FROM THE JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
An automated mobile phone intervention is a feasible method for symptom self-management and might enhance the impact of brief psychoeducation on depressive symptoms in bipolar disorder, according to a study in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
However, once stopped, sustainment of gains might be limited, noted Dr. Colin A. Depp of the University of California, San Diego, and his associates. They organized a randomized single-blind controlled trial with 82 people diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The individuals completed a four-session psychoeducational intervention and were assigned to 10 weeks of either mobile device–delivered interactive intervention linking patient-reported mood states with personalized self-management strategies, or paper-and-pencil mood monitoring.
Participants were assessed at baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks, and the researchers gathered data based on clinician-rated depression and mania scales and self-reported functioning. Retention at 12 weeks was 93% (J Affect Disord. 2015 Mar 15;174:23-30).
Compared with the paper-and-pencil condition group, participants in the augmented mobile intervention group showed significantly greater reductions in depressive symptoms at 6 and 12 weeks (Cohen’s d for both were d = 0.48). However, those effects were not maintained at the 24- week follow-up, suggesting that mobile intervention was not enough to sustain the gains after treatment ended.
Read the full article here: doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2014.10.053 ).
