CBT for depression: a pilot RCT comparing mobile phone vs. computer

By Sarah E. Watts, A. Mackenzie, Cherian Thomas, Al Griskaitis, Louise Mewton, Alishia D. Williams, G. Andrews. BMC Psychiatry, 2013

328 citations recorded by the source corpus.

BackgroundThis paper reports the results of a pilot randomized controlled trial comparing the delivery modality (mobile phone/tablet or fixed computer) of a cognitive behavioural therapy intervention for the treatment of depression. The aim was to establish whether a previously validated computerized program (The Sadness Program) remained efficacious when delivered via a mobile application.Method35 participants were recruited with Major Depression (80% female) and randomly allocated to access the program using a mobile app (on either a mobile phone or iPad) or a computer. Participants completed 6 lessons, weekly homework assignments, and received weekly email contact from a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist until completion of lesson 2. After lesson 2 email contact was only provided in response to participant request, or in response to a deterioration in psychological distress scores. The primary outcome measure was the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9). Of the 35 participants recruited, 68.6% completed 6 lessons and 65.7% completed the 3-months follow up. Attrition was handled using mixed-model repeated-measures ANOVA.ResultsBoth the Mobile and Computer Groups were associated with statistically significantly benefits in the PHQ-9 at post-test. At 3 months follow up, the reduction seen for both groups remained significant.ConclusionsThese results provide evidence to indicate that delivering a CBT program using a mobile application, can result in clinically significant improvements in outcomes for patients with depression.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN 12611001257954

Subfields: Applied Psychology, General Health Professions, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1879e95cc82ac2bff76aa0ec3e9f1cc3a8da648c

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In Applied Psychology

  1. Gerhard Andersson
  2. Per Carlbring
  3. Erik Hedman
  4. Helen Christensen

In General Health Professions

  1. Gerhard Andersson
  2. Erik Hedman
  3. Borja Martínez-Pérez
  4. Helen Christensen
  5. Jay M. Bernhardt

In Social Psychology

  1. Helen Christensen
  2. Gerhard Andersson
  3. Per Carlbring

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