Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Anxious and Depressed Youth: Improving Homework Adherence Through Mobile Technology.

Area of Science:

• Mental Health Technology
• Adolescent Psychiatry
• Digital Therapeutics

Background:

• Anxiety and mood disorders are prevalent in adolescents, often persisting into adulthood with significant socioeconomic impact.
• Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment, but adherence can be a challenge.
• Mobile apps offer a promising avenue to enhance engagement and adherence in youth mental health treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To improve homework adherence in CBT for youth anxiety and/or depression.
• To design, optimize, and implement a mobile app for delivering CBT homework.
• To test the hypothesis that app use increases homework completion compared to traditional methods.

Main Methods:

• Phase 1: Exploratory interviews with adolescents and therapists to inform app design and usability.
• Phase 2: Iterative prototype optimization through think-aloud procedures and usability testing in clinical settings.
• Phase 3: A pragmatic clinical trial to evaluate the app's impact on homework adherence.

Main Results:

• Phase 3, a pragmatic clinical trial, was scheduled for completion in September 2019.
• The study aims to demonstrate greater homework completion in the app group versus the no-app control group.

Conclusions:

• The mobile app serves as a novel adjunct to CBT for adolescents with anxiety and depression.
• Developed collaboratively with end-users, the app is customizable and includes interoperable depression symptom tracking.
• The app aims to enhance treatment utilization and outcomes for youth mental health care.