An evaluation of a public online intervention for depression
type: CreativeWork
description: Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide, but only a minority of individuals receive evidence-based treatment for the condition. Moreover, there are barriers to accessing effective therapies such as cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). Internet-delivered CBT (iCBT) is a scalable, accessible and potentially effective alternative to face-to-face CBT. This thesis is a detailed study of the unguided use among spontaneous and other community users of 'MoodGYM', a well-known, open-access, automated iCBT program for depression. The thesis comprises two systematic reviews of the effectiveness of iCBT and four empirical studies of MoodGYM, including two observational studies, a partially randomised controlled trial (PRPT) and a randomised controlled trial (RCT). The first review - a synthesis of previous systematic reviews - concluded that iCBT for depression is broadly effective for the treatment of depression. The second review focused specifically on automated interventions which were entirely self-directed and involved no direct human input in their delivery. It found some evidence for the effectiveness of automated iCBT, particularly for adults in community settings. However, findings from controlled efficacy trials may not translate into equivalent user outcomes in real-world settings, and there is a lack of systematically documented information about the user characteristics and outcomes of globally accessible online programs for mental health. Accordingly, the first observational study (N = 417,354) investigated the characteristics of spontaneous, community users of automated MoodGYM and found they were mostly female, highly educated and had high initial depression scores. Nearly half were referred by a health professional, with male users and those from the U.K. or rural areas more likely to be referred. The second observational study (N = 417,354) examined adherence and outcomes and their predictors among spontaneous users. Overall there was a small but …
abstract: Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide, but only a minority of individuals receive evidence-based treatment for the condition. Moreover, there are barriers to accessing effective therapies such as cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). Internet-delivered CBT (iCBT) is a scalable, accessible and potentially effective alternative to face-to-face CBT. This thesis is a detailed study of the unguided use among spontaneous and other community users of 'MoodGYM', a well-known, open-access, automated iCBT program for depression. The thesis comprises two systematic reviews of the effectiveness of iCBT and four empirical studies of MoodGYM, including two observational studies, a partially randomised controlled trial (PRPT) and a randomised controlled trial (RCT). The first review - a synthesis of previous systematic reviews - concluded that iCBT for depression is broadly effective for the treatment of depression. The second review focused specifically on automated interventions which were entirely self-directed and involved no direct human input in their delivery. It found some evidence for the effectiveness of automated iCBT, particularly for adults in community settings. However, findings from controlled efficacy trials may not translate into equivalent user outcomes in real-world settings, and there is a lack of systematically documented information about the user characteristics and outcomes of globally accessible online programs for mental health. Accordingly, the first observational study (N = 417,354) investigated the characteristics of spontaneous, community users of automated MoodGYM and found they were mostly female, highly educated and had high initial depression scores. Nearly half were referred by a health professional, with male users and those from the U.K. or rural areas more likely to be referred. The second observational study (N = 417,354) examined adherence and outcomes and their predictors among spontaneous users. Overall there was a small but …
author: Bennett, Kylie
language: en_AU
date published: 2019
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:07:45Z
provider: Australian Catholic University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Australian Catholic University

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/1885/165431