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

Background

A blended intervention consisting of in-person physiotherapy and psychologically-informed digital health, called Back2Action, was developed to optimise the management of people with persistent spinal pain who also have psychosocial risk factors associated with the development or maintenance of persistent pain. This study aimed to gain insights in how participants experienced this blended intervention.

Methods

A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted. Eleven people with persistent non-specific spinal pain who received the blended intervention within a randomised clinical trial were included. All interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed independently by two researchers. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis.

Results

The analysis identified four themes: (1) Experiencing a better understanding of the relationship between own physical and mental health; (2) Importance of the physiotherapist's active involvement in biopsychosocial blended care, which describes the crucial role of physiotherapists in supporting participants in this; (3) Appreciation of digital health, to better understand persistent pain and make meaningful lifestyle changes; and (4) Trials and triumphs, revealing gains such as better coping, but also challenges with implementation of changes into long-term routines.

Conclusion

Participants of the blended intervention experienced positive changes in thoughts and behaviours, which highlights the feasibility and acceptability of the blended intervention as a more holistic treatment within pain management. The differences in personal preferences for receiving psychologically-informed digital health poses challenges for implementation of blended biopsychosocial care in evidence-based practice.

Background

To promote physical activity in post-treatment cancer survivors, a mobile application WExercise was developed using the Multi-Process Action Control Framework. It contains 10 weekly online lesson to facilitate reflective, regulatory, and reflexive processes to help participants to form and sustain physical activity behavior.

Objectives

To test the usability and acceptability of WExercise in post-treatment cancer survivors.

Methods

This study involved four phases: (1) preparing application content, (2) expert panel review (comprising oncology healthcare workers, exercise specialists, and behavior change researchers), (3) developing the app, and (4) usability test. The usability test was conducted cross-sectionally using direct observation of application navigation tasks, a quantitative survey, and qualitative interviews among 10 post-treatment cancer survivors.

Results

In Phase 2, the expert panel rated the application highly on relevance, accuracy, comprehensiveness, meaningfulness, and easiness to understand (average score = 3.83 out of 4). The application was developed accordingly. In Phase 4, the System Usability Score was 75 %, greater than the cut-off point. Participants gave the items assessing acceptance of the application positive ratings (e.g., satisfaction = 4.30 out of 5). Based on the performance and feedback, the application was modified, including adjusting the font size and improving the visualization of buttons.

Conclusion

Overall, experts and potential users considered the application relevant, usable, and acceptable. It has the full potential for further testing in a larger trial for its effectiveness in promoting physical activity in cancer survivors.

Transdiagnostic Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) for patients experiencing anxiety and depression can produce large improvements in symptoms. Comorbid insomnia is common among individuals seeking treatment for anxiety and depression, yet transdiagnostic ICBT rarely targets insomnia and many ICBT patients report that symptoms of insomnia remain after treatment. This trial explored the impact of including a brief intervention for insomnia alongside an existing transdiagnostic ICBT course that included brief weekly therapist assistance. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either the Standard transdiagnostic (n = 75) or a Sleep-Enhanced course (n = 142), which included information on sleep restriction and stimulus control. Intent-to-treat analyses using generalized estimating equation (GEE) showed significant, large reductions in all primary outcomes (insomnia: d = 0.96, 95 % CI [0.68, 1.24]; depression: d = 1.04, 95 % CI [0.76, 1.33]; and anxiety: d = 1.23, 95 % CI [0.94, 1.52]) from pre-treatment to post-treatment, with changes maintained at 3-months. Patients assigned to the Sleep-Enhanced course reported larger reductions in insomnia than patients in the Standard transdiagnostic course (Cohen's d = 0.31, 95 % CI [0.034, 0.60]) at post-treatment but no significant between-group differences in any of the primary outcomes were found at follow-up. Patient-reported adherence to sleep restriction guidelines (p = .03), but not stimulus control instructions (p = .84) was associated with greater reductions in insomnia symptoms during the course. Overall, patients who received the Sleep-Enhanced course were satisfied with the materials and most patients reported making sleep behaviour changes. The trial results demonstrate that including a brief intervention targeting insomnia can be beneficial for many patients who enroll in ICBT primarily for symptoms related to anxiety and depression.

Background

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) reduces recurrent cardiac events and mortality in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Innovative eHealth methods can facilitate CR uptake and effectiveness by addressing barriers associated with clinic-based rehabilitation. Tailoring eHealth-based CR to patient preferences is needed to further enhance CR.

Purpose

To identify preferred behavior change techniques (BCTs) as well as barriers and facilitators for the different health behaviors targeted in eHealth-based CR among patients who have been referred to CR.

Methods

Thirty-nine patients were interviewed in nine focus groups in The Netherlands, Germany, and Spain. A thematic analysis, using a combined deductive and inductive approach to coding, was conducted to identify BCTs and barriers and facilitators to behavior change. Behaviors under investigation included physical activity, medication adherence, eating a cardiac healthy-diet, stress reduction and smoking cessation.

Results

The perceived helpfulness of BCTs depended on the specific behavior targeted. Common barriers were negative emotional state and physical limitations. A desire to feel physically or mentally well and having experienced a cardiac life event were the most common facilitators across health behaviors. Specific BCTs, barriers and facilitators were found for each of the health behavior.

Conclusions

Behavior change techniques that patients preferred for each health behavior targeted in eHealth-based CR were identified. A negative emotional state, experiencing a life event, and improving physical functioning are important barriers and facilitators in multiple behaviors targeted in eHealth-based CR programs. Additional tailoring of interventions to patient preferences for BCTs and patient-specific barriers and facilitators per health behavior could lead to further improvement of eHealth-based CR.

Previous research has identified maladaptive emotion regulation as a key factor in psychopathology. Thus, addressing emotion regulation via scalable, low-threshold digital interventions – such as smartphone-based Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) – holds important therapeutic potential. Using a randomized-controlled crossover trial, we tested the efficacy of an integrated CBM module within the Affect Regulation Training (ART, i.e., CBM-ART) that targeted emotion regulation through elements of appraisal-based and approach avoidance training.

Undergraduate students reporting elevated stress were randomized to a one-week active intervention (Mindgames; including psychoeducation, a quiz, and CBM-ART; n = 40), active control training (Emo Shape; including placebo psychoeducation, a quiz, and a placebo swiping task; n = 36) or waitlist (n = 25). Before and after the intervention, we assessed emotion regulation, interpretation bias, stress and depression. We further tested post-training stress reactivity using an anagram task.

Results indicated that the active intervention improved negative (OR = 0.35) and positive (OR = 2.40) interpretation biases and symptom measures (d = 0.52–0.87). However, active control training showed attenuated concurrent pre-post changes on interpretation biases (i.e., OR = 0.53 for negative, and OR = 1.49 for positive interpretations) and symptom measures (d = 0.26–0.91). The active intervention was rated positively in terms of acceptability and usability.

These findings provide initial evidence for the efficacy and acceptability of an integrated app-based CBM intervention for emotion regulation in reducing interpretation biases and psychopathological symptoms, including stress. However, future studies should disentangle specific mechanisms underlying interventional effects.

eHealth lifestyle interventions without human support (self-help interventions) are generally less effective, as they suffer from lower adherence levels. To solve this, we investigated whether (1) using a text-based conversational agent (TCA) and applying human cues contribute to a working alliance with the TCA, and whether (2) adding human cues and establishing a positive working alliance increase intervention adherence. Participants (N = 121) followed a TCA-supported app-based physical activity intervention. We manipulated two types of human cues: visual (ie, message appearance) and relational (ie, message content). We employed a 2 (visual cues: yes, no) x 2 (relational cues: yes, no) between-subjects design, resulting in four experimental groups: (1) visual and relational cues, (2) visual cues only, (3) relational cues only, or (4) no human cues. We measured the working alliance with the Working Alliance Inventory Short Revised form and intervention adherence as the number of days participants responded to the TCA's messages. Contrary to expectations, the working alliance was unaffected by using human cues. Working alliance was positively related to adherence (t(78) = 3.606, p = .001). Furthermore, groups who received visual cues showed lower adherence levels compared to those who received relational cues only or no cues (U = 1140.5, z = −3.520, p < .001). We replicated the finding that establishing a working alliance contributes to intervention adherence, independently of the use of human cues in a TCA. However, we were unable to show that adding human cues impacted the working alliance and increased adherence. The results indicate that adding visual cues to a TCA may even negatively affect adherence, possibly because it may create confusion concerning the true nature of the coach, which may prompt unrealistic expectations.

This study investigated the long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of guided internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Twenty-five patients with OCD who had undergone guided ICBT in a randomized controlled trial or a single-arm trial were followed up for 6, 12, and 24 months. Missing data were imputed using the mice package in R, and a one-way analysis of variance with repeated measures was performed. The total Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) score significantly decreased from baseline to all endpoints (p < 0.001). OCD remission (the total Y-BOCS score < 14) rates significantly increased from post-treatment (48 %) at the 12 months (80 %) and 24 months (76 %) follow-up (χ2 (1) = 7.11–11.08, p < 0.01) post guided ICBT. Regression analysis predicted the maintenance of remission at 12 and 24 months following post-treatment remission (z = 2.20, p = 0.03). An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was calculated to assess the cost-effectiveness of guided ICBT. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was JPY 999,495, below the JPY 5 million threshold for willingness to pay in Japan. Our findings demonstrate the long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of guided ICBT for OCD. Guided ICBT can mitigate the severity of OCD even after treatment.

Background

Internet-based interventions offer a way to meet the high demand for psychological support. However, this setting also has disadvantages, such as the lack of personal contact and the limited ability to respond to crises. Blended care combines Internet-based interventions with face-to-face psychotherapy and merges the benefits of both settings. To ensure the uptake of blended care in routine care, Internet-based interventions need to be suitable for different therapeutic approaches and mental disorders.

Objective

This paper describes the participatory development process of the Internet-based intervention “TONI” using a common therapeutic language and content on various transdiagnostic topics to be integrated into routine outpatient psychotherapy.

Methods

To develop this intervention in a participatory manner, we followed the Integrate, Design, Assess, and Share (IDEAS) framework. In a multilevel development process, we used a combination of interviews, focus groups, and proofreading to optimally tailor online modules to routine outpatient psychotherapy. Building on well-established cognitive-behavioral online content, we included expert interviews with psychodynamic (n = 20) and systemic psychotherapists (n = 9) as well as focus groups with psychotherapists of different approaches (n = 10) and persons with lived experience of mental illness (PWLE; n = 10).

Results

We describe the development process of TONI step-by-step, outlining the specific requirements that therapists from different therapeutic approaches as well as PWLE have and how we implemented them in our intervention. This includes the content and specific exercises in the online modules, aspects of data protection, language, design, and usability.

Conclusion

Internet-based interventions that use a common therapeutic language and address therapeutic principles across different approaches have the potential to advance digitalization in psychotherapy. Involving psychotherapists and PWLE in intervention development may positively impact acceptance and usage in practice. This study shows how participatory intervention development involving both psychotherapists and PWLE can be carried out.

Internet-based interventions are recognised as a practical approach to address mental health issues. The acceptance and utilisation of such interventions are closely linked to user attitudes and preferences. This study aims to examine the predictors of university students' attitudes towards internet-based interventions. Additionally, it seeks to elucidate students' preferences regarding crucial features of these interventions, such as the format, delivery mode, content type, and structural components, to understand better what makes these interventions appealing and practical for university students.

A total of 273 university students (comprising 68 % females and 32 % males) participated in the study. The data collection instruments employed were the Personal Information Form, Internet-Based Intervention Preference Survey, E-therapy Attitude Measure (ETAM), Digital Literacy Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). The data were analysed utilising descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis.

The multiple regression analysis revealed digital literacy as a predictive factor for attitudes towards internet-based interventions. Demographic variables, such as age and gender, and psychological variables, such as depression and anxiety levels, were found not to be associated with attitudes towards these interventions.

While students are actively seeking mental health information online, a significant majority remain unaware of internet-based interventions. They show a preference for interventions offering greater human interaction, including face-to-face guidance and video content featuring people. Participants favour completing one or two sessions of the intervention weekly. Desired features of internet-based interventions include self-assessment scales, relatable characters, voice relaxation exercises, practical daily life activity tasks, and weekly reminders throughout the process.

In conclusion, initiatives aimed at enhancing digital literacy levels could foster more positive attitudes towards internet-based interventions among students. Developers creating Internet-Based Interventions (IBI) for university students should consider these preferences.

Despite the potential of mobile health (mHealth) to address high rates of depression and anxiety in underserved rural communities, most mHealth interventions do not explicitly consider the realities of rural life. The aim of this scoping review is to identify and examine the available literature on mHealth interventions that consider the needs of rural populations in order to gauge their feasibility and utility for addressing depression and anxiety. Additionally, we provide an overview of rural users' perceptions about and preferences for mHealth-delivered mental health screening and intervention systems. Out of 169 articles identified, 16 met inclusion criteria. Studies were conducted across a wide range of countries, age groups, and rural subpopulations including individuals with bipolar disorder, anxiety, perinatal depression, PTSD, and chronic pain, as well as refugees, veterans, and transgender and LGBTQ+ individuals. All interventions were in the feasibility/acceptability testing stage for rural users. Identified strengths included their simplicity, accessibility, convenience, availability of support between sessions with providers, and remote access to a care team. Weaknesses included problems with charging phone batteries and exceeding data limits, privacy concerns, and general lack of comfort with app-based support. Based upon this review, we provide recommendations for future mHealth intervention development including the value of developer-user coproduction methods, the need to consider user variation in access to and comfort with smartphones, and potential data or connectivity limitations, mental health stigma, and confidentiality concerns in rural communities.