JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

With growing evidence suggesting that levels of emotional well-being has been decreasing globally over the past few years, demand for easily accessible, convenient, and affordable well-being and mental health support has increased. Among the many apps designed to tackle this demand, there is considerable evidence for the benefits of mental health apps that target diagnosed conditions, but less research has focused on apps aiming to improve emotional well-being. Within the field of wellbeing apps, there is a dearth of research on interventions structured around users’ lived experiences and emotional patterns, and a lack of integration of real-world evidence of app usage. Thus, the potential benefits of these novel apps need to be further evaluated using robust real-world data.

Objective:

This study aims to explore usage patterns and preliminary outcomes related to mental health and wellbeing among users of an app (Paradym) designed to promote emotional well-being and positive mental health.

Methods:

This is a pre-post, single-arm evaluation of real-world data provided by users of the Paradym app. All data was provided by users as part of optional built-in self-assessments they could complete to test their levels of depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), life satisfaction (SWLS), and overall wellbeing (WHO-5) when they first started using the app, and at regular intervals following initial usage. Usage patterns, including the number of assessments the users completed and the length of time between assessments were also recorded. The quantitative data collected were analyzed using within-subjects t-tests, and Cohen’s d estimates were used to measure effect sizes.

Results:

A total of 3237 users completed at least one self-assessment, and 787 users completed a follow-up assessment. The sample of users was diverse, with 61.8% being located outside of the US. At baseline, the majority of users reported having strong feelings of burnout (41.6%), experiencing strong insecurities (34.6%), and experiencing an overall low level of thriving (53.8%) in their daily lives. Users also experienced symptoms of depression (mean=8.6 on the PHQ-9) and anxiety (mean=13.07 on the GAD-7), and low levels of life satisfaction (mean=12.14 on the SWLS) and general wellbeing (mean=9.88 on the WHO-5) on average. On average, users had been using the app for 74 days when they completed a follow-up assessment. Following usage of the app, small but significant improvements were reported across all outcomes of interest, with anxiety and depression scores improving by 1.20 and 1.26 points on average, respectively, and life satisfaction and wellbeing scores improving by 0.71 and 0.97 points on average, respectively.

Conclusions:

This real-world data analysis and evaluation provided positive preliminary evidence for the Paradym app’s effectiveness in improving mental health and wellbeing, supporting its use as a scalable intervention for emotional well-being, with potential applications across diverse populations and settings, and encourages the utilisation of built-in assessments in mental health app research. Clinical Trial: -