A Randomized Controlled Trial of Multiple Versions of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Matrix App for Well-Being

Abstract

Mobile apps may be useful in teaching psychological skills in a high-frequency, low-intensity intervention. The acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) matrix is a visual tool to help develop psychological flexibility by categorizing moment-to-moment experience and is well suited to a mobile app. This pilot study tested the effects of a simple and complex version of a novel app using the ACT matrix in two distinct samples: help-seeking individuals ( n = 35) and students receiving SONA credit ( n = 63). Findings indicated no differences between app conditions and a waitlist condition in the SONA credit sample. However, in the help-seeking sample, improvements were found on well-being and valued action in participants who used the app, with greater improvements and app adoption for those using a complex version with additional skills. A mobile app based on the ACT matrix has benefits for help-seeking individuals, but supplementary features may be necessary to support consistent use and benefits.

Designing an mHealth Intervention for People With Visible Differences Based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Participatory Study Gaining Stakeholders’ Input

“…Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), an established third-wave cognitive behavioral therapy and behavior change model [12], underpins ACT It Out. ACT has been applied to mHealth interventions, with evidence for ACT-based mHealth in enhancing well-being and valued action [13], reducing social anxiety in a clinical population (alongside internet-delivered treatment) [14], and enabling smoking cessation [15]. Psychologists across Europe report using ACT with patients who have visible differences and note its suitability for the population [16,17].…”

Tracking Valued and Avoidant Functions with Health Behaviors: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Matrix Mobile App

“…The morning check-in included questions to identify health-related values, behaviors that would move towards those values, internal barriers that might arise, and potential away moves. Of note the morning and evening check-ins were not used in our previous ACT Matrix app pilot trial (Levin et al, 2017), but were added based on participant feedback in the pilot that the app could be more tailored to health behavior change efforts as well as findings from another study that adding additional evening check-ins and related tools increased the efficacy of the ACT Matrix app for well-being (Krafft et al, 2019).…”

“…If not sure, just guess," with response options for "toward" or "away." Additional questions were added that were not used in the initial ACT Matrix pilot trial given feedback from participants that the previous app was too simple (Levin et al, 2017), and positive results in a subsequent trial comparing the simpler matrix app to a version with additional questions/features on general well-being (Krafft et al, 2019). Participants were asked to pick a value they are moving towards or to pick an internal barrier they are trying to move away from using a list of examples.…”

“…A review of SUS research in 206 studies found strong support for the factor structure and reliability of this measure (Bangor et al, 2008). The SUS has been widely used to evaluate the usability of behavioral health apps, including previous pilot trials of the ACT matrix app (Krafft et al, 2019;Levin et al, 2017), thus allowing for comparisons across studies. Internal consistency was good for the SUS in the current study (α = 0.87).…”

“…In addition to the SUS, a series of individual program satisfaction items were provided at post-intervention for participants assigned to one of the active conditions. These items were adapted from previous studies evaluating ACT mobile apps, including the ACT matrix app (Krafft et al, 2019;Levin et al, 2017). Items assessed domains of program satisfaction including overall satisfaction, perceived helpfulness, desire to use the app in the future, and usability.…”