Efficacy of digital cognitive behavior therapy intervention on adults enrolled in mental wellness care program on Mfine Application

Abstract

The 2020 pandemic witnessed a surge in mental health cases in India which undoubtedly paved the way for mass adherence of digital health and digital mental health services. Traditional mental health services have issues of scalability, accessibility, stigma & cost effectiveness, and this can be resolved by digitizing these services. Since CBT is an evidence based therapeutic intervention validated by several research in the past, the current study aims to evaluate the efficacy of a Digital Cognitive Behavior Therapy (dCBT) intervention delivered via Mfine application, on adults, using Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS21) before and after the intervention. For this purpose, a total of 150 adults who enrolled in the Mfine mental wellness program, from a time period of February 2021-September 2022 were selected. Data was collected via Mfine App. on video call by Rehabilitation Council of India certified clinical psychologists. 5 structured, 1-hour cognitive behavior therapy sessions were provided over a period of 2 months with an additional extension of 1 month for missed sessions, spaced between a gap of 10 days. Pre and post assessment scores were statistically analyzed using SPSS version 20 for all the completers in the program (N=95). The results proved that the dCBT intervention was significantly effective in improving mental health outcomes in adults (p=.000 ). Our study holds the potential to support the development of evidence-based digital mental health interventions and address the barriers of scalability and stigma in mental health services.