Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Jun 29, 2018
Open Peer Review Period: Jul 3, 2018 - Aug 28, 2018
Date Accepted: Dec 9, 2018
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Can brief, daily training using a mobile applications help change maladaptive beliefs? A cross-over randomized-control study evaluating the efficacy of GGRO in reducing maladaptive beliefs and obsessive-compulsive symptoms
ABSTRACT
Background:
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disabling condition with a wide variety of clinical presentations including contamination fears, fear of harm and relationship-related obsessions. Cognitive behavioral models of OCD propose obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms result from catastrophic misinterpretations of commonly occurring intrusive experiences and associated dysfunctional strategies used to manage them. OCD-related maladaptive beliefs including inflated responsibility, importance and control of thoughts, perfectionism and intolerance for uncertainty increase the likelihood of such misinterpretations.
Objective:
Consistent with accumulating evidence suggesting mobile health (mHealth) apps based on cognitive-behavioral principles may lead to significant reductions in psychopathological symptom, we assessed the effectiveness of a novel cognitive training app (GGRO) designed to challenge OCD-related beliefs.
Methods:
Ninety-seven students were randomized to immediate use (iApp) or delayed use (dApp) groups of GGRO. All participants were requested to complete web-based assessment, with questionnaires relating to maladaptive beliefs, mood and OC symptoms at baseline (T1), 15 days following baseline (T2) and 30 days following baseline (T3). Participants in iApp group started using the app at baseline and continued using the app for 15 consecutive days. They were then requested to stop using the app until T3. Participants in the dApp group were requested to wait for 15 days and only then start using the app (cross-over) for 15 consecutive days.
Results:
All participants used the app for a mean 14.07 (SD=1.41) days with a 2.94 levels per day. Replicating previous findings, app use was associated with medium-large effect size reductions in both groups iApp (n=51) and dApp (n=46). In the iApp group, all effects remained significant during 15 days follow-up. Analyses focusing on the first two assessment occasions revealed significant Treatment × Repeated Measures interactions on maladaptive beliefs, several OC symptom measures and self-esteem.
Conclusions:
This study provides further evidence for the efficacy of GGRO as a mobile delivered training exercises useful for the reduction of OCD-related beliefs and Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrial.gov ID: NCT03571464
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
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