Immediate Effects of Mobile Phone App for Depressed Mood in Young Adults with Subthreshold Depression: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Hitomi Ejiri,1 Hiroyuki Uchida,2 Kenji Tsuchiya,3 Kazuhiko Fujiwara,4 Senichiro Kikuchi,1,5 Kazuki Hirao1,5 1Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, Gunma University, Maebashi, Japan; 2Department of Rehabilitation, Kurashiki Heisei Hospital, Kurashiki, Japan; 3Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Nagano University of Health and Medicine, Nagano, Japan; 4Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Nishikyushu University, Kanzaki, Japan; 5Graduate School of Health Sciences, Gunma University, Maebashi, JapanCorrespondence: Kazuki Hirao, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Gunma University, 3-39-22 Showa, Maebashi, Gunma, 371-8514, Japan, Tel [phone], Fax [phone], Email [email protected]: Preventive interventions for subthreshold depression (StD) are essential to reduce the incidence of major depressive disorder. Our smartphone application presenting positive word stimulation in video (ie, Subliminal Priming with Supraliminal Reward Stimulation, SPSRS) was suggested to improve depressive symptoms in people with StD, although it is unclear whether it can immediately improve depressed mood. This pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) aimed to investigate the preliminary efficacy of SPSRS application intervention on depressive mood in people with StD.Methods: Thirty-two participants with StD were randomly assigned to the experimental (n = 16) or control group (n = 16). The experimental group received SPSRS application intervention (10-minute video with positive word stimulation) and the control group received YouTube application intervention (10-minute video without positive word stimulation). Both groups used identical iPhones managed by the research team. The primary outcome was the change from baseline in depression-dejection on the Profile of Mood States 2nd Edition-Adult Short (POMS 2-A Short) after the intervention.Results: No participants dropped out of the study. The experimental group showed a small improvement in depression-dejection on the POMS 2-A Short score (adjusted Hedges’s g = − 0.32) compared to the control group. Post-hoc power analyses estimated a sample size of 56 per group (112 total) to evaluate depression-dejection on the POMS 2-A Short in a future full-scale RCT.Conclusion: SPSRS application intervention may be effective in immediately improving depressive mood in people with StD. A future full-scale RCT based on a formally calculated sample size should be conducted to replicate these findings.Keywords: depressed mood, subthreshold depression, mobile application

Keywords

• depressed mood
• subthreshold depression
• mobile application