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A Social Support Just-in-Time Adaptive Intervention for Individuals With Depressive Symptoms: Feasibility Study With
Timon Elmer1, Markus Wolf2,3, Evelien Snippe4
1Applied Social and Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
JMIR Mental Health
|August 26, 2025
Summary
A just-in-time adaptive intervention (JITAI) for social support proved feasible for individuals with depression. Triggering interventions based on support needs, rather than distress, enhanced helpfulness and engagement.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Digital Health
- Intervention Science
Background:
- Just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) deliver psychological support during critical life moments.
- Individuals with depressive symptoms often await psychotherapy and may benefit from timely support.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the feasibility of a social support JITAI for individuals with subclinical and clinical depressive symptoms.
- To compare intervention triggering strategies: fixed distress thresholds, personalized thresholds, momentary support need, and no intervention.
Main Methods:
- A 25-participant study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to trigger JITAIs over 18 days.
- A microrandomized trial compared four JITAI triggering strategies.
- Participants completed EMA surveys and received JITAIs, with qualitative analysis of barriers.
Main Results:
- High feasibility was demonstrated by 85.37% EMA completion and low attrition.
- Engagement was moderate; JITAIs triggered by support need were more effective than distress indicators.
- Barriers like time constraints impacted support-seeking; exploratory analyses showed small distress reduction effects.
Conclusions:
- A social support JITAI is feasible, with high compliance and few technical issues.
- Optimizing trigger strategies and addressing engagement barriers require further investigation.
- The study highlights the potential of JITAIs for individuals awaiting psychotherapy.
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