A trial protocol for the effectiveness of digital interventions for preventing depression in adolescents : The Future Proofing Study

Background: Depression frequently first emerges during adolescence, and one in five young people will experience an episode of depression by the age of 18 years. Despite advances in treatment, there has been limited progress in addressing the burden at a population level. Accordingly, there has been growing interest in prevention approaches as an additional pathway to address depression. Depression can be prevented using evidence-based psychological programmes. However, barriers to implementing and accessing these programmes remain, typically reflecting a requirement for delivery by clinical experts and high associated delivery costs. Digital technologies, specifically smartphones, are now considered a key strategy to overcome the barriers inhibiting access to mental health programmes. The Future Proofing Study is a large-scale school-based trial investigating whether cognitive behaviour therapies (CBT) delivered by smartphone application can prevent depression. Methods: A randomised controlled trial targeting up to 10,000 Year 8 Australian secondary school students will be conducted. In Stage I, schools will be randomised at the cluster level either to receive the CBT intervention app (SPARX) or to a non-active control group comparator. The primary outcome will be symptoms of depression, and secondary outcomes include psychological distress, anxiety and insomnia. At the 12-month follow-up, participants in the intervention arm with elevated depressive symptoms will participate in an individual-level randomised controlled trial (Stage II) and be randomised to receive a second CBT app which targets sleep difficulties (Sleep Ninja) or a control condition. Assessments will occur post intervention (both trial stages) and at 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months post baseline. Primary analyses will use an intention-to-treat approach and compare changes in symptoms from baseline to follow-up relative to the control group using mixed-effect models. Discussion: This is the first trial testing the effectiveness of smartphone apps delivered to school students to prevent depression at scale. Results from this trial will provide much-needed insight into the feasibility of this approach. They stand to inform policy and commission decisions concerning if and how such programmes should be deployed in school-based settings in Australia and beyond

NMC horizon report: 2014 K-12 edition

The internationally recognized NMC Horizon Report series and regional NMC Technology Outlooks are part of the NMC Horizon Project, a comprehensive research venture established in 2002 that identifies and describes key trends, significant challenges, and emerging technologies likely to have a large impact over the coming five years in education around the globe. This volume, the NMC Horizon Report > 2014 K-12 Edition will examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative inquiry within the environment of pre-college education. The NMC Horizon Report > 2014 K-12 Edition is the sixth in the K-12 series of reports and is produced by the NMC in collaboration with the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), and made possible via the support of HP. View the work that produced the report at k12.wiki.nmc.org

Quantifying Quality of Life

Describes technological methods and tools for objective and quantitative assessment of QoL Appraises technology-enabled methods for incorporating QoL measurements in medicine Highlights the success factors for adoption and scaling of technology-enabled methods This open access book presents the rise of technology-enabled methods and tools for objective, quantitative assessment of Quality of Life (QoL), while following the WHOQOL model. It is an in-depth resource describing and examining state-of-the-art, minimally obtrusive, ubiquitous technologies. Highlighting the required factors for adoption and scaling of technology-enabled methods and tools for QoL assessment, it also describes how these technologies can be leveraged for behavior change, disease prevention, health management and long-term QoL enhancement in populations at large. Quantifying Quality of Life: Incorporating Daily Life into Medicine fills a gap in the field of QoL by providing assessment methods, techniques and tools. These assessments differ from the current methods that are now mostly infrequent, subjective, qualitative, memory-based, context-poor and sparse. Therefore, it is an ideal resource for physicians, physicians in training, software and hardware developers, computer scientists, data scientists, behavioural scientists, entrepreneurs, healthcare leaders and administrators who are seeking an up-to-date resource on this subject

A trial protocol for the effectiveness of digital interventions for preventing depression in adolescents: the Future Proofing Study

BACKGROUND:Depression frequently first emerges during adolescence, and one in five young people will experience an episode of depression by the age of 18 years. Despite advances in treatment, there has been limited progress in addressing the burden at a population level. Accordingly, there has been growing interest in prevention approaches as an additional pathway to address depression. Depression can be prevented using evidence-based psychological programmes. However, barriers to implementing and accessing these programmes remain, typically reflecting a requirement for delivery by clinical experts and high associated delivery costs. Digital technologies, specifically smartphones, are now considered a key strategy to overcome the barriers inhibiting access to mental health programmes. The Future Proofing Study is a large-scale school-based trial investigating whether cognitive behaviour therapies (CBT) delivered by smartphone application can prevent depression. METHODS:A randomised controlled trial targeting up to 10,000 Year 8 Australian secondary school students will be conducted. In Stage I, schools will be randomised at the cluster level either to receive the CBT intervention app (SPARX) or to a non-active control group comparator. The primary outcome will be symptoms of depression, and secondary outcomes include psychological distress, anxiety and insomnia. At the 12-month follow-up, participants in the intervention arm with elevated depressive symptoms will participate in an individual-level randomised controlled trial (Stage II) and be randomised to receive a second CBT app which targets sleep difficulties (Sleep Ninja) or a control condition. Assessments will occur post intervention (both trial stages) and at 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months post baseline. Primary analyses will use an intention-to-treat approach and compare changes in symptoms from baseline to follow-up relative to the control group using mixed-effect models. DISCUSSION:This is the first trial testing the effectiveness of smartphone apps delivered to school students to prevent depression at scale. Results from this trial will provide much-needed insight into the feasibility of this approach. They stand to inform policy and commission decisions concerning if and how such programmes should be deployed in school-based settings in Australia and beyond. TRIAL REGISTRATION:Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry, ACTRN12619000855123. Registered on 31 May 2019. Clinical Trial Notification Scheme (CTN), CT-2019-CTN-02110-1-v1. Registered on 30 June 2019.Aliza Werner-Seidler, Kit Huckvale, Mark E. Larsen, Alison L. Calear, Kate Maston ... Julie Ratcliffe ... et al

Quantifying Quality of Life

Describes technological methods and tools for objective and quantitative assessment of QoL Appraises technology-enabled methods for incorporating QoL measurements in medicine Highlights the success factors for adoption and scaling of technology-enabled methods This open access book presents the rise of technology-enabled methods and tools for objective, quantitative assessment of Quality of Life (QoL), while following the WHOQOL model. It is an in-depth resource describing and examining state-of-the-art, minimally obtrusive, ubiquitous technologies. Highlighting the required factors for adoption and scaling of technology-enabled methods and tools for QoL assessment, it also describes how these technologies can be leveraged for behavior change, disease prevention, health management and long-term QoL enhancement in populations at large. Quantifying Quality of Life: Incorporating Daily Life into Medicine fills a gap in the field of QoL by providing assessment methods, techniques and tools. These assessments differ from the current methods that are now mostly infrequent, subjective, qualitative, memory-based, context-poor and sparse. Therefore, it is an ideal resource for physicians, physicians in training, software and hardware developers, computer scientists, data scientists, behavioural scientists, entrepreneurs, healthcare leaders and administrators who are seeking an up-to-date resource on this subject

The impacts of new technologies on physical activities: Based on fitness app use and fitness social media postings

Focusing on fitness app use and social context of fitness postings on social media, this study examined the implications of mHealth technologies use for fitness. This study explored descriptive information about respondents’ use of fitness apps such as self-monitoring, self-regulation, social facilitators, and rewards. Furthermore, respondents’ fitness posting experience was also explored. For respondents who saw others’ fitness posts, this study examined how viewers’ social comparison on fitness postings (upward and downward) related to their physical activity (PA) self-efficacy, motivation, and participation. For those who posted about their fitness information on social media, this study investigated fitness posters’ ways of self-presentation related to receiving supportive feedback, and how supportive feedback related to fitness posters’ PA motivation and participation. This study recruited fitness app users from a crowdsourcing internet marketplace. Quantitative data analysis examined the role of social comparison, self-presentation, and supportive feedback in respondents’ PA self-efficacy, motivation, and participation. The results revealed that people mostly used the fitness apps for physical activity-related self-monitoring and self-regulation. For those who engaged in upward social comparison tended to have more self-efficacy for PA, PA motivation, and therefore participated more in PA. Both positive and negative self-presenters received more supportive feedback from others. The more supportive feedback fitness posters received, the more self-efficacy for PA they had. The more self-efficacy for PA fitness posters had, the more PA motivation they had. The results also showed that people received more esteem support and emotional support from others when they positively presented their fitness on social media. Fitness posters with negative self-presentation received more emotional support and informational support