Computer Based Psychological Interventions (original) (raw)

Title: Effectiveness of Digital Therapeutic Interventions: A Comparative Study with Traditional Face-to-Face Therapy for Managing Mental Health Conditions

TELECARE, 2024

This study investigates the efficacy of various digital therapeutic interventions, including apps, online platforms, and wearables, for managing and treating mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. The research compares the effectiveness of these digital interventions with traditional face-to-face therapy approaches. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of digital therapeutic interventions in managing mental health conditions and to compare their efficacy with traditional face-to-face therapy. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic review and meta-analysis are conducted to synthesize existing evidence on the effectiveness of digital therapeutic interventions for mental health. Studies comparing digital interventions with traditional therapy approaches are analyzed to determine comparative efficacy.

Computer- and internet-based psychotherapy interventions

Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2003

Computers and Internet-based programs have great potential to make psychological assessment and treatment more cost-effective. Computer-assisted therapy appears to be as effective as face-to-face treatment for treating anxiety disorders and depression. Internet support groups also may be effective and have advantages over face-to-face therapy. However, research on this approach remains meager.

Advantages and limitations of Internet-based interventions for common mental disorders

World Psychiatry, 2014

Several Internet interventions have been developed and tested for common mental disorders, and the evidence to date shows that these treatments often result in similar outcomes as in face-to-face psychotherapy and that they are cost-effective. In this paper, we first review the pros and cons of how participants in Internet treatment trials have been recruited. We then comment on the assessment procedures often involved in Internet interventions and conclude that, while online questionnaires yield robust results, diagnoses cannot be determined without any contact with the patient. We then review the role of the therapist and conclude that, although treatments including guidance seem to lead to better outcomes than unguided treatments, this guidance can be mainly practical and supportive rather than explicitly therapeutic in orientation. Then we briefly describe the advantages and disadvantages of treatments for mood and anxiety disorders and comment on ways to handle comorbidity often associated with these disorders. Finally we discuss challenges when disseminating Internet interventions. In conclusion, there is now a large body of evidence suggesting that Internet interventions work. Several research questions remain open, including how Internet interventions can be blended with traditional forms of care.

Current and Future Trends in Internet-Supported Mental Health Interventions

Journal of Technology in Human Services, 2011

Despite growing research in the past two decades involving Internet-supported or online mental health interventions, there has been only a few attempts to provide a synthesis of the research findings and future trends. The Internet has grown exponentially during this time, providing greater access to a wider population than ever before. Consequently, online mental health interventions have the potential to be cost-effective, convenient, and reach a more diverse population than traditional, face-to-face interventions. This paper reviews and summarizes the current research for online mental health interventions and discusses future trends. These interventions range from psychoeducational static webpages and complex, personalized, interactive cognitive-behavioral-based self-help programs, to videoconferencing, self-help support groups, blogging, and professional-led online therapy. Future trends in online interventions include the greater prevalence of online therapy and the use of video chat and videoconferencing technologies to enhance and extend the therapeutic relationship. The use of texting or short message service (SMS), mobile communications, smart phone applications, gaming, and virtual worlds extends the intervention paradigm into new environments not always previously considered as intervention opportunities. We find that there is strong evidence to support the effective use and future development of a variety of online mental health applications.

Are Digitally Delivered Psychological Interventions for Depression the Way Forward? A Review

The Psychiatric quarterly, 2018

Digitally delivered interventions aim to make psychological treatments more widely accessible and minimize clinician input. Although their clinical efficacy against wait-list, control conditions is well established, comparative outcome studies are a much better way to examine if psychotherapies are equally effective. Such reviews are still relatively lacking. The aim of this review was therefore to evaluate the effectiveness of digitally delivered psychological therapies over traditionally delivered (face-to-face) ones to alleviate symptoms in adults experiencing sub-threshold and clinical depression. Findings showed that digital interventions produced consistently clinically significant improvements in depressive symptoms. Moreover, the level of therapist contact or expertise did not affect much treatment effectiveness. Future research is pertinent to investigate further the influence of therapist input, the reasons for dropout, how to improve users' experience and therapeutic ...

COMPUTER-MEDIATED PSYCHOTHERAPY. PRESENT AND PROSPECTS. A DEVELOPER PERSPECTIVE

2010

We define computer-mediated psychotherapy (CMP) as a computer application that: (a) is explicitly created to serve a psychotherapeutic purpose; (b) implements the principles and methods of bona fide psychotherapy; and (c) involves the patient into a range of psychotherapeutic activities. Relying on an extensive review of the literature, we found, from a developer perspective, clear reasons of optimism: the efficacy of CMP is comparable with that of traditional face-to-face therapies; its benefits exclude the costs and the demand is high. Hybridized forms show superiority over pure computerized therapies. CMP has the potentialities to produce substantial improvement of mental-health care system by: a) switching the focus of psychotherapy from symptom alleviation to enhancement of help seeking behavior; b) focusing on client as the agent of therapeutic change; and c) capitalizing on theoretical and methodological achievements from e-learning.

A Comprehensive Review and a Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Internet-Based Psychotherapeutic Interventions

Journal of Technology in Human Services, 2008

Internet-based psychotherapeutic interventions have been used for more than a decade, but no comprehensive review and no extensive meta-analysis of their effectiveness have been conducted. We have collected all of the empirical articles published up to March 2006 (n ¼ 64) that examine the effectiveness of online therapy of different forms and performed a meta-analysis of all the studies reported in them (n ¼ 92). These studies involved a total of 9,764 clients who were treated through various Internet-based psychological interventions for a variety of problems, whose effectiveness was assessed by different types of measures. The overall mean weighted effect size was found to be 0.53 (medium effect), which is quite similar to the average effect size of traditional, faceto-face therapy. Next, we examined interacting effects of various

Computer-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy: effective and getting ready for dissemination

F1000 Medicine Reports, 2010

Computer-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (CCBT) is emerging as a promising strategy for improving access to mental health services. Randomized controlled trials have confirmed the efficacy of guided CCBT in treating depression, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, and other common mental disorders. With proper guidance, effect sizes are comparable to those obtained in face-to-face cognitive behavioural therapy, treatment is cost-effective, and preliminary data indicate that CCBT is acceptable to patients. Trials are beginning to evaluate optimal strategies for integrating CCBT within existing systems of mental health care.

Updated taxonomy of digital mental health interventions: a conceptual framework

mHealth

Populations" sponsored by the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT). Their article describes "digital apothecaries", that is, repositories of apps, websites, and other digital tools available to professionals and the public and four types of interventions (2). The current article updates the definitions of these four types and illustrates each as applied to prevention and treatment. These illustrations will focus primarily on studies that