Computer-based psychological treatments for depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

By Derek Richards, Thomas Richardson. Clinical Psychology Review, 2012

1,436 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The aim of the paper was to systematically review the literature on computer-based psychological treatments for depression and conduct a meta-analysis of the RCT studies, including examining variables which may effect outcomes. Database and hand searches were made using specific search terms and inclusion criteria. The review included a total of 40 studies (45 published papers), and 19 RCTs (23 published papers) were included in a standard meta-analysis. The review describes the different computer-based treatments for depression, their design, communication types employed: synchronous, asynchronous, and face-to-face (F:F); alongside various types and frequency of support delivered. The evidence supports their effectiveness and highlights participant satisfaction. However, pertinent limitations are noted. Across 19 studies the meta-analysis revealed a moderate post-treatment pooled effect size d=.56 (95% confidence interval [CI] -.71, -.41), Z=7.48, p<.001). Supported interventions yielded better outcomes, along with greater retention. The results reported statistically significant clinical improvement and recovery post-treatment. The review and meta-analysis support the efficacy and effectiveness of computer-based psychological treatments for depression, in diverse settings and with different populations. Further research is needed, in particular to investigate the influence of therapist factors in supported treatments, the reasons for dropout, and the maintenance of gains post-treatment.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/de070eb92695687dfd28458e56c9e52491672361

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Citations in the corpus

Efficacy of Self-guided Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in the Treatment of Depressive Symptoms: A Meta-analysis of Individual Participant Data (2017, result): “The finding that self-guided iCBT results in a significant effect on depression outcomes is consistent with previous literature.(42) However, the present IPD meta-analysis provides stronger evidence and improves the precision of the estimates because of the novel methodologic approach used.”
Attitudes Towards Internet Interventions Among Psychotherapists and Individuals with Mild to Moderate Depression Symptoms (2017, background): “Notwithstanding that effectiveness has been demonstrated repeatedly (Gerhard Andersson and Cuijpers 2009; Johansson and Andersson 2012; Richards and Richardson 2012), implementation efforts proceed slowly and sometimes reluctantly in many countries (Ebert et al.”
Computer-Delivered and Web-Based Interventions to Improve Depression, Anxiety, and Psychological Well-Being of University Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2014, background): “Richards and Richardson [69] suggest eligibility criteria can be a cause of heterogeneity.”
The efficacy of internet-delivered treatment for generalized anxiety disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2015, background): “In line with best practice in internet-delivered treatments for anxiety and depression (Newman et al., 2011; Richards & Richardson, 2012) support for participants was provided in most of the treatment conditions.”
Effectiveness of Guided Internet-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy in Regular Clinical Settings (2013, neutral): “Depression Mild to moderate depression is another field for which there have been many controlled efficacy trials [Richards and Richardson, 2012].”
Recommendations for policy and practice of telepsychotherapy and e-mental health in Europe and beyond. (2020, background): “Accumulating evidence indicates that e-mental health interventions that include guidance result in better outcomes than unguided treatments (Richards & Richardson, 2012; Spek et al., 2007; Palmqvist et al., 2007; Baumeister et al., 2014).”
Artificially intelligent chatbots in digital mental health interventions: a review (2021, background): “nurses, research coordinators, laypeople) [42].”
The impact of guidance on Internet-based mental health interventions — A systematic review (2014, background): “A review by Richards and Richardson (2012) on the efficacy of Computer-based psychological treatments for depression, for example, highlighted a standardized mean difference (SMD) regarding depressive symptoms of g = − .56 in favor of Computer-based interventions compared to treatment as usual or…”
Advantages and limitations of Internet‐based interventions for common mental disorders (2014, background): “Reviews of the literature consistently show that treatments that include guidance lead to better outcomes than unguided treatments (26-28), but there are occasional exceptions, and unguided treatments are emerging that can work by means of automated reminders and similar solutions (29,30).”
Integrating Human Support Into Behavioral Intervention Technologies: The Efficiency Model of Support (2017, background): “Previous reviews of support have conceptualized support as varying on dimensions such as type, quantity, timing, quality, and cost of support (Gellatly et al., 2007; Newman et al., 2011; Richards & Richardson, 2012).”
Three Problems With Current Digital Mental Health Research … and Three Things We Can Do About Them (2017, background): “More than 15 years of research and a large number of randomized controlled trials have repeatedly demonstrated the efficacy of these interventions across a range of psychiatric disorders (1,2).”
Embodied Conversational Agents in Clinical Psychology: A Scoping Review (2017, positive): “Guided interventions are typically more clinically effective than unguided ones [2-4].”
The Benefit of Web- and Computer-Based Interventions for Stress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2017, positive): “These results correspond to findings from the area of depression, in which shorter interventions have been found to be more effective than longer interventions [61].”
Effectiveness of a chatbot for eating disorders prevention: A randomized clinical trial. (2021, background): “Some guidance from a real-life, human supporter or moderator improves outcomes (Kass et al., 2014), which is a consistent finding in the literature for digital interventions (Baumeister, Reichler, Munzinger, & Lin, 2014; Richards & Richardson, 2012).”
Effectiveness of online mindfulness-based interventions in improving mental health: A review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. (2016, background): “Previous research indicates that providing support has a positive influence on adherence and enhances the effectiveness of online psychological interventions (Andersson & Cuijpers, 2009; Richards & Richardson, 2012; Spek et al., 2007).”
The impact of digital technology on psychological treatments and their dissemination (2017, background): “Many of the website-based interventions have been tested in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and their findings have been the focus of numerous systematic reviews (Andersson, Cuijpers, Carlbring, Riper, & Hedman, 2014; Richards & Richardson, 2012).”