Mental health related outcomes across repeated testing of a co-designed preventative mental health smartphone app for University students (Preprint)

Le résumé fourni par la source

BACKGROUND Health and mental health digital tools have emerged as a promising and necessary future of healthcare in a post-COVID 19 pandemic era. In the preventative mental health space many smartphone apps and digital tools available have either limited empirical or research support, or are limited in their ability to design to a commercial standard using iterative development methods. OBJECTIVE The current study explored the mental health and help seeking related outcomes of the iterative testing of the Monash Thrive app. It was hypothesised that there would be an improvement in all outcomes across both trials (1), and that these improvements would be observed to a greater degree in trial 2 compared to trial 1 (2). METHODS The Monash Thrive app was tested across two iterative trials in 2022, the minimum viable product (MVP) of the app was tested across 4 weeks of use, followed by the beta version of the app (redeveloped based on MVP testing feedback), tested across 12 weeks of use later that year. Mental health variables including anxiety, depression, mental health literacy and help seeking intentions were compared at pre and post app use for each trial. RESULTS Improvements in mental health literacy, anxiety and help seeking intentions towards smartphone apps improved in trial 1, changes in all other variables were insignificant. Trial 2 did not demonstrate any significant changes across all variables of interest. CONCLUSIONS The initial hypothesis was partially supported by findings, the second hypothesis was not supported. The absence of observed worsening of all variables of interest across time are a promising observation given the timing of each trial during teaching semesters. The lack of predicted improvement in mental health outcomes in the second trial compared to the first highlights the importance of iterative design and testing where changes may not always result in measurable improvements. CLINICALTRIAL Two trials were included in the current manuscript. Trial 1 was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12622001054707). Trial 2 was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12623000131651).

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