JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Chronic stress is a key vulnerability factor for mental health problems. Thus, there is a need for easy-to-disseminate and effective interventions to prevent stress-related illnesses. Since dysfunctional beliefs might influence subjectively experienced stress, modifying evaluations of these beliefs is a promising approach for interventions aimed to reduce subjective stress. This could be achieved with approach-avoidance modification trainings (AAMTs) as they can be used to modify stimulus evaluations. Since the standard training reactions of the AAMT (swiping, joystick motion) have little valence, emotions could be incorporated as approach and avoidance reactions to enhance the effectiveness of AAMTs.

Objective:

The goal of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a mobile emotion-enhanced approach-avoidance modification training (eAAMT) that engages users to display sadness to move stress-enhancing beliefs away and display positive emotions to move stress-reducing beliefs towards themselves. Additionally, we explored the therapeutic efficacy of this novel intervention.

Methods:

We allocated N = 30 adult individuals suffering from elevated stress randomly to one of three conditions (eAAMT, a swipe control condition, and an inactive control condition) and compared pre-post differences in perceived stress (primary outcome) and five secondary outcomes (agreement with/perceived helpfulness of dysfunctional beliefs, emotion regulation, and depressive symptoms) between conditions.

Results:

Findings indicate good feasibility and acceptance of the intervention. Furthermore, notably larger effect sizes in the eAAMT condition compared to the control conditions provide preliminary evidence for the therapeutic potential of the intervention.

Conclusions:

Future research should test the efficacy of the eAAMT in sufficiently powered randomized controlled trials.