University of Twente Student Theses
Engagement in Digital Mental Health Interventions and its influence on the effectiveness of treatment outcomes
Nickisch, Leroy (2023) Engagement in Digital Mental Health Interventions and its influence on the effectiveness of treatment outcomes.
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| Abstract: | Background: Engagement in digital mental health interventions can be an important factor when it comes to treatment outcomes and effectiveness of digital mental health interventions. However, due to various definitions of engagement in research and the complex nature of mental disorders, it can be hard to generalize the findings of current literature on other digital interventions. This research investigates to what extent engagement can predict treatment outcomes of individuals suffering from high burnout and stress. To continue, potential moderator variables and their effect on the relationship between engagement and treatment outcomes will be analyzed. Aim: This study investigates whether engagement in digital mental health interventions can predict the treatment outcome in individuals suffering from high stress and burnout and whether the relationship between engagement and treatment outcome is moderated by the variables of gender, age and treatment duration. Methods: For this quantitative study (N = 4516) individuals that participated in an unguided self-help module on the dutch eHealth platform "therapieland.nl" have been analyzed. Gender, age and treatment duration are captured by the platform itself after starting a module for burnout and high stress. The symptoms of high stress and burnout are captured by the dutch 4DKL questionnaire that utilizes four sub scales (Distress, Depression, Anxiety, Somatization) related to the complaints. Engagement was evaluated by the TWEETS questionnaire. The main analyses that answers the research questions utilize multiple regression analyses for the variable engagement and the four sub scales of Distress, Depression, Anxiety and Somatization at the end of the treatment, while also controlling for the beginning of the treatment. To continue, moderation analyses are used that investigate whether the variables of gender, age and treatment duration has a moderation effect on the relationship between engagement and treatment outcomes. Results: Engagement is able to significantly predict treatment outcomes in individuals suffering from burnout and high stress, with higher engagement leading to slightly better treatment outcomes in regards to all four sub scales. To continue, both gender and age have no moderation effect on the relationship between engagement and treatment outcomes. Only treatment duration has a moderating effect on the relationship between engagement and treatment outcomes for the sub scale Somatization, with a longer treatment duration minimally reducing the effectiveness of engagement on the treatment outcome of somatization. Conclusion: This study showed in accordance to previous literature, that engagement can predict treatment outcomes in a digital mental health intervention, while also generating new findings in regards to engagement being able to predict treatment outcomes for high stress and burnout. Moreover, only treatment duration seems to have a very minimal moderating effect on the relationship between engagement and treatment outcomes. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology MSc (66604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/95014 |
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