UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — College students with anxiety, depression and eating disorders may be more likely to start and to respond more positively to therapy offered via a digital app compared to referrals to in-person campus clinics, according to a study led by Penn State researchers and published today (May 7) in the journal Nature Human Behaviour .
Globally, an estimated 40% to 60% of college students experience a mental health disorder at some point, and the need for campus counseling services has increased faster than institutions' capacity to provide these services, according to the researchers. The research team wanted to see if a proactive intervention using a digital therapy app could effectively treat anxiety disorders, depression and eating disorders, as well as address the increased need for psychological services. The commercially available app incorporates cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles that coach individuals through identifying negative thinking patterns and developing skills and behavioral changes to address these patterns.
The researchers found that students receiving the digital intervention were more likely to report being symptom free at the six-week, six-month and two-year marks, and that these students were more likely to engage these services compared to the campus referral group. Specifically, services uptake — or when a person actually receives a service — was seven times greater for college students assigned to a digital intervention than to on-campus clinic referrals. Approximately 74% of individuals given access to the digital intervention started the program, compared to 30% of individuals who were given a referral to a campus clinic and received at least one therapy session or a new medication prescription.
"One of the challenges with any digital intervention is that people sometimes download an app but then do not use it," said lead author Michelle Newman , professor of psychology and psychiatry at Penn State. "We were also interested in learning the extent to which people actually received services after being randomized to the app or on-campus counseling center. We found that uptake was significantly better in the digital intervention than referral to the counseling center."
