The Impact of Digital Mental Health Services on Loneliness and Mental Health: Results from a Prospective, Observational Study.

IF 2 3区 心理学 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL
Kirby Magid, Sara J Sagui-Henson, Cynthia Castro Sweet, Brooke J Smith, Camille E Welcome Chamberlain, Sara M Levens
{"title":"The Impact of Digital Mental Health Services on Loneliness and Mental Health: Results from a Prospective, Observational Study.","authors":"Kirby Magid, Sara J Sagui-Henson, Cynthia Castro Sweet, Brooke J Smith, Camille E Welcome Chamberlain, Sara M Levens","doi":"10.1007/s12529-023-10204-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Loneliness has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic and negatively impacts mental health. This study examined relationships between loneliness and mental health among adults using a digital mental health platform.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A purposive sample of 919 participants (97% response rate) who were newly enrolled in the platform completed a survey on loneliness, depression, anxiety, well-being, stress, social support, and comorbidities at baseline and 3 months. Platform engagement was tracked during this period. We examined baseline differences between lonely and non-lonely participants; associations between loneliness, mental health symptoms, and comorbidities; and changes in loneliness and mental health through engagement in any form of care.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>At baseline, 57.8% of the sample were categorized as lonely. Loneliness was associated with younger age, fewer years of education, and the presence of a comorbidity (p values < .05). Baseline loneliness was associated with greater depression, anxiety, and stress and lower well-being and social support (ps < .001). The percentage of lonely participants decreased at follow-up (57.6% to 52.9%, p = .03). Those who improved in loneliness improved in mental health symptoms, well-being, and social support (ps < .001). Lonely participants who engaged in any form of care reported a greater reduction in loneliness than those who did not engage (p = .04).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study confirms previous findings of the high prevalence of loneliness among adults and risk factors for increased loneliness. Findings highlight the potential of digital platforms to reach lonely individuals and alleviate loneliness through remote mental health support.</p>","PeriodicalId":54208,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Behavioral Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11106110/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Behavioral Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-023-10204-y","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/7/24 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Loneliness has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic and negatively impacts mental health. This study examined relationships between loneliness and mental health among adults using a digital mental health platform.

Methods: A purposive sample of 919 participants (97% response rate) who were newly enrolled in the platform completed a survey on loneliness, depression, anxiety, well-being, stress, social support, and comorbidities at baseline and 3 months. Platform engagement was tracked during this period. We examined baseline differences between lonely and non-lonely participants; associations between loneliness, mental health symptoms, and comorbidities; and changes in loneliness and mental health through engagement in any form of care.

Results: At baseline, 57.8% of the sample were categorized as lonely. Loneliness was associated with younger age, fewer years of education, and the presence of a comorbidity (p values < .05). Baseline loneliness was associated with greater depression, anxiety, and stress and lower well-being and social support (ps < .001). The percentage of lonely participants decreased at follow-up (57.6% to 52.9%, p = .03). Those who improved in loneliness improved in mental health symptoms, well-being, and social support (ps < .001). Lonely participants who engaged in any form of care reported a greater reduction in loneliness than those who did not engage (p = .04).

Conclusions: This study confirms previous findings of the high prevalence of loneliness among adults and risk factors for increased loneliness. Findings highlight the potential of digital platforms to reach lonely individuals and alleviate loneliness through remote mental health support.

数字心理健康服务对孤独感和心理健康的影响:一项前瞻性观察研究的结果
背景:自 COVID-19 大流行以来,孤独感有所增加,并对心理健康产生了负面影响。本研究利用数字心理健康平台研究了成年人的孤独感与心理健康之间的关系:919名新注册平台的参与者(回复率为97%)在基线期和3个月内完成了关于孤独感、抑郁、焦虑、幸福感、压力、社会支持和合并症的调查。在此期间,我们对平台参与情况进行了跟踪。我们研究了孤独参与者和非孤独参与者的基线差异;孤独感、心理健康症状和合并症之间的关联;以及通过参与任何形式的护理,孤独感和心理健康的变化:基线时,57.8%的样本被归类为孤独。孤独感与年龄较小、受教育年限较少以及存在合并症有关(P 值 结论:孤独感与精神疾病的发生有关:这项研究证实了之前的研究结果,即成年人中孤独感的高发率以及导致孤独感增加的风险因素。研究结果凸显了数字平台在通过远程心理健康支持接触孤独者和缓解孤独感方面的潜力。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
CiteScore
5.20
自引率
3.70%
发文量
97
期刊介绍: The International Journal of Behavioral Medicine (IJBM) is the official scientific journal of the International Society for Behavioral Medicine (ISBM). IJBM seeks to present the best theoretically-driven, evidence-based work in the field of behavioral medicine from around the globe. IJBM embraces multiple theoretical perspectives, research methodologies, groups of interest, and levels of analysis. The journal is interested in research across the broad spectrum of behavioral medicine, including health-behavior relationships, the prevention of illness and the promotion of health, the effects of illness on the self and others, the effectiveness of novel interventions, identification of biobehavioral mechanisms, and the influence of social factors on health. We welcome experimental, non-experimental, quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies as well as implementation and dissemination research, integrative reviews, and meta-analyses.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信