Predicting Acceptance of e-Mental Health Interventions in Patients with Obesity by using an extended Unified Theory of Acceptance Model (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Rentrop ◽  
Mirjam Damerau ◽  
Adam Schweda ◽  
Jasmin Steinbach ◽  
Lynik Chantal Schüren ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND The rapid increase in the number of overweight and obese people is a worldwide health problem. Obesity is often associated with physiological and mental health burdens. Due to several barriers of face-to-face psychotherapy, one promising approach is to exploit recent developments and implement innovative e-mental health interventions that offer various benefits to obese patients as well as for the healthcare system. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess the acceptance of e-mental health interventions in patients with obesity and explore its influencing predictors. In addition, the well-established, Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model (UTAUT) will be compared with an extended UTAUT model in terms of variance explanation of acceptance. METHODS A cross-sectional online survey study was conducted from July 2020 to January 2021 in Germany. Eligibility requirement was adult age (18 or above), internet access, a good command of the German language, and a BMI > 30 kg/m2 (obesity). 448 patients with obesity (grade I, II and III) were recruited via specialized social media platforms. The impact of various socio-demographic, medical, and mental health characteristics were assessed. eHealth-related data and acceptance of e-mental health interventions were examined using a modified questionnaire, which is based on the UTAUT. RESULTS Acceptance of e-mental health interventions in obese patients was overall moderate (M = 3.18, SD = 1.11). There are significant differences in acceptance of e-mental health interventions among obese patients depending on the degree of obesity, age, gender, occupational status, and mental health status. In an extended UTAUT regression model acceptance was significantly predicted by the depression score (PHQ-8) (β = .07, P = .028), stress due to constant availability via mobile phone or email (β = .06, P = .024) and the confidence in using digital media (β = -.058, P = .042), as well as by the UTAUT core predictors performance expectancy (PE) (β = .45, P < .001), effort expectancy (EE) (β = .22, P < .001), and social influence (SI) (β = .27, P < .001). The comparison between an extended UTAUT model (16 predictors) and the restrictive UTAUT model (PE, EE, SI) revealed a significant difference in explained variance (F13,431= 2.366, P = .005). CONCLUSIONS The UTAUT model has proven to be a valuable instrument to predict the acceptance of e-mental health interventions in patients with obesity. Furthermore, when additional predictors were added, a significantly higher percentage of explained variance in acceptance could be achieved. Based on the strong association between acceptance and future utilization, new interventions should focus on these UTAUT predictors to promote the urgently needed establishment of effective e-mental health interventions for patients with obesity, who suffer from mental health burdens.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjam Damerau ◽  
Martin Teufel ◽  
Venja Musche ◽  
Hannah Kohler ◽  
Adam Schweda ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Diabetes is a very common chronic disease, which confronts patients with massive physiological and psychological burdens. The digitalization of mental health care has generated effective e-mental health approaches, which bear indubitable practical value to patient treatment. However, before implementing and optimizing e-mental health tools, their acceptance and underlying barriers and resources should be determined first in order to be able to develop and establish effective patient-oriented interventions. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess the acceptance of e-mental health interventions in diabetes patients and to explore its underlying barriers and resources. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted in Germany over a period of two months in 2020 through an online survey recruited via online diabetes channels. Eligibility requirement was adult age (18 or above), a good command of the German language, internet access and a diagnosis of diabetes. Acceptance was measured using a modified questionnaire, which was based on the well-established Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and assessed health-related internet use, acceptance of e-mental health interventions and its barriers and resources. Mental health was measured using validated and established instruments, namely the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7, the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 and the Distress Thermometer. Additionally, socio-demographic and medical data regarding diabetes were asked RESULTS Of 340 participants starting the survey 76.8 % completed it, resulting in 261 participants and a final sample of 258 participants with complete datasets. The acceptance of e-mental health interventions in diabetes patients was overall moderate (M = 3.02, SD = 1.14). Sex and suffering from a mental disorder had a significant influence on acceptance (P < .001). In an extended UTAUT regression model (UTAUT predictors plus socio-demographics and mental health variables) acceptance was significantly predicted by distress (β = .11, P = .027) as well as by the UTAUT predictors performance expectancy (PE) (β = .50, P < .001), effort expectancy (EE) (β = .15, P = .001), and social influence (SI) (β = .28, P < .001). The comparison between an extended UTAUT regression model (13 predictors) and the UTAUT only regression model (PE, EE, SI) revealed no significant difference in explained variance (F10,244 = 1.567, P =.117). CONCLUSIONS This study supports the viability of the UTAUT model and its predictors in assessing acceptance of e-mental health interventions in diabetes patients. Three UTAUT predictors reached a notable amount of explained variance in acceptance of 75 %, indicating being a very useful and efficient method for measuring e-mental health intervention acceptance of diabetic patients. Due to the close link between acceptance and utilization, acceptance facilitating interventions focusing on these three UTAUT predictors should be fostered to bring forward the highly needed establishment of effective e-mental health interventions in psychodiabetology.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Peter Musiat ◽  
Catherine Johnson ◽  
Melissa Atkinson ◽  
Simon Wilksch ◽  
Tracey Wade

Abstract Web-based interventions are increasingly used for the prevention, treatment and aftercare of mental disorders. A crucial factor to the efficacy of such online programmes is adherence to the intervention content and procedure. It has been frequently suggested that adherence in web-based interventions is low and little is known about which factors influence adherence. To increase intervention uptake and completion, studies increasingly include interventions with some form of guidance. Guided interventions have been shown to have higher efficacy, however, evidence for the impact on adherence is limited and mixed. This meta-analysis explored the impact of human guidance on intervention completion in web-based mental health interventions. A total of 22 studies were included with interventions primarily targeting symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders. Results showed that guidance significantly increases the average amount of intervention completion [g = 0.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.18–0.40] and the proportion of intervention completers [log odds ratio (OR) = 0.50, 95% CI 0.34–0.66] with small effects. On average, full completion rates were 12% higher in guided intervention groups. This meta-analysis demonstrated that guidance in web-based mental health interventions does increase adherence, but more research is required to better understand the specific mechanisms between guidance, adherence and outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Cohen ◽  
Jessica L. Schleider

Objective: Many adolescents struggle to access appropriate mental health care due to structural or psychological barriers. Among those who do access an intervention, retention is a pressing concern. As a result, adolescents are less likely to benefit from an intervention. Although traditional barriers to participation (e.g., location, cost) are hypothetically reduced or removed in internet interventions, low retention is still common, particularly in unguided programs (those not involving a clinician). It is therefore key to determine what factors are associated with dropout in digital mental health interventions with adolescents both within and beyond the context of research studies. Methods: We compare completion rates from two projects evaluating self-guided, online single-session mental health interventions (SSIs) for adolescents. One was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which participants were paid for participation. The other was a program evaluation project in which participants were not paid for participation. We additionally compare SSI completion rates across various demographic groups and across baseline hopelessness levels. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in SSI completion status between the RCT (84.75% full-completers) and the program evaluation (36.86% full-completers), X2 (2, N =2436) = 583.5, p &lt; .05. There were no significant differences in the baseline hopelessness scores across completion statuses in either study. There were no significant differences in full-completion rates across demographic groups in either project. Conclusion: Adolescents may be more likely to complete a brief digital mental health intervention if they are paid for participation. Additionally, it is possible that the brevity of SSIs reduces demographic disparities related to retention by minimizing the time required to complete an intervention.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Hayes ◽  
Rosarie Crowley ◽  
Yvonne O’Brien ◽  
Geraldine Hannon ◽  
Emma Hennessey ◽  
...  

Abstract Mental health problems have a significant impact globally in terms of social and economic costs. Increasing access to and uptake of mental health interventions (particularly by men) remains a challenge for service providers. The current study sought to examine the efficacy of a delivering a Stress Control intervention in partnership with a community sporting organisation (the Gaelic Athletic Assocaition, GAA) in ameliorating mental health difficulties in a general population. Measures of anxiety, depression and quality of life were administered before and after the delivery of the 6-week programme. A focus group was conducted afterwards to gather qualitative data on participants’ experiences of the intervention. Statistically significant decreases in depression scores were found following attendance at the course: t (94) = 3.14, p = .002, with a large effect size (0.5) (n = 95). There was an increase in the number of male attendees compared with clinic-based courses. Thematic analysis of the focus group data revealed a number of key themes including increased accessibility in terms of the scale and context of the delivery of the course. Delivering large-scale psychoeducational courses like Stress Control in partnership with the GAA represents a promising avenue for increasing access (for males in particular) to an effective intervention for improving mental health outcomes Key learning aims (1) To gain an understanding of the impact of delivering a large-scale psychological intervention in partnership with a community sports organisation on accessibility and stigma reduction for participants. (2) To become aware of the potential benefits of considering non-clinic-based locations in running public mental health interventions. (3) To understand the key role of the normalisation of the experience of common mental health problems and the impact on intervention uptake.


2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 301-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Hakim-Larson ◽  
Ray Kamoo ◽  
Sylvia Nassar-McMillan ◽  
John Porcerelli

The last century has seen an increase in the population of Americans of Arab and Chaldean descent. In recent decades, clinicians have articulated the goal of enhancing their knowledge of cultural diversity for the purpose of improving their appreciation for diversity and the quality of their mental health interventions with diverse populations. However, there is currently little systematic empirical research regarding the counseling of Arab and Chaldean Americans, although awareness of the need for such research among mental health professionals has started to emerge. The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative review of the values and socio-cultural forces that are relevant to the counseling of this population in North America, and to provide some culturally sensitive recommendations for working with American families of Arab and Chaldean ethnicity. In particular, we propose that effective interventions with clients of Arab and Chaldean ethnic backgrounds will need to be informed by an understanding of the everyday sociopolitical contextual background of target clients and the impact of values and acculturation processes on the family network.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nimesh G. Desai ◽  
Vishi Sachdeva ◽  
Aishwarya John ◽  
Kumar Gourav ◽  
Gibson O. Anugwom

Background: Various mental health interventions like priority in-patient care, ECT, psychotherapies, pharmacotherapies, etc. have been tried throughout the world to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with suicide behavior. Aims: To establish the effectiveness of mental health intervention for preventing suicide, for those at risk and to understand the perception of patients and family members about the usefulness of interventions for preventing suicide. Material and methods: The patients admitted to the Psychiatry Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Institute of Human Behavior and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), in view of suicide behavior, during the 12 months period from 1st July 2018 to 30th June 2019 were included in the study. A target population of 88 patients was taken up for cross-sectional follow-up assessment. They were assessed for suicide behavior for the period of 12 months prior to and subsequent to the hospitalization. Results: A statistically significant difference was found in both, the number of patients attempting suicide before and after hospitalization (N = 88, Chi-square = .2, p-value < 0.04), as well as in the mean number of attempts before and after hospitalization (N = 88, p-value <0.01). Also, three fourth of patients/family members were completely satisfied with the care provided while the remaining one-fourth were only partially satisfied. Conclusion: This study has established not only the usefulness of timely mental health intervention for the prevention of suicide as perceived by family or patients but also provides statistical evidence for the effectiveness of such mental health interventions.


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