Mobile Apps for the Treatment of Depression

Withdrawn before enrolling · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Major Depressive Disorder

In brief

Smartphone applications (apps) may be well-suited as a low cost adjunctive tool for increasing the adherence of individuals to psychotherapy treatments which may subsequently increase symptom reduction and improve clinical outcomes. Apps offer the opportunity for real-time tracking of behavior and have the ability to provide prompt feedback and reminders in a convenient, readily available technology. The immediacy and convenience of apps may be responsible for the observed improvements in adherence on the part of the patients relative to traditional paper-and-pencil tracking and practice of skills taught in psychotherapy. These features are relevant to behavioral activation (BA) protocols, the effects of which are often attenuated by failure to adhere to regular practice and tracking of behavior. The Mood Coach app is a BA protocol developed to provide a convenient means of planning and tracking activity, and monitoring mood responses to scheduled increases in activity. This project evaluates the utility of this app as an adjunct to standard BA treatment. The investigators predict that participants assigned to the BA+app condition will demonstrate greater adherence to the BA treatment compared to the standard BA condition. The investigators also predict that the participants in the BA+app condition will report greater satisfaction with the app compared to the standard BA protocol that utilizes paper and pencil materials.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02024620

Run by

Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System

People needed

0

Starts

2014-03-01

Expected to finish

2014-10-01

Last updated by the study team

2015-12-15

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 89. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Veterans aged 18 and older
• Speak and understand English
• Meet criteria for major depressive disorder
• Willing to participate in psychotherapy for depression

You may not qualify if…

• Current psychotic disorder diagnosis
• Current bipolar disorder
• Diagnosed with a substance use disorder that is not currently being addressed by a non-study provider
• Patients receiving a concurrent evidence-based psychotherapy for depression or PTSD

Where it is running

• Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System — North Little Rock, Arkansas, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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