The Effectiveness of a Brief Telehealth and Smartphone Intervention for College Students Receiving Traditional Therapy: Longitudinal Study Using Ecological Momentary Assessment Data

Abstract

Background

Brief interventions such as mental health apps and single-session interventions are increasingly popular, efficacious, and accessible delivery formats that may be beneficial for college students whose mental health needs may not be adequately met by college counseling centers. However, no studies so far have examined the effectiveness of these modes of treatment for college students who are already receiving traditional therapy, despite it being common among this population.

Objective

The aim of this study was to compare the differences in self-reported momentary negative affect between college students in therapy and not in therapy who received a brief single-session intervention delivered by counseling center staff and a supplemental mobile app.

Methods

Data for this study were drawn from E-Manage, a brief mobile health intervention geared toward college students. Participants in the study were 173 college students who indicated whether they had received therapy. We conducted a multilevel model to determine whether there were differences between those in therapy versus not in therapy in negative affect reported throughout the study. Following this, we conducted multilevel models with therapy status as the predictor and negative affect as the outcome.

Results

Results of the multilevel model testing showed that the cross-level interaction between the time point (ie, pre- vs postexercise) and therapy status was significant ( P=.008), with the reduction in negative affect from pre- to postexercise greater for those in therapy ( b=–0.65, 95% CI –0.91 to –0.40; P<.001) than it was for those not in therapy ( b=–0.31, 95% CI –0.43 to –0.19; P<.001). Therapy status was unassociated with both the pre-exercise ( b=–1.69, 95% CI –3.51 to 0.13; P=.07) and postexercise ( b=–1.37, 95% CI –3.17 to 0.43; P=.14) ratings of negative affect.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that app-based and single-session interventions are also appropriate to use among college students who are receiving traditional therapy. A randomized controlled trial comparing students receiving therapy to students receiving therapy and E-Manage will be necessary to determine to what extent E-Manage contributed to the reductions in negative affect that therapy-attending college students experienced.