Abstract
BackgroundThe coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) has reached pandemic status and is affecting countries all over the world. The COVID-19 pandemic is accompanied by various stressors that require adjustment in everyday life and possibly changes in personal future prospects. While some individuals cope well with these challenges, some develop psychological distress including depressive symptoms, anxiety, or stress. Internet-based self-help interventions have proven to be effective in the treatment of various mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. Based on that, we developed an internet-based self-help program for individuals with psychological distress due to the situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The 3-week self-help program consists of 6 modules comprising texts, videos, figures, and exercises. Participants can request guidance within the self-help program (guidance on demand). The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of the self-help program compared to a waiting control condition.MethodsThe design is a parallel group randomized controlled trial. Participants are allocated to a 3-week self-help intervention plus care as usual or a 3-week waiting period with only care as usual. There are follow-ups after 6 weeks and 18 weeks. At least 80 participants with COVID-19 pandemic related psychological distress will be recruited. Primary outcome are depressive symptoms. Secondary outcomes include anxiety and chronic stress, suicidal experiences and behavior, health-related quality of life, generalized optimism and pessimism, embitterment, optimistic self-beliefs, emotion regulation skills, loneliness, resilience, and the satisfaction with and usability of the self-help program.DiscussionTo the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies investigating the efficacy of an internet-based self-help program for psychological distress due to the situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the results of this study may give further insight into the use of internet-based self-help programs in pandemic-related psychological distress.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04380909. Retrospectively registered on 8 May 2020.
Highlights
Background and rationale {6a} The coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) has reached pandemic status and is affecting countries all over the world
In a study on the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic, approximately 40% of the study population experienced increased stress related to work, finances and family and 16% showed signs of posttraumatic stress [2]
Information about the importance of practicing and transferring what has been learnt to daily life
Summary
Background and rationale {6a} The coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) has reached pandemic status and is affecting countries all over the world. Pandemic-related stressors such as quarantine, social isolation/distancing, unemployment, financial losses, caregiver stress, and confrontation with illness and death can have a negative impact on mental health [1]. Depression, and self-reported stress are suggested psychological reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic [5, 6]. The coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) has reached pandemic status and is affecting countries all over the world. While some individuals cope well with these challenges, some develop psychological distress including depressive symptoms, anxiety, or stress. Internet-based self-help interventions have proven to be effective in the treatment of various mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. We developed an internet-based self-help program for individuals with psychological distress due to the situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of the self-help program compared to a waiting control condition
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