Using a Smartphone App to Target Current Mental Health Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression

Purpose

This is a prevention intervention study that will examine the efficacy of a smartphone-based intervention in decreasing cancer risk by targeting mental health risk factors of anxiety and depression.

Conditions

  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Cancer

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 40 Years and 64 Years
Eligible Genders
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No

Inclusion Criteria

  1. Middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64). 2. fluent in English. 3. Able to provide informed consent. 4. Meets current criteria for an anxiety and/or depressive disorder with severity ranging from moderate to severe (based on the Patient Health Questionnaire - 9 and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire). 5. Owns a smartphone.

Exclusion Criteria

  1. Acute psychosis (based on the self-reported Structured Interview for Psychosis risk Syndromes, Prodromal Questionnaire - Brief version [SIPS PQ-B]). 2. Moderate to high suicidal ideation (based on a response of 2 or more on the PHQ-9 item-9). 3. History of bipolar disorder (based on the self-reported Mood Disorder Questionnaire [MDQ]. 4. Past or current diagnoses of cancer. 5. Changes to treatments or medications in the past 30 days.

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
N/A
Intervention Model
Single Group Assignment
Primary Purpose
Prevention
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
MoodTriggers App
Mood Triggers provides personalized feedback on individuals' maintenance factors (i.e., "triggers") of their anxiety and depressive symptoms based on the theory that such feedback will lead to symptom reduction. Mood Triggers delivers ultra-brief interventions (less than 2 minutes long) where participants view videos which introduce an important skill to treat their anxiety and depressive.
  • Other: Mood Triggers App
    The current intervention will deploy a smartphone application called Mood Triggers. Mood Triggers was designed to provide personalized feedback on individuals' maintenance factors (i.e., "triggers") of their anxiety and depressive symptoms based on the theory that such feedback will lead to symptom reduction.

Recruiting Locations

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Study Contact

Eilis I Murphy, BA
6036467000
Eilis.I.Murphy@dartmouth.edu

Detailed Description

This prevention intervention study aims to examine the efficacy of a smartphone-based intervention in decreasing cancer risk by targeting mental health risk factors of anxiety and depression. The study will utilize a smartphone application called Mood Triggers, designed to provide personalized feedback on individuals' maintenance factors (i.e., "triggers") of their anxiety and depressive symptoms. Mood Triggers delivers ultra-brief interventions (less than 2 minutes long) where participants view videos introducing important skills to treat their anxiety and depression. The study targets middle-aged adults (40-64 years old) who meet current criteria for moderate to severe anxiety and/or depressive disorders. It will enroll an anticipated 100 participants in a single-group, open-label design, with the intervention lasting up to 12 weeks. The primary outcomes include changes in depression and anxiety symptoms, measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-Q-IV Scale, respectively, as well as changes in cancer risk assessed by the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Cancer Prevention Score.