The Cost-Effectiveness of a Novel Online Social Therapy to Maintain Treatment Effects From First-Episode Psychosis Services: Results From the Horyzons Randomized Controlled Trial

A meta-analysis of persuasive design, engagement, and efficacy in 92 RCTs of mental health apps

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the efficacy of digital mental health apps and the impact of persuasive design principles on intervention engagement and outcomes. Ninety-two RCTs and 16,728 participants were included in the meta-analyses. Findings indicate that apps significantly improved clinical outcomes compared to controls (g = 0.43). Persuasive design principles ranged from 1 to 12 per app (mode = 5). Engagement data were reported in 76% of studies, with 25 distinct engagement metrics identified, the most common being the percentage of users who completed the intervention and the average percentage of modules completed. No significant association was found between persuasive principles and either efficacy or engagement. With 25 distinct engagement metrics and 24% of studies not reporting engagement data, establishing overall engagement with mental health apps remains unfeasible. Standardising the definition of engagement and implementing a structured framework for reporting engagement metrics and persuasive design elements are essential steps toward advancing effective, engaging interventions in real-world settings.

Predicting clinical improvement in youth using a national-scale multicomponent digital mental health intervention

INTRODUCTION

Youth mental health services are characterised by high demand and modest clinical outcomes. While digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) have been shown to be clinically effective, the relationship between DMHI use and outcome is unclear. The current study sought to identify the factors affecting the relationship between DMHI use and depression and anxiety symptom improvement in sub-groups of young people.

METHOD

An observational cohort design included young people aged 12-25 years engaging with a DMHI (MOST) from October 2020 to October 2023. The primary outcome was improvement at 12 weeks on the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ4). DMHIs were combinations of self-paced digital cognitive-behavioural therapy content, social network interactions, and professional support. A machine learning clustering algorithm was used to identify distinct user clusters based on baseline characteristics and multiple logistic regression models examined the relationship between DMHI usage and improvement.

RESULTS

Two distinct user clusters emerged, differing by symptom severity, age, service setting, and concurrent external treatment. 46.7% of "Severe" users and 39.8% of "Mild-Moderate" users significantly improved. Greater use of therapy content and professional support interactions were associated with improvement for the Mild-Moderate group only (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.04-1.30, p = 0.008).

CONCLUSION

While a greater proportion of users in the Severe group significantly improved, increased MOST use was associated with symptom improvement only for the Mild-Moderate group. These findings highlight the complexity of the relationship between DMHI use and outcome. Other unmeasured mediating or moderating factors such concurrent 'offline' treatment may help explain the results. Further research is required to better understand the relationship between DMHI use and clinical outcomes.

Digital Interventions for the Rehabilitation of First-Episode Psychosis: An Integrated Perspective

BACKGROUND

The integration of digital health technologies has transformed mental healthcare, particularly for young adults with First-Episode Psychosis (FEP). Digital interventions, such as telepsychiatry and mobile applications, address barriers like social stigma, restricted access to services, and the urgency of timely care.

METHODS

A systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed and APA PsycINFO. Included studies focused on randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, and open studies of digital interventions for FEP rehabilitation. Exclusion criteria included meta-analyses, reviews, and irrelevant studies.

RESULTS

Smartphone applications like Horyzons-Canada facilitated peer support and symptom management, while tools such as My Journey 3 emphasized the need for better user engagement. Digital innovations, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and telepsychiatry, demonstrated improvements in recovery and treatment adherence.

DISCUSSION

Digital interventions significantly enhance the accessibility and quality of FEP care, supporting functional recovery and patient engagement. Future research should prioritize longitudinal studies, user engagement strategies, and advanced analytics to develop personalized, scalable solutions.

A mindfulness-based, cognitive, social, digital relapse-prevention intervention for youth with depression in Australia: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of Rebound

INTRODUCTION

Major depressive disorder (MDD) causes significant disease burden and functional impairment during adolescence and young adulthood. While most young people recover from their first episode, around two-thirds will experience one or more relapses, which can become more severe and treatment-resistant with each episode. To address relapse in MDD, we developed a moderated online social therapy platform (titled Rebound) that integrates: (i) peer-to-peer social networking; (ii) tailored third-wave therapeutic content targeting mindfulness, self-compassion and rumination; and (iii) three types of human support (clinicians, peer workers, career consultants), informed by self-determination theory. The aim of this trial is to determine whether, in addition to treatment as usual (TAU), Rebound, an 18-month complex digital intervention, is superior to 18 months of enhanced TAU in preventing relapse and managing depressive symptoms.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This study is a rater-masked randomised controlled trial. The treatment conditions include Rebound plus TAU or enhanced TAU alone. We aim to recruit 255 young people with at least one episode of MDD, aged 14-27 years. The study includes monthly assessment points over 18 months. The study includes a 48-month recruitment period and an 18-month treatment phase. The primary outcome is depressive relapse at 18 months, as measured by the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), Research Version (SCID-5-RV). Secondary outcomes include the severity of depressive symptoms, time to relapse, time to remission, remission status, severity of anxiety symptoms, study and employment outcomes and cost-effectiveness. We will also examine four therapeutic mechanisms (mindfulness, self-compassion skills, social support and reduced rumination) to understand the 'how and why' of the intervention effects.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Melbourne Health Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC/42967/MH-2018) provided ethics approval for this study. Findings will be made available through scientific journals and forums and to the public via social media and the Orygen website.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ANZCTR, ACTRN12619001412123.

SEMA3: A free smartphone platform for daily life surveys

Traditionally, behavioral, social, and health science researchers have relied on global/retrospective survey methods administered cross-sectionally (i.e., on a single occasion) or longitudinally (i.e., on several occasions separated by weeks, months, or years). More recently, social and health scientists have added daily life survey methods (also known as intensive longitudinal methods or ambulatory assessment) to their toolkit. These methods (e.g., daily diaries, experience sampling, ecological momentary assessment) involve dense repeated assessments in everyday settings. To facilitate research using daily life survey methods, we present SEMA3 ( http://www.SEMA3.com ), a platform for designing and administering intensive longitudinal daily life surveys via Android and iOS smartphones. SEMA3 fills an important gap by providing researchers with a free, intuitive, and flexible platform with basic and advanced functionality. In this article, we describe SEMA3's development history and system architecture, provide an overview of how to design a study using SEMA3 and outline its key features, and discuss the platform's limitations and propose directions for future development of SEMA3.

A Novel Blended Transdiagnostic Intervention (eOrygen) for Youth Psychosis and Borderline Personality Disorder: Uncontrolled Single-Group Pilot Study

BACKGROUND

Integrating innovative digital mental health interventions within specialist services is a promising strategy to address the shortcomings of both face-to-face and web-based mental health services. However, despite young people's preferences and calls for integration of these services, current mental health services rarely offer blended models of care.

OBJECTIVE

This pilot study tested an integrated digital and face-to-face transdiagnostic intervention (eOrygen) as a blended model of care for youth psychosis and borderline personality disorder. The primary aim was to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of eOrygen. The secondary aim was to assess pre-post changes in key clinical and psychosocial outcomes. An exploratory aim was to explore the barriers and facilitators identified by young people and clinicians in implementing a blended model of care into practice.

METHODS

A total of 33 young people (aged 15-25 years) and 18 clinicians were recruited over 4 months from two youth mental health services in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: (1) the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre, an early intervention service for first-episode psychosis; and (2) the Helping Young People Early Clinic, an early intervention service for borderline personality disorder. The feasibility, acceptability, and safety of eOrygen were evaluated via an uncontrolled single-group study. Repeated measures 2-tailed t tests assessed changes in clinical and psychosocial outcomes between before and after the intervention (3 months). Eight semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with the young people, and 3 focus groups, attended by 15 (83%) of the 18 clinicians, were conducted after the intervention.

RESULTS

eOrygen was found to be feasible, acceptable, and safe. Feasibility was established owing to a low refusal rate of 25% (15/59) and by exceeding our goal of young people recruited to the study per clinician. Acceptability was established because 93% (22/24) of the young people reported that they would recommend eOrygen to others, and safety was established because no adverse events or unlawful entries were recorded and there were no worsening of clinical and social outcome measures. Interviews with the young people identified facilitators to engagement such as peer support and personalized therapy content, as well as barriers such as low motivation, social anxiety, and privacy concerns. The clinician focus groups identified evidence-based content as an implementation facilitator, whereas a lack of familiarity with the platform was identified as a barrier owing to clinicians' competing priorities, such as concerns related to risk and handling acute presentations, as well as the challenge of being understaffed.

CONCLUSIONS

eOrygen as a blended transdiagnostic intervention has the potential to increase therapeutic continuity, engagement, alliance, and intensity. Future research will need to establish the effectiveness of blended models of care for young people with complex mental health conditions and determine how to optimize the implementation of such models into specialized services.

The Effects of a Digital, Transdiagnostic, Clinically and Peer-Moderated Treatment Platform for Young People With Emerging Mental Health Complaints: Repeated Measures Within-Subjects Study

BACKGROUND

To address the growing prevalence of youth mental health problems, early intervention is crucial to minimize individual, societal, and economic impacts. Indicative prevention aims to target emerging mental health complaints before the onset of a full-blown disorder. When intervening at this early stage, individuals are more responsive to treatment, resulting in cost-effective outcomes. The Moderated Online Social Therapy platform, which was successfully implemented and proven effective in Australia, is a digital, peer- and clinically moderated treatment platform designed for young people. The Netherlands was the first country outside Australia to implement this platform, under the name Engage Young People Early (ENYOY). It has the potential to reduce the likelihood of young people developing serious mental health disorders.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to investigate the effects on young people using the ENYOY-platform in relation to psychological distress, psychosocial functioning, and positive health parameters.

METHODS

Dutch-speaking young people with emerging mental health complaints (N=131) participated in the ENYOY-platform for 6 months in a repeated measures within-subjects study. Psychological distress, psychosocial functioning, and positive health parameters were assessed at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months. Repeated measures ANOVA was conducted and adjusted for age, sex, therapy, and community activity. The Reliable Change Index and Clinically Significant Index were computed to compare the baseline with the 6- and 12-month measurements. The missing data rate was 22.54% and the dropout rate 62.6% (82/131).

RESULTS

The primary analysis (77/131, 58.8%) showed that psychological distress decreased and psychosocial functioning improved over time with large effect sizes (P<.001 in both cases; ηp2=0.239 and 0.318, respectively) independent of age (P=.76 for psychological distress and P=.48 for psychosocial functioning), sex (P=.24 and P=.88, respectively), therapy activity (P=.49 and P=.80, respectively), or community activity (P=.59 and P=.48, respectively). Similarly, secondary analyses (51/131, 38.9%) showed significant effects of time on the quality of life, well-being, and meaningfulness positive health parameters (P<.05; ηp2=0.062, 0.140, and 0.121, respectively). Improvements in all outcome measures were found between baseline and 3 and 6 months (P≤.001-.01; d=0.23-0.62) and sustained at follow-up (P=.18-.97; d=0.01-0.16). The Reliable Change Index indicated psychological distress improvements in 38% (39/102) of cases, no change in 54.9% (56/102) of cases, and worsening in 5.9% (6/102) of cases. Regarding psychosocial functioning, the percentages were 50% (51/102), 43.1% (44/102), and 6.9% (7/102), respectively. The Clinically Significant Index demonstrated clinically significant changes in 75.5% (77/102) of cases for distress and 89.2% (91/102) for functioning.

CONCLUSIONS

This trial demonstrated that the ENYOY-platform holds promise as a transdiagnostic intervention for addressing emerging mental health complaints among young people in the Netherlands and laid the groundwork for further clinical research. It would be of great relevance to expand the population on and service delivery of the platform.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

RR2-10.1186/s12888-021-03315-x.

Developing a Theory of Change for a Digital Youth Mental Health Service (Moderated Online Social Therapy): Mixed Methods Knowledge Synthesis Study

BACKGROUND

Common challenges in the youth mental health system include low access, poor uptake, poor adherence, and limited overall effectiveness. Digital technologies offer promise, yet challenges in real-world integration and uptake persist. Moderated Online Social Therapy (MOST) aims to overcome these problems by integrating a comprehensive digital platform into existing youth mental health services. Theory of change (ToC) frameworks can help articulate how and why complex interventions work and what conditions are required for success.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to create a ToC for MOST to explain how it works, why it works, who benefits and how, and what conditions are required for its success.

METHODS

We used a multimethod approach to construct a ToC for MOST. The synthesis aimed to assess the real-world impact of MOST, a digital platform designed to enhance face-to-face youth mental health services, and to guide its iterative refinement. Data were gathered from 2 completed and 4 ongoing randomized controlled trials, 11 pilot studies, and over 1000 co-design sessions using MOST. Additionally, published qualitative findings from diverse clinical contexts and a review of related digital mental health literature were included. The study culminated in an updated ToC framework informed by expert feedback. The final ToC was produced in both narrative and table form and captured components common in program logic and ToC frameworks.

RESULTS

The MOST ToC captured several assumptions about digital mental health adoption, including factors such as the readiness of young people and service providers to embrace digital platforms. External considerations included high service demand and a potential lack of infrastructure to support integration. Young people and service providers face several challenges and pain points MOST seeks to address, such as limited accessibility, high demand, poor engagement, and a lack of personalized support. Self-determination theory, transdiagnostic psychological treatment approaches, and evidence-based implementation theories and their associated mechanisms are drawn upon to frame the intervention components that make up the platform. Platform usage data are captured and linked to short-, medium-, and long-term intended outcomes, such as reductions in mental health symptoms, improvements in functioning and quality of life, reductions in hospital visits, and reduced overall mental health care costs.

CONCLUSIONS

The MOST ToC serves as a strategic framework for refining MOST over time. The creation of the ToC helped guide the development of therapeutic content personalization, user engagement enhancement, and clinician adoption through specialized implementation frameworks. While powerful, the ToC approach has its limitations, such as a lack of standardized methodology and the amount of resourcing required for its development. Nonetheless, it provides an invaluable roadmap for iterative development, evaluation, and scaling of MOST and offers a replicable model for other digital health interventions aiming for targeted, evidence-based impact.

Towards a youth mental health paradigm: a perspective and roadmap

Most mental disorders have a typical onset between 12 and 25 years of age, highlighting the importance of this period for the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of mental ill-health. This perspective addresses interactions between risk and protective factors and brain development as key pillars accounting for the emergence of psychopathology in youth. Moreover, we propose that novel approaches towards early diagnosis and interventions are required that reflect the evolution of emerging psychopathology, the importance of novel service models, and knowledge exchange between science and practitioners. Taken together, we propose a transformative early intervention paradigm for research and clinical care that could significantly enhance mental health in young people and initiate a shift towards the prevention of severe mental disorders.