Effects, Adherence, and Therapists' Perceptions of Web- and Mobile-Supported Group Therapy for Depression:...

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Mental Health
• Digital Health
• Psychotherapy Research

Background:

• Limited data exists on patient adherence and therapist perceptions of blended group therapy (bGT).
• Previous studies often focused on narrow demographics (female, highly educated), impacting generalizability.
• Anxiety and depression are common conditions where bGT is being explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate an integrated internet- and mobile-supported blended group therapy (bGT) format.
• To address gaps in understanding patient adherence and therapist experiences with bGT.
• To assess bGT feasibility in a more diverse patient population.

Main Methods:

• A 7-week blended group therapy (bGT) intervention was delivered to 27 patients with major depression.
• Participants included a gender-balanced sample with varying education levels.
• Novice therapists underwent semistructured interviews and a cross-validation survey.

Main Results:

• Significant and stable symptom reduction was observed (d=1.31 to 1.51).
• Therapists reported benefits like increased patient engagement and treatment intensification, alongside drawbacks such as increased workload.
• Patient adherence, measured by task completion, was high and comparable to group attendance.

Conclusions:

• Blended group therapy (bGT) demonstrates high feasibility in a gender-balanced, moderately educated sample.
• bGT offers tools for individualized care, optimizing therapy and achieving high completion rates.
• Therapist experience level is a limitation; future bGT development should consider potential drawbacks.