Maintenance Notice

Due to necessary scheduled maintenance, the JMIR Publications website will be unavailable from Wednesday, July 01, 2020 at 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM EST. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you.

Who will be affected?

Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Mental Health

Date Submitted: Nov 2, 2023
Date Accepted: Jun 9, 2024

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

Examining a Fully Automated Mobile-Based Behavioral Activation Intervention in Depression: Randomized Controlled Trial

Santopetro N, Jones D, Garron A, Meyer A, Joyner K, Hajcak G

Examining a Fully Automated Mobile-Based Behavioral Activation Intervention in Depression: Randomized Controlled Trial

JMIR Ment Health 2024;11:e54252

DOI: 10.2196/54252

PMID: 39212598

PMCID: 11378696

Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited.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.

Efficacy of a fully automated digital behavioral activation intervention on reducing depressive symptoms and anhedonia

  • Nicholas Santopetro; 
  • Danielle Jones; 
  • Andrew Garron; 
  • Alexandria Meyer; 
  • Keanan Joyner; 
  • Greg Hajcak

ABSTRACT

Despite significant progress in our understanding of depression, prevalence rates have dramatically increased in recent years. Thus, there is an imperative need for more cost-effective and scalable mental health treatment options – including digital interventions that minimize therapist burden. The current study focuses on a fully automated digital implementation of Behavioral Activation (BA)—a core behavioral component of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression. We examine the efficacy of a one-month fully automated text message-based BA intervention at reducing depressive symptoms and anhedonia. To this end, 111 adults (M = 32.46 years, SD = 7.41) reporting at least moderate current depressive symptoms (PHQ-8 ≥ 10; M = 16.53, SD = 3.90) were recruited entirely online across the U.S. and randomized to one of three conditions: enjoyable activities (i.e., BA), healthy activities (i.e., an active control condition), and passive (i.e., no contact) control. Participants randomized to enjoyable and healthy activities received daily text messages prompting them to complete two activities per day; participants also provided a daily report on the number and enjoyment of activities completed the prior day. Results revealed that participants in the enjoyable activities (BA) condition experienced significantly greater reductions in depressive symptoms and anhedonia compared to participants in the other two conditions. Participants in both active conditions (i.e., enjoyable and healthy activities) reported reduced symptoms of anxiety compared to those in the control condition. These findings provide preliminary evidence regarding the efficacy of a fully automated digital BA intervention for depression, anhedonia, and anxiety symptoms. Moreover, reminders to complete healthy activities may be a promising intervention for reducing anxiety symptoms.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Santopetro N, Jones D, Garron A, Meyer A, Joyner K, Hajcak G

Examining a Fully Automated Mobile-Based Behavioral Activation Intervention in Depression: Randomized Controlled Trial

JMIR Ment Health 2024;11:e54252

DOI: 10.2196/54252

PMID: 39212598

PMCID: 11378696

Per the author's request the PDF is not available.