Online interventions for depression and anxiety – a systematic review

Background: Access to mental health care is limited. Internet-based interventions (IBIs) may help bridge that gap by improving access especially for those who are unable to receive expert care. Aim: This review explores current research on the effectiveness of IBIs for depression and anxiety. Results: For depression, therapist-guided cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) had larger effect sizes consistently across studies, ranging from 0.6 to 1.9; while stand-alone CBT (without therapist guidance) had a more modest effect size of 0.3–0.7. Even other interventions for depression (non-CBT/non-randomized controlled trial (RCT)) showed modestly high effect sizes (0.2–1.7). For anxiety disorders, studies showed robust effect sizes for therapist-assisted interventions with effect sizes of 0.7–1.7 (efficacy similar to face-to-face CBT) and stand-alone CBT studies also showed large effect sizes (0.6–1.7). Non-CBT/Non-RCT studies (only 3) also showed significant reduction in anxiety scores at the end of the interventions. Conclusion: IBIs for anxiety and depression appear to be effective in reducing symptomatology for both depression and anxiety, which were enhanced by the guidance of a therapist. Further research is needed to identify various predictive factors and the extent to which stand-alone Internet therapies may be effective in the future as well as effects for different patient populations.