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Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research

Date Submitted: Apr 5, 2019
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 5, 2019 - May 25, 2019
Date Accepted: Aug 1, 2019
(closed for review but you can still tweet)

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

A New Mental Health Mobile App for Well-Being and Stress Reduction in Working Women: Randomized Controlled Trial

Coelhoso CC, Tobo PR, Lacerda SS, Lima AH, Barrichello CRC, Amaro E Jr, Kozasa EH

A New Mental Health Mobile App for Well-Being and Stress Reduction in Working Women: Randomized Controlled Trial

J Med Internet Res 2019;21(11):e14269

DOI: 10.2196/14269

PMID: 31697244

PMCID: 6873146

Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.

A New Mental Health Mobile App for Well-Being and Stress Reduction in Working Women: Randomized Controlled Trial

  • Cássia Canha Coelhoso; 
  • Patricia Renovato Tobo; 
  • Shirley Silva Lacerda; 
  • Alex Heitor Lima; 
  • Carla Regina Camara Barrichello; 
  • Edson Amaro Jr; 
  • Elisa Harumi Kozasa

Background:

Although the availability and use of mobile mental health apps has grown exponentially in recent years, little data are available regarding their efficacy.

Objective:

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an app developed to promote stress management and well-being among working women compared with a control app.

Methods:

Female employees at a private hospital were invited to participate in the study via mailing lists and intranet ads. A total of 653 individuals self-enrolled through the website. Eligible participants were randomized between control (n=240) and intervention (n=250) groups. The well-being mobile app provides an 8-week program with 4 classes per week (including a brief theoretical portion and a 15-min guided practice). The active control app also provided 4 assessments per week that encouraged participants to self-observe how they were feeling for 20 min. We also used the app to conduct Web-based questionnaires (10-item Perceived Stress Scale and 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index) and ask specific questions to assess subjective levels of stress and well-being at baseline (t1), midintervention (t4=4 weeks after t1) and postintervention (t8=8 weeks after t1). Both apps were fully automated without any human involvement. Outcomes from the control and intervention conditions at the 3 time points were analyzed using a repeated measures analysis of variance.

Results:

Among the randomized participants (n=490), 185 participants were excluded at the 4-week follow-up and another 79 at the 8-week follow-up because of noncompliance with the experimental protocol. Participants who did not complete t4 and t8 assessments were equally distributed between groups (t4: control group=34.6% [83/240] and intervention group=40.8% [102/250]; P=.16; t8: control group=29.9% [47/157] and intervention group=21.6% [32/148]; P=.10). Both groups showed a significant increase in general well-being as a function of time (F2,426=5.27; P=.006), but only the intervention group presented a significant increase in work-related well-being (F2,426=8.92; P<.001), as well as a significant reduction in work-related and overall stress (F2,426=5.50; P=.004 and F2,426=8.59; P<.001, respectively).

Conclusions:

The well-being mobile app was effective in reducing employee stress and improving well-being.

ClinicalTrial:

Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02637414; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02637414.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Coelhoso CC, Tobo PR, Lacerda SS, Lima AH, Barrichello CRC, Amaro E Jr, Kozasa EH

A New Mental Health Mobile App for Well-Being and Stress Reduction in Working Women: Randomized Controlled Trial

J Med Internet Res 2019;21(11):e14269

DOI: 10.2196/14269

PMID: 31697244

PMCID: 6873146

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