Brief Psychological Intervention Through Mobile App and Conference Calls for the Prevention of Depression in Non-Professional Caregivers: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Despite its potential, no intervention aimed at non-professional caregivers administered through a smartphone app has been proven to prevent depression. The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of an indicated depression-prevention intervention for non-professional caregivers administered through an app with the addition of conference-call contact. The intervention was administered to 31 caregivers (Mean age = 54.0 years, 93.5% women). An independent evaluation determined the incidence of depression, depressive symptoms, risk of developing depression, and the variables in the theoretical model (positive environmental reinforcement, negative automatic thoughts) at the pre-intervention and post-intervention, as well as the one- and three-month follow-ups. The incidence of depression at 3 months of follow-up was 6.5%. There was a significant reduction in depressive symptoms (p < 0.001) and in the risk of developing depression (p < 0.001) at the post-intervention and at the one- and three-month follow-ups. The model’s variables improved significantly after the intervention and were associated with post-intervention depressive symptoms. The intervention was more effective in caregivers who had a lower level of depressive symptoms at the pre-intervention. Adherence and satisfaction with the intervention were high. The results encourage future research using a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Psychometric Properties of the Environmental Reward Observation Scale: Study on Its Internal Structure, Factor Invariance, and Method Effect Associated With Its Negative Items

“…Responding to this need, Armento and Hopko (2007) developed the Environmental Reward Observation Scale (EROS), which is a brief ten-item instrument to evaluate increased behavior and access to positive environmental reinforcement. The instrument has been widely used in randomized clinical studies (Fernández-Rodríguez et al., 2020; Mira et al., 2019; Vázquez et al., 2019) and explanatory studies (Aoki et al., 2019; Kern et al., 2019; Maitland et al., 2019; Martínez-Vispo et al., 2019; Otero et al., 2020).…”

Using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for Mental Health Prevention and Treatment

“…Five of the studies included in this Special Issue focused on the assessment of ICT tools for the prevention [ 3 , 4 ] and treatment [ 5 , 6 ] of mental disorders, or the promotion of mental health [ 7 ], in different populations. Specifically, these studies examined the interventions’ effectiveness, clinical utility, acceptability, or feasibility through pilot trials or randomized controlled trials.…”

“…An additional study focused on the prevention of depression among non-professional caregivers at risk for depression, which are an often-neglected group, despite the high burden and negative consequences of the caregiving responsibilities. Otero et al [ 4 ] conducted a pilot study to examine the efficacy and feasibility of a brief cognitive-behavioral intervention for depression prevention delivered through a smartphone app combined with positive and corrective feedback provided by a psychologist through conference calls. The results provided preliminary evidence of the efficacy of the intervention in reducing depressive symptoms and the risk of developing depression, both at postintervention and in the follow-up assessments, and show good indicators of adherence and satisfaction with the intervention, encouraging further research on the topic.…”

Digital Networking in Home-Based Support of Older Adults in Rural Areas: Requirements for Digital Solutions

“…There are a number of studies that analyze apps for informal caregivers of people with dementia, for example. However, their primary focus is often on supporting family members with information, services and reassurance, e.g., to provide emotional or social support to prevent depression or to improve the well-being of informal caregivers [13][14][15][16]. The objective of communication between informal and professional caregivers regarding shared care, if any, does not seem to be in focus.…”