Adolescent Health Promotion Interventions Using Well-Care Visits and a Smartphone Cognitive Behavioral Therapy App:...

Area of Science:

• Adolescent Health
• Mental Health Interventions
• Digital Health

Background:

• Adolescent health promotion is crucial for preventing risk behaviors and mental health issues.
• Scalable interventions are needed to support adolescent mental well-being and prevent later-onset mental illness.
• Current health promotion strategies lack established, scalable intervention models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of two adolescent health promotion interventions: a well-care visit (WCV) with risk assessment and counseling, and a smartphone-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) app.
• To compare the outcomes of WCV alone, WCV combined with the CBT app, and no intervention.
• To test the hypothesis that combined WCV and CBT app intervention yields superior outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, multi-institutional randomized controlled trial involving 217 adolescents aged 13-18 years.
• Intervention groups received either WCV or WCV with a smartphone CBT app; a control group received no intervention.
• Outcomes, including depressive symptoms, self-esteem, quality of life, and suicidal ideation, were assessed over 4 months using mixed-effects models.

Main Results:

• Both intervention groups demonstrated short-term reductions in depressive symptoms at 1 month, particularly in high school students and those with higher baseline symptom scores.
• Significantly less suicidal ideation was observed in the intervention groups compared to the control group.
• The CBT app effectively improved self-monitoring skills and reduced depressive symptoms, while WCV improved health promotion scale scores in junior high students at 4 months.

Conclusions:

• Adolescent health promotion interventions show promise for short-term mental health benefits, including reduced depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation.
• The combination of well-care visits and CBT apps may offer a viable approach to adolescent mental health promotion.
• Further research is needed to determine optimal intervention frequency and refine digital tools for sustained, long-term effectiveness.