Guided Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy for mild and moderate depression: A benchmarking study

Abstract

Major depression is among the most common and debilitating disorders worldwide, associated with large societal and individual costs. Effective treatments exist, but accessibility is scarce. Guided Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (guided iCBT) is a promising approach to reach more people in need of help. In the present pilot study, we investigated the outcome of a guided iCBT program for mild and moderate depression when disseminated from Sweden to Norway. The guided iCBT intervention was implemented within a university-based outpatient clinic by six student therapists under supervision. Twenty-two participants with mild and moderate depression were included in the study. Large treatment effects were found for depressive symptoms, whereas small to medium effects were observed for anxiety symptoms. More than half (55%) of the participants were classified as recovered at post-treatment and more than a third (41%) at follow-up. No participants had a significant deterioration from pre- to post-treatment, but two reported a significant deterioration from post-treatment to 6-month follow-up. Benchmarking the present results against those reported in the four original Swedish studies, we found that the treatment effect in the Norwegian study was slightly higher at post-treatment and slightly lower at 6-month follow-up compared to the outcome in the Swedish studies. The results should be interpreted with caution, as our sample was small and had no control group.

Effectiveness of guided internet-delivered cognitive behavior therapy for depression in routine psychiatry: A randomized controlled trial

“…In the current study the treatment effect size was d = 1.6 (with regard to depressive symptoms). Effect sizes in the reference trials ranges from d = 1.27 (Hedman et al, 2014) to d = 2.11 (Jakobsen et al, 2017).…”

“…A treatment program originally developed by Andersson et al (2005) was used in this trial. It has been used and updated in several trials targeting mild to moderate depression (Vernmark et al, 2010; Johansson et al, 2012; Andersson et al, 2013b; Jakobsen et al, 2017; Hedman et al, 2014), and with effects maintained at 3.5 year follow-up (Andersson et al, 2013a).…”

Guided internet-based transdiagnostic intervention for Indonesian university students with symptoms of anxiety and depression: A pilot study protocol

“…Several studies have supported the effectiveness of Internet-based interventions in treating depression and anxiety in Western high-income countries (HICs) (Kaltenthaler et al, 2008; Richards et al, 2016; Jakobsen et al, 2017), also among students (Davies et al, 2014). However, in low-and middle-income countries (LIMCs) research on the effectiveness of internet-based interventions is scarce (Arjadi et al, 2015).…”

Internet-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Employees With Anxiety, Depression, Social Phobia, or Insomnia: Clinical and Work Outcomes

“…. Recent studies have also documented the clinical effectiveness of iCBT programs for people with anxiety problems (Dryman et al, 2017;Jakobsen et al, 2017;Nordgren et al, 2014). Social anxiety has also started to receive attention with iCBT interventions (Kampmann et al, 2016;Klein et al, 2011).…”