Internet Interventions-The Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health最新文献

{"title":"Therapist characteristics and acceptance of internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy: A national cross-sectional survey using the technology acceptance model after ten years of iCBT in Norway","authors":"Reidar Nævdal ,&nbsp;Christiaan Vis ,&nbsp;Robin Maria Francisca Kenter","doi":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100881","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100881","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) has been available in Norwegian specialist mental health care for a decade. Despite strong evidence and national support, uptake remains limited, with little known about therapists delivering iCBT or factors influencing engagement.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>Using an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study aimed to provide a national overview of therapists delivering iCBT, their work environment, and acceptance, as well as explore group differences between clinics established through different implementation approaches.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>The study identified all therapists using iCBT in routine care. Using a cross-sectional survey, data regarding therapists' characteristics, their context, and TAM constructs was collected. Therapists were grouped by whether their clinics used bottom-up or top-down implementation approaches and compared on all TAM constructs.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Sixty-seven therapists were identified as actively delivering iCBT nationally. Of these, 45 therapists from 18 clinics responded (67 % response rate). Therapists were experienced clinicians with varying backgrounds and work environments. High acceptance was found across all TAM dimensions except for Image. Therapists in clinics with structured top-down implementation and ongoing supervision reported highest acceptance.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Despite high therapist acceptance of iCBT, experienced loss in professional regard presents a cultural barrier hindering widespread adoption. Despite a decade of use, iCBT remains a small part of routine care. However, successful implementation across diverse therapist backgrounds is achievable, and mandated top-down implementation appears useful when supported by experienced supervision.</div></div><div><h3>Trial registration</h3><div>Haukeland University Hospital e-procotol, project ID: 4696–4696.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48615,"journal":{"name":"Internet Interventions-The Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100881"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145266295","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Doing it together: Qualitative study on barriers and facilitators to dyadic internet interventions for interrole conflict","authors":"Ewelina Smoktunowicz ,&nbsp;Jan Maciejewski ,&nbsp;Magdalena Lesnierowska ,&nbsp;Justyna Ziolkowska ,&nbsp;Marta Roczniewska","doi":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100880","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100880","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Some psychosocial challenges are inherently relational and may be addressed more effectively with dyadic rather than individual interventions. Although uptake and engagement of internet interventions have been widely studied, existing evidence focuses on individually oriented programmes, leaving their potential for dyadic phenomena—such as work–family conflict (WFC) and family–work conflict (FWC)—largely unexplored. To identify barriers and facilitators specific to a dyadic internet intervention aimed at reducing interrole conflict, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 heterosexual, dual-earner couples (<em>N</em> = 40). Thematic analysis revealed five key themes related to potential participation in such an intervention. Motivation for uptake was tied to recognized need, curiosity, and belief in efficacy. Involving both partners promised relational benefits yet introduced scheduling difficulties, highlighting the challenge of “doing it together.” Participants felt ambivalent about disclosing personal matters online, with subtle gendered differences in willingness to share. They also emphasized the importance of flexible, engaging, and personalized pedagogical design. Finally, participants viewed the online format ambivalently—while time constraints were often raised, they were frequently mitigated by the flexibility of access. These findings suggest that effective dyadic internet interventions for WFC/FWC must balance individual and joint activities, incorporate gender-sensitive communication pathways, and tailor content to different couple profiles (e.g., with or without children). Such efforts may enhance engagement and implementation feasibility.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48615,"journal":{"name":"Internet Interventions-The Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100880"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring reactivity effects of self-monitoring prolonged grief reactions in daily life: A randomized waitlist-controlled trial using experience sampling methodology","authors":"Minita Franzen ,&nbsp;Lonneke I.M. Lenferink","doi":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100877","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100877","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>While people's symptomatology levels may change through self-monitoring of symptoms in daily life using experience sampling methodology (ESM), no controlled studies have examined such reactivity effects in the grief field.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>We investigated reactivity effects of self-monitoring prolonged grief reactions to determine whether self-monitoring leads to clinically significant changes in early prolonged grief disorder (PGD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression symptoms at both group and individual levels.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>184 adults, bereaved 3 to 6 months earlier, were randomized to an ESM (<em>n</em> = 90) or waitlist condition (<em>n</em> = 94). Over two weeks, participants reported their prolonged grief reactions 5×/day. Early PGD, PTSD, and depression symptoms were assessed at baseline, post-ESM, and post-waiting. Reactivity effects on psychopathology symptom severity were examined between the ESM and waitlist group. Reliable change indices indicated clinically relevant changes in psychopathology severity and logistic regression models used to test if certain characteristics were related to the clinically relevant changes.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>At the group level, no significant reactivity effect of self-monitoring on symptom severity for PGD, PTSD, and depression was found. Individual-level analyses indicated that most participants did not experience clinically relevant changes from pre- to post-ESM. However, people with higher baseline-PGD-scores were more likely to experience clinically relevant improvements.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Self-monitoring prolonged grief in daily life does not seem to induce reactivity effects in symptom severity, supporting ESM as a suitable method for monitoring early prolonged grief in everyday life. Self-monitoring may benefit those with more severe initial symptoms, offering potential for targeted self-management strategies in bereavement care.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48615,"journal":{"name":"Internet Interventions-The Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100877"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effectiveness of a guided internet-based intervention in reducing procrastination among university students – a randomized controlled trial","authors":"Arpana Amarnath ,&nbsp;Sevin Ozmen ,&nbsp;Chris van Klaveren ,&nbsp;Annemieke van Straten ,&nbsp;Julia Pei ,&nbsp;Leonore de Wit ,&nbsp;Rasmus E. Raabe ,&nbsp;Caring Universities Consortium ,&nbsp;Pim Cuijpers ,&nbsp;Sascha Y. Struijs","doi":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100878","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100878","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Procrastination is highly prevalent among students and has several negative consequences, affecting academic performance, mental health, and prospects for future professional development. However, there exists a treatment gap, with there being many more students with problems than those receiving help. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a guided internet-based intervention, <em>GetStarted</em>, in addressing procrastination among college students. In this two-arm randomized controlled trial, 403 students were randomly assigned to <em>GetStarted</em> or waitlist control. The primary outcome was the difference in self-reported procrastination behaviours between intervention and control measured on the Irrational Procrastination scale (IPS) at post-test (4 weeks post-baseline). In addition, long-term effects based on the difference in the IPS scores from baseline to 6-months follow-up were assessed in the intervention group. Secondary outcomes were differences in depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress, and mental health-related quality of life. All analyses were based on the intent to treat principle. The Random Forest Lee bounds approach was applied as a sensitivity and robustness analysis. The sociodemographic characteristics of the participants were examined as treatment moderators. Finally, treatment acceptability was assessed through satisfaction with treatment, program usability, satisfaction with e-coach, and treatment adherence. Our results revealed that <em>GetStarted</em> was significantly effective in reducing procrastination at the post-test (Cohen's <em>d =</em> 0.40), and this effect remained stable at 6-month follow-up (<em>p</em> &lt; .001). The intervention group also experienced reductions in depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress, along with an increase in quality of life from baseline to post-test and 6-month follow-up, although these changes were not statistically significant apart from perceived stress. No significant moderators influenced treatment effectiveness. Overall, participants reported good acceptability of the treatment. <em>GetStarted</em> offers an effective, flexible, and low-intensity solution for treating procrastination, with the potential to prevent common mental health issues among college students.</div></div><div><h3>Trial registration</h3><div>This trial is registered at <span><span>ClinicalTrials.gov</span><svg><path></path></svg></span> Protocol Registration and Results System (Trial number: <span><span>NCT05478096</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48615,"journal":{"name":"Internet Interventions-The Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100878"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Experiences of an internet-delivered treatment of obesity: A qualitative study","authors":"Annika Imhagen ,&nbsp;Stefan Jansson ,&nbsp;Fredrik Söderqvist ,&nbsp;Jan Karlsson ,&nbsp;Marije Galavazi ,&nbsp;Agneta Anderzén Carlsson","doi":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100876","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100876","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48615,"journal":{"name":"Internet Interventions-The Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100876"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145320597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"What therapists do during guidance in individually tailored internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy for depressive symptoms: A content analysis","authors":"Victoria Aminoff ,&nbsp;Laura Luisa Bielinski ,&nbsp;Matilda Berg ,&nbsp;Thomas Berger ,&nbsp;Gerhard Andersson","doi":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100875","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100875","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><div>Therapist-supported internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) can be effective for individuals with depressive symptoms. However, it remains unclear how therapists act when guiding individually tailored ICBT. This study examined therapist behaviors in guided ICBT where therapists choose participant modules, focusing on the proportions of behaviors and behaviors' associations with depressive symptoms and negative treatment effects.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Content analysis was employed to examine 1055 messages sent from six therapists to 62 participants. <em>Z</em>-tests for proportions were used to compare therapist behaviors in the current study to those reported in studies on non-tailored ICBT. The association between therapist behavior frequencies and changes in depressive symptoms and negative effects were assessed using Spearman's rho correlation. Residual change scores were calculated for depressive symptoms.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>All but two therapist behaviors identified in prior research on non-tailored ICBT were observed in this study. Certain behaviors such as <em>clarifying the framework and administrative aspects</em> were more common than in non-tailored ICBT for depressive symptoms. Other behaviors, such as <em>empathetic utterances,</em> were less common. The frequency of <em>reinforcing</em> correlated significantly with a decrease in depressive symptoms (<em>r</em>_s = −0.33, <em>p</em> = .033) and <em>unsupportive tone</em> correlated significantly with negative effects (<em>r</em>_s = 0.35, <em>p</em> = .022).</div></div><div><h3>Discussion</h3><div>Almost all therapist behaviors observed in previous studies on non-tailored ICBT are also present in individually tailored ICBT, although the proportions of behaviors differ. Furthermore, the results indicate that <em>reinforcing</em> may be associated with improved treatment outcomes, while therapist <em>unsupportive tone</em> could be linked to negative effects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48615,"journal":{"name":"Internet Interventions-The Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100875"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145158471","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prevention of mental health issues in the young: A randomised controlled evaluation of an e-mental health application for young adults to enhance mental health literacy","authors":"Olivia Krokos ,&nbsp;Isabel Brandhorst ,&nbsp;Caterina Gawrilow ,&nbsp;Johanna Löchner","doi":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100874","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100874","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>The mental health of young adults is deteriorating. Reasons for this are manifold, ranging from biological factors (e.g. entering a vulnerable developmental phase) to crisis-related external events (e.g. COVID-19 pandemic). Accordingly, easily accessible and universal prevention for the young is needed. Mobile Health (mHealth) interventions are on the rise and especially promising for this age group, due to numerous benefits, such as low threshold, temporal and local flexibility and high scalability. However, the effectiveness and acceptance of mHealth interventions as prevention measures are missing empirical evidence.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>In a two-arm randomised controlled trial design, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a mental health app, the ‘Mental Health Guide’, primarily on mental health literacy as well as secondary mental health outcomes. <em>N</em> = 322 Participants (81.99 % female, M = 25.55 years, SD = 9.63 years, age range: 15 to 59 years) were either assigned to the intervention group (<em>n</em> = 158), using the Mental Health Guide for 12 weeks, or the wait-list control group (<em>n</em> = 164).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The results show a significant intervention effect on mental health literacy for the intervention group in the post assessment (<em>p</em> = .047, <em>d</em> = 0.20), but no at later follow-up time points. Further variables related to mental health indicate various effects, such as improved problematic (<em>p</em> = .018, <em>d</em> = 0.20) and prosocial behaviour (<em>p</em> = .008, <em>d</em> = 0.23) in the intervention group and improved emotion regulation capacities for both groups (<em>p</em> &lt; .001, <em>d</em> = 0.20). Overall, there was a high drop-out rate in the study (up to 80 %), especially in the intervention group.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>This study contributes valuable insights into the potential effectiveness of mHealth prevention in young adults and gives insights on how such applications are used under very naturalistic settings, laying a foundation for future research in this field. However, generalisability is limited due to selective sample characteristics and a rather high drop-out rate over time.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48615,"journal":{"name":"Internet Interventions-The Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100874"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145105923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating visual feedback of experience sampling data for mental health practitioners","authors":"Maarten Piot ,&nbsp;Egon Dejonckheere ,&nbsp;Anke Tuinstra ,&nbsp;Imke Tijs ,&nbsp;Peter Kuppens ,&nbsp;Stijn Verdonck","doi":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100873","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100873","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) allows to capture and quantify people's daily experiences, thoughts, and behaviors in real-world contexts. While ESM holds great promise for informing case conceptualization and improving therapeutic targeting in mental health care, visualizations of self-reported ESM data remain largely tailored to researchers and are often not easy to interpret for mental health practitioners. To what extent such visualizations can assist practitioners within their context of mental health care remains still unclear.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>This study investigates the effect of including uncertainty information in visualizations of ESM feedback on practitioners' decision-making processes.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We recruited 40 Belgian mental health practitioners and students in their last year of psychology or educational science studies to take part in an experiment that assessed their proficiency in interpreting ESM feedback based on reality-inspired clinical cases. Three variables (i.e., interactive hover function, error bars, and textual descriptions about effect size and confidence interval) were manipulated in a balanced factorial design to determine their effects on correct data interpretation.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The results indicate that providing textual descriptions about effect size and confidence intervals increased practitioners' confidence levels and accuracies compared to error bars alone. Furthermore, practitioners want to integrate ESM feedback into treatment. When ESM feedback was associated with low confidence, they preferred to further explore the clinical case. In contrast, when ESM feedback was associated with high confidence, they opted for more action-oriented interventions.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>These findings underscore the importance of including textual descriptions in graphical visualizations as they help to improve practitioners' decision-making processes in mental health care.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48615,"journal":{"name":"Internet Interventions-The Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100873"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145109553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of a brief online self-compassion training on perfectionism, self-criticism, and social anxiety: A randomized controlled trial","authors":"Kira S.A. Borgdorf ,&nbsp;Corina Aguilar-Raab ,&nbsp;Daniel V. Holt","doi":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100870","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100870","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This randomized controlled trial evaluates the effects of a brief online self-compassion training (SCT) on self-compassion, self-criticism, perfectionism, social anxiety, and psychological health in comparison to a generic stress-reduction training (SRT). Both training courses consisted of six brief, format-matched, unsupervised, online sessions with various exercises, and took place in a self-paced manner over 2 to 4 weeks. We collected self-report data on self-compassion, self-criticism, perfectionism, social anxiety, and psychological health. Participants were 200 healthy adults (85.5 % female, <em>M</em>_age = 30 years), randomly allocated to the SCT or the SRT. In pre-post comparison, effect sizes for the SCT were moderate for self-compassion (<em>dz</em> = 0.49, 95 % CI [0.26, 0.72]), self-criticism (<em>dz</em> = −0.50, 95 % CI [−0.72, −0.28]), and perfectionism (<em>dz</em> = −0.41, 95 % CI [−0.62, −0.20]), but close to zero for social anxiety (<em>dz</em> = −0.01, 95 % CI [−0.21, 0.18]). Only small differences emerged between the conditions immediately after the training, except for self-compassion (<em>d</em> = 0.49, 95 % CI [0.02, 0.58]). At 4 weeks follow-up the effects of both trainings on the target variables, including self-compassion, were very similar. However, intervention-specific effects were pronounced and enduring for participants with high initial levels of self-criticism. The results indicate that both training courses yielded similar psychological effect patterns. Effects of the SCT were not specific to self-compassion and conceptually opposite variables like perfectionism or self-criticism. These findings highlight the importance of understanding core mechanisms of self-compassion interventions and identifying appropriate target groups in future research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48615,"journal":{"name":"Internet Interventions-The Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100870"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145050092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A web-based approach to adolescent mental health: Randomized controlled trial of a brief Positive Psychology intervention","authors":"Sara Kaubisch ,&nbsp;Maria Kloek ,&nbsp;Regine Primbs ,&nbsp;Lucia Iglhaut ,&nbsp;Charlotte E. Piechaczek ,&nbsp;Pia-Marie Keim ,&nbsp;Lisa Feldmann ,&nbsp;Gerd Schulte-Körne ,&nbsp;Ellen Greimel","doi":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100872","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.invent.2025.100872","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Theoretical background</h3><div>The high prevalence of mental health problems as well as the substantial rise in the prevalence of major depression among young people is a major concern worldwide. There is an urgent need for easily accessible interventions that promote well-being and mitigate mental health problems in adolescents before mental health problems worsen. Hence, we developed a freely accessible, brief online intervention based on Positive Psychology for youth.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>This randomized controlled trial (preregistered at <span><span>ClinicalTrials.gov</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>: <span><span>NCT04994496</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>) examined the efficacy, acceptance, and adherence of a brief online Positive Psychology intervention to improve affect- and stress-related outcomes in healthy adolescents in comparison to an active control condition.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>79 adolescents aged 12 to 18 (<em>M</em> = 15.65, <em>SD</em> = 1.74) were randomly assigned to the experimental group, which received 14 daily web-based self-help exercises based on Positive Psychology, or to the control group, which received a web-based active control intervention (factual messages unrelated to Positive Psychology). Changes in affect- and stress-related outcome measures as well as acceptance of the intervention were assessed using self-report inventories. Adherence to the intervention was measured using objective indicators and self-reporting.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>There were no differential effects of the Positive Psychology intervention on affect- and stress-related outcomes compared to the control group. The overall acceptance of the Positive Psychology intervention was good and more than 83 % of the participants in the Positive Psychology intervention group reported that they would recommend the exercises to other adolescents. Furthermore, more than 87 % of the adolescents in the Positive Psychology intervention group reported that they carried out the exercises, and usage data showed that approximately 64 % opened 10 or more of the links that contained the exercises.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The findings have important implications for future efforts in the prevention of mental health problems. In particular, they provide more information on how to deliver brief online, multi-component Positive Psychology interventions for healthy young people. As the results indicated good acceptance and adherence in our adolescent sample but no differential effects, we encourage further mixed methods research evaluating the perceived usefulness and person-activity-fit to understand the optimal methodology for the delivery of Positive Psychology interventions to have beneficial effects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48615,"journal":{"name":"Internet Interventions-The Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health","volume":"42 ","pages":"Article 100872"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145266298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}