BACKGROUND: Although adolescents report high levels of stress, they report engaging in few stress management techniques. Consequently, developing effective and targeted programs to help address this transdiagnostic risk factor in adolescence is particularly important. Most stress management programs for adolescents are delivered within schools, and the evidence for these programs is mixed, suggesting a need for alternative options for stress management among adolescents.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to test the short-term effects of a self-guided digital mental health intervention (DMHI) designed for adolescents on perceived stress and rumination (ie, brooding).
METHODS: This was a 12-week, 2-arm decentralized randomized controlled trial of adolescents aged 13 to 17 years who presented with elevated levels of perceived stress and brooding. Participants were randomly assigned to engage with a self-guided DMHI (Happify for Teens) or to a waitlist control. Participants assigned to the intervention group were given access to the program for 12 weeks. Happify for Teens consists of various evidence-based activities drawn from therapeutic modalities such as cognitive behavioral therapy, positive psychology, and mindfulness, which are then organized into several programs targeting specific areas of concern (eg, Stress Buster 101). Participants in the waitlist control received access to this product for 12 weeks upon completing the study. Participants in both groups completed measures of perceived stress, brooding, optimism, sleep disturbance, and loneliness at baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks. Changes in outcomes between the intervention and waitlist control groups were assessed using repeated-measures multilevel models.
RESULTS: Of the 303 participants included in data analyses, 132 were assigned to the intervention and 171 to the waitlist. There were significantly greater improvements in the intervention condition for perceived stress (intervention: B=-1.50; 95% CI -1.82 to -1.19; P<.001 and control: B=-0.09; 95% CI -0.44 to 0.26; P=.61), brooding (intervention: B=-0.84; 95% CI -1.00 to -0.68; P<.001 and control: B=-0.30; 95% CI -0.47 to -0.12; P=.001), and loneliness (intervention: B=-0.96; 95% CI -1.2 to -0.73; P<.001 and control: B=-0.38; 95% CI: -0.64 to -0.12; P=.005) over the 12-week study period. Changes in optimism and sleep disturbance were not significantly different across groups (Ps≥.096).
CONCLUSIONS: Happify for Teens was effective at reducing perceived stress, rumination, and loneliness among adolescents over 12 weeks when compared to a waitlist control group. Our data reveal the potential benefits of DMHIs for adolescents, which may present a more scalable, destigmatized, and cost-effective alternative to school-based programs.
BACKGROUND: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04567888; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04567888.
UNASSIGNED: RR2-10.2196/25545.

BACKGROUND: More than 2 out of 3 children and adolescents in the United States experience trauma by the age of 16 years. Exposure to trauma in early life is linked to a range of negative mental health outcomes throughout the lifespan, particularly co-occurring symptoms of posttraumatic stress (PTS), anxiety, and depression. There has been an increasing uptake of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) among youths, particularly for anxiety and depression. However, little is known regarding the incidence of trauma exposure and PTS symptoms among youths participating in DMHIs and whether PTS symptoms impact anxiety and depressive symptom treatment response. Moreover, it is unclear whether participation in a DMHI for anxiety and depressive symptoms is associated with secondary effects on PTS symptoms among trauma-exposed youths.
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to use retrospective data from youths participating in a DMHI to (1) characterize rates of trauma, PTS, and comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms; (2) determine whether trauma exposure and elevated PTS symptoms impact the improvement of comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms throughout participation in care; and (3) determine whether participation in a non-posttraumatic DMHI is linked to reductions in PTS symptoms.
METHODS: This study was conducted using retrospective data from members (children ages 6 to 12 years) involved in a pediatric collaborative care DMHI. Participating caregivers reported their children\'s trauma exposure. PTS, anxiety, and depressive symptom severity were measured monthly using validated assessments.
RESULTS: Among eligible participants (n=966), 30.2% (n=292) reported at least 1 traumatic event. Of those with trauma exposure and elevated symptoms of PTS (n=119), 73% (n=87) exhibited elevated anxiety symptoms and 50% (n=59) exhibited elevated depressive symptoms. Compared to children with no trauma, children with elevated PTS symptoms showed smaller reductions per month in anxiety but not depressive symptoms (anxiety: F2,287=26.11; P<.001). PTS symptoms also decreased significantly throughout care, with 96% (n=79) of participants showing symptom reductions.
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence for the frequency of trauma exposure and comorbid psychiatric symptoms, as well as variations in treatment response between trauma-exposed and nontrauma-exposed youths, among participants in a pediatric collaborative care DMHI. Youths with traumatic experiences may show increased psychiatric comorbidities and slower treatment responses than their peers with no history of trauma. These findings deliver compelling evidence that collaborative care DMHIs may be well-suited to address mental health symptoms in children with a history of trauma while also highlighting the critical need to assess symptoms of PTS in children seeking treatment.

BACKGROUND: Young people today are exhibiting increasing rates of disordered eating behaviors, as well as eating disorders (EDs), alongside other mental and behavioral problems such as anxiety and depression. However, limited access to mental health care means that EDs, disordered eating behaviors, and comorbid mental health problems are often underdiagnosed and undertreated. Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) offer accessible and scalable alternatives to traditional treatment modalities, but their effectiveness has not been well established among adolescents with EDs and disordered eating behaviors.
OBJECTIVE: This study uses data from a collaborative care pediatric DMHI to determine whether participation in a DMHI is associated with a reduction in adolescents\' disordered eating behaviors.
METHODS: Adolescent members in care with Bend Health Inc completed the SCOFF questionnaire at baseline (before the start of care) and approximately every month during care to assess disordered eating behaviors. They also completed assessments of mental health symptoms at baseline. Member characteristics, mental health symptoms, and disordered eating behaviors of adolescents with elevated SCOFF scores at baseline (before the start of care) were compared to those of adolescents with nonelevated SCOFF scores at baseline. Members participated in web-based coaching or therapy sessions throughout the duration of mental health care.
RESULTS: Compared to adolescents with nonelevated SCOFF scores (n=520), adolescents with elevated SCOFF scores (n=169) were predominantly female and exhibited higher rates of elevated anxiety and depressive symptoms. SCOFF scores decreased over time in care with the DMHI for 61.4% (n=70) of adolescents with elevated SCOFF scores, and each additional month of participation was associated with greater improvements in disordered eating behaviors (F1,233=72.82; P<.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings offer promising preliminary evidence that participation in mental health care with a collaborative care DMHI may be beneficial in the reduction of disordered eating symptoms in adolescents, including those who are experiencing comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Depression prevalence is high, impacting approximately 20% of Americans during their lifetime, and on the rise due to stress and loss associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the high prevalence of depression, unacceptable treatment access disparities persist. When depression goes untreated, it leads to substantial negative impacts in multiple life domains. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the gold-standard psychosocial treatment for depression, remains largely unavailable to individuals living with depression, particularly individuals who are members of underrepresented groups in our society. Digital mental health interventions (DMHI) have led to important advances in extending the reach of CBT for depression; however, they are underutilized and treatment engagement remains low. We sought to address some of the current gaps in DMHI by developing an online platform for delivering CBT for depression that is entertaining, simple and straightforward, and tailorable. First, this article introduces our online platform, Entertain Me Well (EMW) and its key innovations, including the use of an engaging, character-driven storyline presented as \"episodes\" within each session, as well as customizable content that allows for tailoring of text, images, and examples to create content most relevant to the target client population, context, or setting. Next, we describe two EMW depression treatment programs that have been tailored: one for delivery in the rural church setting, called Raising Our Spirits Together, and one tailored for delivery in dialysis centers, called Doing Better on Dialysis. Finally, we discuss future directions for the EMW platform, including the ability to create programs for other common mental health and health conditions, the development of additional character-driven storylines with greater treatment personalization, translation of content in multiple languages, and the use of additional technological innovation, such as artificial intelligence like natural language processing, to enhance platform interactivity.

The Life Goals (LG) application is an evidence-based self-management tool intended to help individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) by aligning symptom coping strategies with personal goals. The program has traditionally been offered in-person or via the web, but has recently been translated into an individualized, customizable mobile intervention to improve access to care and reduce provider burden. The LG app previously showed acceptability with ease of use and satisfaction with user interface, but less success in encouraging self-management. To better understand patient needs, our team conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 individuals with BD who used the LG app for 6 months. These interviews also investigated participant interest in sharing LG app data with their provider through an online dashboard. Using affinity mapping, a collaborative, qualitative data analysis technique, our team identified emerging common themes in the interviews. Through this process, team members identified 494 pieces of salient information from interviews that were mapped and translated into three main findings: (1) many participants found Mood Monitoring and LG modules helpful/interesting and stated the app overall had positive impacts on their mental health, (2) some components of the app were too rudimentary or impersonal to be beneficial, and (3) feedback was mixed regarding future implementation of an LG provider dashboard, with some participants seeing potential positive impacts and others hesitating due to perceived efficacy and privacy concerns. These findings can help researchers improve app-based interventions for individuals with BD by increasing app usage and improving care overall.