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Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of Digital Interventions for Depressive Symptoms in Working Adults: Multiarm Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Depressive symptoms are highly prevalent and have broad-ranging negative implications. Digital interventions are increasingly available in the workplace context, but supporting evidence is limited. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary ef...

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Autores principales: Taylor, Rachael Wallis, Male, Rhian, Economides, Marcos, Bolton, Heather, Cavanagh, Kate
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10337296/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37327027
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/41590
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author Taylor, Rachael Wallis
Male, Rhian
Economides, Marcos
Bolton, Heather
Cavanagh, Kate
author_facet Taylor, Rachael Wallis
Male, Rhian
Economides, Marcos
Bolton, Heather
Cavanagh, Kate
author_sort Taylor, Rachael Wallis
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Depressive symptoms are highly prevalent and have broad-ranging negative implications. Digital interventions are increasingly available in the workplace context, but supporting evidence is limited. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of 3 digital interventions for depressive symptoms in a sample of UK-based working adults experiencing mild to moderate symptoms. METHODS: This was a parallel, multiarm, pilot randomized controlled trial. Participants were allocated to 1 of 3 digital interventions or a waitlist control group and had 3 weeks to complete 6 to 8 short self-guided sessions. The 3 interventions are available on the Unmind mental health app for working adults and draw on behavioral activation, cognitive behavioral therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy. Web-based assessments were conducted at baseline, postintervention (week 3), and at 1-month follow-up (week 7). Participants were recruited via Prolific, a web-based recruitment platform, and the study was conducted entirely on the web. Feasibility and acceptability were assessed using objective engagement data and self-reported feedback. Efficacy outcomes were assessed using validated self-report measures of mental health and functioning and linear mixed models with intention-to-treat principles. RESULTS: In total, 2003 individuals were screened for participation, of which 20.22% (405/2003) were randomized. A total of 92% (373/405) of the participants were retained in the study, 97.4% (295/303) initiated their allocated intervention, and 66.3% (201/303) completed all sessions. Moreover, 80.6% (229/284) of the participants rated the quality of their allocated intervention as excellent or good, and 79.6% (226/284) of the participants were satisfied or very satisfied with their intervention. All active groups showed improvements in well-being, functioning, and depressive and anxiety symptoms compared with the control group, which were maintained at 4 weeks. Hedges g effect sizes for depressive symptoms ranged from −0.53 (95% CI −0.25 to −0.81) to −0.74 (95% CI −0.45 to −1.03). CONCLUSIONS: All interventions were feasible and acceptable, and the preliminary efficacy findings indicated that their use may improve depressive symptoms, well-being, and functioning. The predefined criteria for a definitive trial were met. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) ISRCTN13067492; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN13067492
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spelling pubmed-103372962023-07-13 Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of Digital Interventions for Depressive Symptoms in Working Adults: Multiarm Randomized Controlled Trial Taylor, Rachael Wallis Male, Rhian Economides, Marcos Bolton, Heather Cavanagh, Kate JMIR Form Res Original Paper BACKGROUND: Depressive symptoms are highly prevalent and have broad-ranging negative implications. Digital interventions are increasingly available in the workplace context, but supporting evidence is limited. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of 3 digital interventions for depressive symptoms in a sample of UK-based working adults experiencing mild to moderate symptoms. METHODS: This was a parallel, multiarm, pilot randomized controlled trial. Participants were allocated to 1 of 3 digital interventions or a waitlist control group and had 3 weeks to complete 6 to 8 short self-guided sessions. The 3 interventions are available on the Unmind mental health app for working adults and draw on behavioral activation, cognitive behavioral therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy. Web-based assessments were conducted at baseline, postintervention (week 3), and at 1-month follow-up (week 7). Participants were recruited via Prolific, a web-based recruitment platform, and the study was conducted entirely on the web. Feasibility and acceptability were assessed using objective engagement data and self-reported feedback. Efficacy outcomes were assessed using validated self-report measures of mental health and functioning and linear mixed models with intention-to-treat principles. RESULTS: In total, 2003 individuals were screened for participation, of which 20.22% (405/2003) were randomized. A total of 92% (373/405) of the participants were retained in the study, 97.4% (295/303) initiated their allocated intervention, and 66.3% (201/303) completed all sessions. Moreover, 80.6% (229/284) of the participants rated the quality of their allocated intervention as excellent or good, and 79.6% (226/284) of the participants were satisfied or very satisfied with their intervention. All active groups showed improvements in well-being, functioning, and depressive and anxiety symptoms compared with the control group, which were maintained at 4 weeks. Hedges g effect sizes for depressive symptoms ranged from −0.53 (95% CI −0.25 to −0.81) to −0.74 (95% CI −0.45 to −1.03). CONCLUSIONS: All interventions were feasible and acceptable, and the preliminary efficacy findings indicated that their use may improve depressive symptoms, well-being, and functioning. The predefined criteria for a definitive trial were met. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) ISRCTN13067492; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN13067492 JMIR Publications 2023-06-16 /pmc/articles/PMC10337296/ /pubmed/37327027 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/41590 Text en ©Rachael Wallis Taylor, Rhian Male, Marcos Economides, Heather Bolton, Kate Cavanagh. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (https://formative.jmir.org), 16.06.2023. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Formative Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://formative.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Taylor, Rachael Wallis
Male, Rhian
Economides, Marcos
Bolton, Heather
Cavanagh, Kate
Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of Digital Interventions for Depressive Symptoms in Working Adults: Multiarm Randomized Controlled Trial
title Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of Digital Interventions for Depressive Symptoms in Working Adults: Multiarm Randomized Controlled Trial
title_full Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of Digital Interventions for Depressive Symptoms in Working Adults: Multiarm Randomized Controlled Trial
title_fullStr Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of Digital Interventions for Depressive Symptoms in Working Adults: Multiarm Randomized Controlled Trial
title_full_unstemmed Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of Digital Interventions for Depressive Symptoms in Working Adults: Multiarm Randomized Controlled Trial
title_short Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of Digital Interventions for Depressive Symptoms in Working Adults: Multiarm Randomized Controlled Trial
title_sort feasibility and preliminary efficacy of digital interventions for depressive symptoms in working adults: multiarm randomized controlled trial
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10337296/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37327027
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/41590
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