Reducing depressive symptomatology with a smartphone app: study protocol for a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Depression has become one of the leading contributors to the global disease burden. Evidence-based treatments for depression are available, but access to them is still limited in some instances. As technology has become more integrated into mental health care, computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) protocols have become available and have been recently transposed to mobile environments (e.g., smartphones) in the form of "apps." Preliminary research on some depression apps has shown promising results in reducing subthreshold or mild to moderate depressive symptoms. However, this small number of studies reports a low statistical power and they have not yet been replicated. Moreover, none of them included an active placebo comparison group. This is problematic, as

SUBMITTER: Giosan C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5427551 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature