Dynamics (a local family agency) to address this unmet need. The study's objective is to examine the feasibility of the BEAM program when delivered with a community partner to inform a larger randomized controlled trial (RCT). METHODS A pilot RCT will be conducted with mothers who have depression and/or anxiety with a child 6-18 months old living in Manitoba, Canada. Mothers will be randomized to the 10 weeks of the BEAM program or a standard of care (i.e., MoodMission). Back-end App data (collected via Google Analytics and Firebase) will be used to examine feasibility, engagement, and accessibility of the BEAM program; cost-effectiveness will also be examined. Implementation elements (e.g., maternal depression [Patient Health Questionnaire-9] and anxiety [Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7]) will be piloted to estimate the effect size and variance for future sample size calculations. DISCUSSION In partnership with a local family agency, BEAM holds the potential to promote maternal-child health via a cost-effective and an easily accessible program designed to scale. Results will provide insight into the feasibility of the BEAM program and will inform future RCTs. TRIAL REGISTRATION {2A}: This trial was retrospectively registered with ClinicalTrial.gov ( NCT05398107 ) on May 31st, 2022.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kayla M Joyce
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, P314 Duff Roblin Building, 190 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada.
| | | | | | - Laurence Y Katz
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, P314 Duff Roblin Building, 190 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Kristin Reynolds
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, P314 Duff Roblin Building, 190 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Lauren E Kelly
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, P314 Duff Roblin Building, 190 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Terry Klassen
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, P314 Duff Roblin Building, 190 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Tracie O Afifi
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, P314 Duff Roblin Building, 190 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
| | | | | | - Mariette Chartier
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, P314 Duff Roblin Building, 190 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
| | | | - Kailey E Penner
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, P314 Duff Roblin Building, 190 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Sandra Hunter
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, P314 Duff Roblin Building, 190 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Lindsay Berard
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, P314 Duff Roblin Building, 190 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
| | | | - Leslie E Roos
- Departments of Psychology and Pediatrics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
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McCallum M, Ho AS, Mitchell ES, May CN, Behr H, Ritschel L, Mochrie K, Michaelides A. Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Outcomes of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy–Based Mobile Mental Well-being Program (Noom Mood): Single-Arm Prospective Cohort Study. JMIR Form Res 2022; 6:e36794. [PMID: 35436218 PMCID: PMC9055471 DOI: 10.2196/36794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The prevalence of anxiety, depression, and general distress has risen in recent years. Mobile mental health programs have been found to provide support to nonclinical populations and may overcome some of the barriers associated with traditional in-person treatment; however, researchers have voiced concerns that many publicly available mobile mental health programs lack evidence-based theoretical foundations, peer-reviewed research, and sufficient engagement from the public. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of Noom Mood, a commercial mobile cognitive behavioral therapy– and mindfulness-based program. Methods In this single-arm prospective cohort study, individuals who joined Noom Mood between August and October 2021 completed surveys at baseline and 4-week follow-up. Per-protocol analyses included those who completed both surveys (n=113), and intention-to-treat analyses included all participants (N=185). Results A majority of the sample reported that the program is easy to use, they felt confident recommending the program to a friend, and they perceived the program to be effective at improving stress and anxiety. There were significant improvements in anxiety symptoms, perceived stress, depressive feelings, emotion regulation, and optimism in both the per-protocol and intention-to-treat analyses (all P<.001). Participants reported benefiting most from learning skills (eg, breathing and cognitive reframing techniques), interacting with the program features, and gaining awareness of their emotions and thought patterns. Participants also made a number of suggestions to improve product functionality and usability. Conclusions Results suggest that Noom Mood is feasible and acceptable to participants, with promising preliminary outcomes. Future studies should build on these results to evaluate the effects of Noom Mood using more rigorous designs.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Heather Behr
- Academic Research, Noom Inc, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Integrative Health, Saybrook University, Pasadena, CA, United States
| | - Lorie Ritschel
- Triangle Area Psychology Clinic, Durham, NC, United States
- School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Kirk Mochrie
- Triangle Area Psychology Clinic, Durham, NC, United States
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Eis S, Solà-Morales O, Duarte-Díaz A, Vidal-Alaball J, Perestelo-Pérez L, Robles N, Carrion C. Mobile Applications in Mood Disorders and Mental Health: Systematic Search in Apple App Store and Google Play Store and Review of the Literature. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19042186. [PMID: 35206373 PMCID: PMC8871536 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19042186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The main objective of this work was to explore and characterize the current landscape of mobile applications available to treat mood disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and dysthymia. METHODS We developed a tool that makes both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store searchable using keywords and that facilitates the extraction of basic app information of the search results. All app results were filtered using various inclusion and exclusion criteria. We characterized all resultant applications according to their technical details. Furthermore, we searched for scientific publications on each app's website and PubMed, to understand whether any of the apps were supported by any type of scientific evidence on their acceptability, validation, use, effectiveness, etc. Results: Thirty apps were identified that fit the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The literature search yielded 27 publications related to the apps. However, these did not exclusively concern mood disorders. 6 were randomized studies and the rest included a protocol, pilot-, feasibility, case-, or qualitative studies, among others. The majority of studies were conducted on relatively small scales and 9 of the 27 studies did not explicitly study the effects of mobile application use on mental wellbeing. CONCLUSION While there exists a wealth of mobile applications aimed at the treatment of mental health disorders, including mood disorders, this study showed that only a handful of these are backed by robust scientific evidence. This result uncovers a need for further clinically oriented and systematic validation and testing of such apps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Eis
- Fundació HiTT (Health Innovation Technology Transfer), 08015 Barcelona, Spain;
| | - Oriol Solà-Morales
- Fundació HiTT (Health Innovation Technology Transfer), 08015 Barcelona, Spain;
- Correspondence:
| | - Andrea Duarte-Díaz
- Canary Islands Health Research Institute Foundation (FIISC), 38109 Tenerife, Spain;
| | - Josep Vidal-Alaball
- Health Promotion in Rural Areas Research Group, Gerència Territorial de la Catalunya Central, Institut Català de la Salut, 08272 Barcelona, Spain;
- Unitat de Suport a la Recerca de la Catalunya Central, Fundació Institut Universitari per a la Recerca a l’Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVIC-UCC), 08500 Vic, Spain
| | | | - Noemí Robles
- eHealth Lab Research Group, School of Health Sciences and eHealth Centre, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (N.R.); (C.C.)
| | - Carme Carrion
- eHealth Lab Research Group, School of Health Sciences and eHealth Centre, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (N.R.); (C.C.)
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