49 research outputs found

    Training, supervision, and experience of coaches offering digital guided self-help for mental health concerns

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    Accessible, low-cost intervention options are necessary to address the rise in mental health problems among college students. Digital guided self-help, or coached, programs have been developed to provide such services, with many commercially available. As such, there are a large and growing number of individuals coaching these programs. However, an unmet need is to evaluate and assess best practices for training and supervising individuals in these positions. To this end, we describe how we recruited, trained, and supervised coaches as part of a large randomized controlled trial using a widely available digital commercial platform. Coaches were trained to provide digital guided self-help for depression, anxiety, and/or eating disorders for college students. Coaches initially attended three live training sessions over 2-3 weeks, viewed multiple training videos, and read a detailed coaching manual developed by our team. Thereafter, they attended weekly supervision. Following their term, coaches completed an exit survey to assess their supervision and training experiences. A total of 37 of 70 (53%) graduate-level student coaches completed the survey. The experience was reported as very positive (95%). In particular, the majority reported feeling well prepared, more confident, and felt they had developed useful skills for their own practice

    Digital interventions to address mental health needs in colleges: Perspectives of student stakeholders

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    OBJECTIVE: The need for clinical services in U.S. colleges exceeds the supply. Digital Mental health Interventions (DMHIs) are a potential solution, but successful implementation depends on stakeholder acceptance. This study investigated the relevance of DMHIs from students\u27 perspectives. METHODS: In 2020-2021, an online cross-sectional survey using mixed methods was conducted with 479 students at 23 colleges and universities. Respondents reported views and use of standard mental health services and DMHIs and rated the priority of various DMHIs to be offered through campus services. Qualitative data included open-ended responses. FINDINGS: Among respondents, 91% reported having experienced mental health problems, of which 91% reported barriers to receiving mental health services. Students highlighted therapy and counseling as desired and saw flexible access to services as important. With respect to DMHIs, respondents had the most experience with physical health apps (46%), mental health questionnaires (41%), and mental well-being apps (39%). Most were unaware of or had not used apps or self-help programs for mental health problems. Students were most likely to report the following DMHIs as high priorities: a crisis text line (76%), telehealth (66%), websites for connecting to services (62%), and text/messaging with counselors (62%). They considered a self-help program with coach support to be convenient but some also perceived such services to be possibly less effective than in-person therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Students welcome DMHIs on campus and indicate preference for mental health services that include human support. The findings, with particular focus on characteristics of the DMHIs prioritized, and students\u27 awareness and perceptions of scalable DMHIs emphasized by policymakers, should inform schools looking to implement DMHIs

    Therapist-guided internet-based psychodynamic therapy versus cognitive behavioural therapy for adolescent depression in Sweden: a randomised, clinical, non-inferiority trial

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    BACKGROUND: Adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD) is highly prevalent and associated with lifelong adversity. Evidence-based treatments exist, but accessible treatment alternatives are needed. We aimed to compare internet-based psychodynamic therapy (IPDT) with an established evidence-based treatment (internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy [ICBT]) for the treatment of adolescents with depression. METHODS: In this randomised, clinical trial, we tested whether IPDT was non-inferior to ICBT in the treatment of adolescent MDD. Eligible participants were 15-19 years old, presenting with a primary diagnosis of MDD according to DSM-5. Participants were recruited nationwide in Sweden through advertisements on social media, as well as contacts with junior and senior high schools, youth associations, social workers, and health-care providers. Adolescents who scored 9 or higher on the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology for Adolescents (QIDS-A17-SR) in an initial online screening were contacted by telephone for a diagnostic assessment using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Participants were randomly assigned to ICBT or IPDT. Both interventions comprised eight self-help modules delivered over 10 weeks on a secure online platform. The primary outcome was change in depression severity measured weekly by the QIDS-A17-SR. Primary analyses were based on an intention-to-treat sample including all participants randomly assigned. A non-inferiority margin of Cohen's d=0·30 was predefined. The study is registered at ISRCTN, ISRCTN12552584. FINDINGS: Between Aug 19, 2019, and Oct 7, 2020, 996 young people completed screening; 516 (52%) were contacted for a diagnostic interview. 272 participants were eligible and randomly assigned to ICBT (n=136) or IPDT (n=136). In the ICBT group, 51 (38%) of 136 participants were classified as remitted, and 54 (40%) of 136 participants were classified as remitted in the IPDT group. Within-group effects were large (ICBT: within-group d=1·75, 95% CI 1·49 to 2·01; IPDT: within-group d=1·93, 1·67 to 2·20; both p<0·0001). No statistically significant treatment difference was found in the intention-to-treat analysis. Non-inferiority for IPDT was shown for the estimated change in depression during treatment (d=-0·18, 90% CI -0·49 to 0·13; p=0·34). All secondary outcomes showed non-significant between-group differences. INTERPRETATION: IPDT was non-inferior to ICBT in terms of change in depression for the treatment of adolescents with MDD. This finding increases the range of accessible and effective treatment alternatives for adolescents with depression. FUNDING: Kavli trust

    Attitudes towards digital treatment for depression: A European stakeholder survey

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    The integration of digital treatments into national mental health services is on the agenda in the European Union. The E-COMPARED consortium conducted a survey aimed at exploring stakeholders' knowledge, acceptance and expectations of digital treatments for depression, and at identifying factors that might influence their opinions when considering the implementation of these approaches. An online survey was conducted in eight European countries: France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and The United Kingdom. Organisations representing government bodies, care providers, service-users, funding/insurance bodies, technical developers and researchers were invited to participate in the survey. The participating countries and organisations reflect the diversity in health care infrastructures and e-health implementation across Europe. A total of 764 organisations were invited to the survey during the period March–June 2014, with 175 of these organisations participating in our survey. The participating stakeholders reported moderate knowledge of digital treatments and considered cost-effectiveness to be the primary incentive for integration into care services. Low feasibility of delivery within existing care services was considered to be a primary barrier. Digital treatments were regarded more suitable for milder forms of depression. Stakeholders showed greater acceptability towards blended treatment (the integration of face-to-face and internet sessions within the same treatment protocol) compared to standalone internet treatments. Organisations in countries with developed e-health solutions reported greater knowledge and acceptability of digital treatments. Mental health stakeholders in Europe are aware of the potential benefits of digital interventions. However, there are variations between countries and stakeholders in terms of level of knowledge about such interventions and their feasibility within routine care services. The high acceptance of blended treatments is an interesting finding that indicates a gradual integration of technology into clinical practice may fit the attitudes and needs of stakeholders. The potential of the blended treatment approach, in terms of enhancing acceptance of digital treatment while retaining the benefit of cost-effectiveness in delivery, should be further explored. The E-COMPARED project has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no. 603098

    European COMPARative Effectiveness research on blended Depression treatment versus treatment-as-usual (E-COMPARED): study protocol for a randomized controlled, non-inferiority trial in eight European countries.

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    BACKGROUND: Effective, accessible, and affordable depression treatment is of high importance considering the large personal and economic burden of depression. Internet-based treatment is considered a promising clinical and cost-effective alternative to current routine depression treatment strategies such as face-to-face psychotherapy. However, it is not clear whether research findings translate to routine clinical practice such as primary or specialized mental health care. The E-COMPARED project aims to gain knowledge on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of blended depression treatment compared to treatment-as-usual in routine care. METHODS/DESIGN: E-COMPARED will employ a pragmatic, multinational, randomized controlled, non-inferiority trial in eight European countries. Adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) will be recruited in primary care (Germany, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) or specialized mental health care (France, The Netherlands, and Switzerland). Regular care for depression is compared to "blended" service delivery combining mobile and Internet technologies with face-to-face treatment in one treatment protocol. Participants will be followed up at 3, 6, and 12 months after baseline to determine clinical improvements in symptoms of depression (primary outcome: Patient Health Questionnaire-9), remission of depression, and cost-effectiveness. Main analyses will be conducted on the pooled data from the eight countries (n = 1200 in total, 150 participants in each country). DISCUSSION: The E-COMPARED project will provide mental health care stakeholders with evidence-based information and recommendations on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of blended depression treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: France: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02542891 . Registered on 4 September 2015; Germany: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00006866 . Registered on 2 December 2014; The Netherlands: Netherlands Trials Register NTR4962 . Registered on 5 January 2015; Poland: ClinicalTrials.Gov NCT02389660 . Registered on 18 February 2015; Spain: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02361684 . Registered on 8 January 2015; Sweden: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02449447 . Registered on 30 March 2015; Switzerland: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02410616 . Registered on 2 April 2015; United Kingdom: ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN12388725 . Registered on 20 March 2015

    A Data-Driven Clustering Method for Discovering Profiles in the Dynamics of Major Depressive Disorder Using a Smartphone-Based Ecological Momentary Assessment of Mood.

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    BACKGROUND: Although major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by a pervasive negative mood, research indicates that the mood of depressed patients is rarely entirely stagnant. It is often dynamic, distinguished by highs and lows, and it is highly responsive to external and internal regulatory processes. Mood dynamics can be defined as a combination of mood variability (the magnitude of the mood changes) and emotional inertia (the speed of mood shifts). The purpose of this study is to explore various distinctive profiles in real-time monitored mood dynamics among MDD patients in routine mental healthcare. METHODS: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data were collected as part of the cross-European E-COMPARED trial, in which approximately half of the patients were randomly assigned to receive the blended Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (bCBT). In this study a subsample of the bCBT group was included (n = 287). As part of bCBT, patients were prompted to rate their current mood (on a 1-10 scale) using a smartphone-based EMA application. During the first week of treatment, the patients were prompted to rate their mood on three separate occasions during the day. Latent profile analyses were subsequently applied to identify distinct profiles based on average mood, mood variability, and emotional inertia across the monitoring period. RESULTS: Overall, four profiles were identified, which we labeled as: (1) "very negative and least variable mood" (n = 14) (2) "negative and moderate variable mood" (n = 204), (3) "positive and moderate variable mood" (n = 41), and (4) "negative and highest variable mood" (n = 28). The degree of emotional inertia was virtually identical across the profiles. CONCLUSIONS: The real-time monitoring conducted in the present study provides some preliminary indications of different patterns of both average mood and mood variability among MDD patients in treatment in mental health settings. Such varying patterns were not found for emotional inertia

    Examining the Theoretical Framework of Behavioral Activation for Major Depressive Disorder: Smartphone-Based Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.

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    BACKGROUND: Behavioral activation (BA), either as a stand-alone treatment or as part of cognitive behavioral therapy, has been shown to be effective for treating depression. The theoretical underpinnings of BA derive from Lewinsohn et al's theory of depression. The central premise of BA is that having patients engage in more pleasant activities leads to them experiencing more pleasure and elevates their mood, which, in turn, leads to further (behavioral) activation. However, there is a dearth of empirical evidence about the theoretical framework of BA. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the assumed (temporal) associations of the 3 constructs in the theoretical framework of BA. METHODS: Data were collected as part of the "European Comparative Effectiveness Research on Internet-based Depression Treatment versus treatment-as-usual" trial among patients who were randomly assigned to receive blended cognitive behavioral therapy (bCBT). As part of bCBT, patients completed weekly assessments of their level of engagement in pleasant activities, the pleasure they experienced as a result of these activities, and their mood over the course of the treatment using a smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) application. Longitudinal cross-lagged and cross-sectional associations of 240 patients were examined using random intercept cross-lagged panel models. RESULTS: The analyses did not reveal any statistically significant cross-lagged coefficients (all P>.05). Statistically significant cross-sectional positive associations between activities, pleasure, and mood levels were identified. Moreover, the levels of engagement in activities, pleasure, and mood slightly increased over the duration of the treatment. In addition, mood seemed to carry over, over time, while both levels of engagement in activities and pleasurable experiences did not. CONCLUSIONS: The results were partially in accordance with the theoretical framework of BA, insofar as the analyses revealed cross-sectional relationships between levels of engagement in activities, pleasurable experiences deriving from these activities, and enhanced mood. However, given that no statistically significant temporal relationships were revealed, no conclusions could be drawn about potential causality. A shorter measurement interval (eg, daily rather than weekly EMA reports) might be more attuned to detecting potential underlying temporal pathways. Future research should use an EMA methodology to further investigate temporal associations, based on theory and how treatments are presented to patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02542891, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02542891; German Clinical Trials Register, DRKS00006866, https://tinyurl.com/ybja3xz7; Netherlands Trials Register, NTR4962, https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/4838; ClinicalTrials.Gov, NCT02389660, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02389660; ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02361684, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02361684; ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02449447, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02449447; ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02410616, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02410616; ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN12388725, https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN12388725

    Effect of Sleep Disturbance Symptoms on Treatment Outcome in Blended Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression (E-COMPARED Study): Secondary Analysis.

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    BACKGROUND: Sleep disturbance symptoms are common in major depressive disorder (MDD) and have been found to hamper the treatment effect of conventional face-to-face psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy. To increase the dissemination of evidence-based treatment, blended cognitive behavioral therapy (bCBT) consisting of web-based and face-to-face treatment is on the rise for patients with MDD. To date, no study has examined whether sleep disturbance symptoms have an impact on bCBT treatment outcomes and whether it affects bCBT and treatment-as-usual (TAU) equally. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study are to investigate whether baseline sleep disturbance symptoms have an impact on treatment outcomes independent of treatment modality and whether sleep disturbance symptoms impact bCBT and TAU in routine care equally. METHODS: The study was based on data from the E-COMPARED (European Comparative Effectiveness Research on Blended Depression Treatment Versus Treatment-as-Usual) study, a 2-arm, multisite, parallel randomized controlled, noninferiority trial. A total of 943 outpatients with MDD were randomized to either bCBT (476/943, 50.5%) or TAU consisting of routine clinical MDD treatment (467/943, 49.5%). The primary outcome of this study was the change in depression symptom severity at the 12-month follow-up. The secondary outcomes were the change in depression symptom severity at the 3- and 6-month follow-up and MDD diagnoses at the 12-month follow-up, assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview, respectively. Mixed effects models were used to examine the association of sleep disturbance symptoms with treatment outcome and treatment modality over time. RESULTS: Of the 943 patients recruited for the study, 558 (59.2%) completed the 12-month follow-up assessment. In the total sample, baseline sleep disturbance symptoms did not significantly affect change in depressive symptom severity at the 12-month follow-up (β=.16, 95% CI -0.04 to 0.36). However, baseline sleep disturbance symptoms were negatively associated with treatment outcome for bCBT (β=.49, 95% CI 0.22-0.76) but not for TAU (β=-.23, 95% CI -0.50 to 0.05) at the 12-month follow-up, even when adjusting for baseline depression symptom severity. The same result was seen for the effect of sleep disturbance symptoms on the presence of depression measured with Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview at the 12-month follow-up. However, for both treatment formats, baseline sleep disturbance symptoms were not associated with depression symptom severity at either the 3- (β=.06, 95% CI -0.11 to 0.23) or 6-month (β=.09, 95% CI -0.10 to 0.28) follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline sleep disturbance symptoms may have a negative impact on long-term treatment outcomes in bCBT for MDD. This effect was not observed for TAU. These findings suggest that special attention to sleep disturbance symptoms might be warranted when MDD is treated with bCBT. Future studies should investigate the effect of implementing modules specifically targeting sleep disturbance symptoms in bCBT for MDD to improve long-term prognosis
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