Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Feb 10, 2025
Date Accepted: Dec 15, 2025
A smartphone-based ecological momentary intervention for workplace mental health: A randomized controlled trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Work-related stress has been widely associated with increased risk of various mental disorders and poor mental well-being. The fast-growing mHealth services provided new opportunities for workplace mental health.
Objective:
This randomized controlled trial examined the effectiveness of Neurum, a smartphone-based intervention tool that aimed at reducing workplace stress in real-time and real-world.
Methods:
A total of 201 working adults were recruited for a 4-week smartphone-based intervention which incorporated ecological momentary assessment/intervention with psychoeducation, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and mindfulness exercises. A simple randomization procedure was employed. Participants in the intervention group were encouraged to log mood journals, take mental aid exercises, and provide user feedback whenever applicable. Key outcome was measured by the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21; Cronbach’s α = 0.87).
Results:
The intervention group consisted of 102 participants while the control group consisted of 99 participants. More participants dropped from the intervention (n = 21) group than from the control group (n = 2; χ^2(1) = 18.259, P < .001). The final sample consisted of 178 participants (85 males and 93 females; Mage = 34.65, SD = 7.67). Analyses revealed that after the 4-week intervention, the DASS-21 scores decreased in the intervention group (Mpost-pre intervention = -14.518) but increased in the control group (Mpost-pre intervention = 3.319; F(1) = 59.358, P < .001, η2 = 0.252), this effect was largely led by stress reduction (F(1) = 64.679, P < .001; for the intervention group, Mpost-pre intervention = 6.692 while for the control group, Mpost-pre intervention = -2.000). On average, participants completed 6.27 exercises and provided 9.74 mood journals. However, the associations between numbers of exercise or mood journals and the changes of DASS-21 scores did not reach statistical significance.
Conclusions:
This study primarily established the effectiveness of Neurum. It was found to be effective at alleviating depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in non-institutionalized working adults with satisfactory user retention rate. Future directions involving a personalized approach in online mental health services were discussed. Clinical Trial: OSF Registries osf.io/z829u; http://osf.io/z829u
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