Heinz MV, Lekkas D, Abreu V, Lee C, Marsch LA, Jacobson NC. Evaluating a mobile app’s effects on depression and anxiety in medication-treated opioid use disorder. Npj Ment Health Res. 2024;3(1):43. doi:10.1038/s44184-024-00086-7
This pilot randomized control study tested the feasibility and acceptability of a digital intervention designed to treat anxiety and depressive symptoms in individuals also receiving medication treatments for opioid use disorder (MOUD). Sixty-three participants were randomly assigned to receive the digital intervention, Mood Triggers (n = 32), or to a waitlist control condition (n = 31). Mood Triggers is a smartphone application designed to guide participants through several evidence-based video interventions. Each CBT-based intervention falls into seven categories: actions, good mental hygiene, exposure, acceptance, thoughts, regulation and positive feelings, and preparation. Participants were encouraged to complete the videos in order via EMA prompts. Patients could also view their progress in the app over the four weeks of the study period. Mood Triggers reduced depression scores, measured by the PHQ-9, compared to baseline and generalized anxiety, measured by the GAD-Q-IV. Both the treatment and control groups showed a decrease in OUD self-report severity. In general, this study provided support for both the feasibility and acceptability of Mood Triggers. Participants reported the intervention favorably, producing a score comparable to currently available high-rated mental health mobile apps. In addition to the measures already discussed, passive data collected from smartphones (number of outgoing calls) displayed promising increases in socialization. Future research should include larger, more diverse samples with an extended follow-up assessing the durability of the treatment effects and specific socialization measures as a feature of treatment effects.