Dataset Information

Developing a smartphone App based on the Unified Protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders: A qualitative analysis of users and professionals' perspectives.

ABSTRACT: Emotional Disorders have become the most prevalent mental disorders in the world. In relation to their high prevalence, mental health care from public health services faces major challenges. Consequently, finding solutions to deliver cost-effective evidence-based treatments has become a main goal of today's clinical psychology. Smartphone apps for mental health have emerged as a potential tool to deal with it. However, despite their effectiveness and advantages, several studies suggest the need to involve patients and professionals in the design of these apps from the first stage of the development process. Thus, this study aimed to identify, from both a group of users and professionals, the needs, opinions, expectations and design aspects of a future smartphone app based in the Unified Protocol (UP), that will allow to develop the subsequent technical work of the app engineers. Two focus groups were conducted, one with 7 professionals and the other with 9 users, both groups familiar with the UP. A thematic content analysis based in grounded theory was performed in order to define emergent categories of analysis derived from the interview data. The results revealed 8 common topics in both focus groups and 5 specific key topics were identified in the professionals' focus group. Of the total proposals, 93 % of the professionals' and 78 % of the users' are implemented in the preliminary version of the app.

SUBMITTER: Osma J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9535424 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Developing a smartphone App based on the Unified Protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders: A qualitative analysis of users and professionals' perspectives.

Osma Jorge J Martínez-García Laura L Prado-Abril Javier J Peris-Baquero Óscar Ó González-Pérez Alberto A

Internet interventions 20220929

Emotional Disorders have become the most prevalent mental disorders in the world. In relation to their high prevalence, mental health care from public health services faces major challenges. Consequently, finding solutions to deliver cost-effective evidence-based treatments has become a main goal of today's clinical psychology. Smartphone apps for mental health have emerged as a potential tool to deal with it. However, despite their effectiveness and advantages, several studies suggest the need ...[more]

PMID: 36213084

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Project description:ImportanceTransdiagnostic interventions have been developed to address barriers to the dissemination of evidence-based psychological treatments, but only a few preliminary studies have compared these approaches with existing evidence-based psychological treatments.ObjectiveTo determine whether the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP) is at least as efficacious as single-disorder protocols (SDPs) in the treatment of anxiety disorders.Design, setting, and participantsFrom June 23, 2011, to March 5, 2015, a total of 223 patients at an outpatient treatment center with a principal diagnosis of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or social anxiety disorder were randomly assigned by principal diagnosis to the UP, an SDP, or a waitlist control condition. Patients received up to 16 sessions of the UP or an SDP for 16 to 21 weeks. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, after treatment, and at 6-month follow-up. Analysis in this equivalence trial was based on intention to treat.InterventionsThe UP or SDPs.Main outcomes and measuresBlinded evaluations of principal diagnosis clinical severity rating were used to evaluate an a priori hypothesis of equivalence between the UP and SDPs.ResultsAmong the 223 patients (124 women and 99 men; mean [SD] age, 31.1 [11.0] years), 88 were randomized to receive the UP, 91 to receive an SDP, and 44 to the waitlist control condition. Patients were more likely to complete treatment with the UP than with SDPs (odds ratio, 3.11; 95% CI, 1.44-6.74). Both the UP (Cohen d, -0.93; 95% CI, -1.29 to -0.57) and SDPs (Cohen d, -1.08; 95% CI, -1.43 to -0.73) were superior to the waitlist control condition at acute outcome. Reductions in clinical severity rating from baseline to the end of treatment (β, 0.25; 95% CI, -0.26 to 0.75) and from baseline to the 6-month follow-up (β, 0.16; 95% CI, -0.39 to 0.70) indicated statistical equivalence between the UP and SDPs.Conclusions and relevanceThe UP produces symptom reduction equivalent to criterion standard evidence-based psychological treatments for anxiety disorders with less attrition. Thus, it may be possible to use 1 protocol instead of multiple SDPs to more efficiently treat the most commonly occurring anxiety and depressive disorders.Trial registrationclinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01243606.

Project description:BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been an emotionally challenging time, especially for young adults. It is associated with a substantial increase in the prevalence of mental health problems, negative symptoms, and stressful experiences that compromise well-being. In low-income countries, internet-delivered psychological services could have a remarkable impact on the population's mental health, given the lack of mental health professionals.AimTo investigate the efficacy of internet-delivered cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT)-transdiagnostic intervention for adults with emotional disorders.MethodsIn this internet-delivered randomized controlled trial, 102 students with an emotional disorder (mean age = 28.20 years, standard deviation = 5.07) were randomly allocated to receive unified protocol (UP) (n = 51) or treatment as the usual intervention. Following a semi-structured clinical interview, participants completed an online survey including the Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale, Overall Depression Severity and Impairment Scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and Emotional Style Questionnaire.ResultsThe participants showed a high degree of adherence. In total, 78% (n = 40) of the experimental group participants completed the UP treatment. Considering the intention to treat procedure, the results of the analysis of covariance indicated that participants who received UP showed statistically significant changes in depression symptoms [Cohen's d = -1.50 with 95% confidence interval (CI): -1.90 to -1.10], anxiety (Cohen's d = -1.06 with 95%CI: -1.48 to -0.65), difficulties with emotion regulation (Cohen's d = -0.33 with 95%CI: -0.7 to -0.06), positive affect (Cohen's d = 1.27 with 95%CI: 0.85 to 1.68), negative affect (Cohen's d= -1.04 with 95%CI: -1.46 to -0.63), and healthy emotionality (Cohen's d = 0.53 with 95%CI: 0.09 to 0.13) compared with the control group.ConclusionThis study's findings highlight the potential value of transdiagnostic internet-delivered programs for young adults with an emotional disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic, and expand the research examining emotional well-being improvements resulting from CBT-transdiagnostic interventions. The findings suggest that UP, which generally concentrates on reducing negative effects, can increase positive effects.

Project description:BackgroundDespite high rates of smartphone ownership in psychiatric populations, there are very little data available characterizing smartphone use in individuals with mental illness. In particular, few studies have examined the interest and use of smartphones to support mental health.ObjectiveThis study aimed to (1) characterize general smartphone app and social media usage in an acute transdiagnostic psychiatric sample with high smartphone ownership, (2) characterize current engagement and interest in the use of smartphone apps to support mental health, and (3) test demographic and clinical predictors of smartphone use.MethodsThe survey was completed by all patients attending an adult partial hospital program, with no exclusion criteria. The primary outcomes were frequency of use of general and mental health smartphone apps (smartphone use survey) and the frequency of social media use and phone-checking behavior (mobile technology engagement scale).ResultsOverall, 322 patients (aged mean 33.49, SD 13.87 years; 57% female) reported that their most frequently used app functions were texting, email, and social media. Younger individuals reported more frequent use across most types of apps. Baseline depression and anxiety symptoms were not associated with the frequency of app use. Participants reported health care, calendar, and texting apps as most supportive of their mental health and social media apps as most negatively affecting their mental health. Most patients reported an interest in (73.9% [238/322]) and willingness to use (81.3% [262/322]) a smartphone app to monitor their mental health condition. Less than half (44%) of the patients currently had a mental health app downloaded on their smartphone, with mindfulness and meditation apps being the most common type.ConclusionsThe high interest in and willingness to use mental health apps, paired with the only moderate current reported usage, indicate a potential unmet treatment opportunity in psychiatric populations. There is potential to optimize non-mental health-specific apps to better support the needs of those with mental illness and to design a new wave of mental health apps that match the needs of these populations as well as the way they use smartphones in daily life.

Dataset Information

Developing a smartphone App based on the Unified Protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders: A qualitative analysis of users and professionals' perspectives.

Publications

Developing a smartphone App based on the Unified Protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders: A qualitative analysis of users and professionals' perspectives.

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