Moderated online social therapy for depression relapse prevention in young people: pilot study of a 'next generation' online intervention.
Simon Rice, John Gleeson, Christopher Davey, Sarah Hetrick, Alexandra Parker, Reeva Lederman, Greg Wadley, Greg Murray, Helen Herrman, Richard Chambers, Penni Russon, Christopher Miles, Simon D'Alfonso, Melissa Thurley, Gina Chinnery, Tamsyn Gilbertson, Dina Eleftheriadis, Emma Barlow, Daniella Cagliarini, Jia-Wern Toh, Stuart McAlpine, Peter Koval, Sarah Bendall, Jens Einar Jansen, Matthew Hamilton, Patrick McGorry, Mario Alvarez-Jimenez
Author Information
Simon Rice: Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Centre of Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia.
John Gleeson: School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, Australia.
Christopher Davey: Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Centre of Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia.
Sarah Hetrick: Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Centre of Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia.
Alexandra Parker: Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Centre of Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia.
Reeva Lederman: Department of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Greg Wadley: Department of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Greg Murray: Department of Psychological Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia.
Helen Herrman: Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Centre of Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia.
Richard Chambers: Campus Community Division, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Penni Russon: Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Centre of Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia.
Christopher Miles: Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Centre of Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia.
Simon D'Alfonso: Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Centre of Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia.
AIM: Implementation of targeted e-mental health interventions offers a promising solution to reducing the burden of disease associated with youth depression. A single-group pilot study was conducted to evaluate the acceptability, feasibility, usability and safety of a novel, moderated online social therapy intervention (entitled Rebound) for depression relapse prevention in young people. METHODS: Participants were 42 young people (15-25 years) (50% men; mean age = 18.5 years) in partial or full remission. Participants had access to the Rebound platform for at least 12 weeks, including the social networking, peer and clinical moderator and therapy components. RESULTS: Follow-up data were available for 39 (92.9%) participants. There was high system usage, with 3034 user logins (mean = 72.2 per user) and 2146 posts (mean = 51.1). Almost 70% of users had ≥10 logins over the 12 weeks, with 78.5% logging in over at least 2 months of the pilot. A total of 32 (84%) participants rated the intervention as helpful. There was significant improvement between the number of participants in full remission at baseline (n = 5; none of whom relapsed) relative to n = 19 at 12-week follow-up (P < 0.001). Six (14.3%) participants relapsed to full threshold symptoms at 12 weeks. There was a significant improvement to interviewer-rated depression scores (Montgomery-Asberg depression Rating Scale (MADRS); P = 0.014, d = 0.45) and a trend for improved strength use (P = 0.088, d = 0.29). The single-group design and 12-week treatment phase preclude a full understanding of the clinical benefits of the Rebound intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The Rebound intervention was shown to be acceptable, feasible, highly usable and safe in young people with major depression.
