Mobile CBT for Middle Aged and Older Adults

Description

There is a growing need for accessible, affordable, research-supported treatments designed for older adults. Older adults face challenges that limit their ability to physically access mental health services; thus, mobile app-based interventions may be particularly appealing to individuals in this age range with anxiety or depression who are unable to access more traditional psychotherapy administered in person by a therapist. Mobile technology has been used previously to deliver mental health services for adults with a variety of psychiatric symptoms (Dennis & O’Toole, 2014).

Anxiety frequently co-occurs with depression, with 72% of individuals with anxiety having experienced a history of depression (Moffitt et al., 2007). Current models conceptualize anxiety and depression as a confluence of three broad symptom categories – physiological hyperarousal, low positive affect, and high negative affect (Clark & Watson, 1991) – that are present to different degrees in different individuals.

This study aims to assess the acceptability, feasibility and efficacy of “MAYA”, a mobile cognitive behavioral therapy app for anxiety and mood disorders, in middle aged and older adults. This study will collect pilot data over the course of 12 weeks. As this is a pilot study, all participants will use the same version of the app and there will be no control group. Participants will be asked to use the mobile app for at least two days a week, for at least 20 minutes on each day, for 6 weeks. Participants will have weekly check-ins in person or via a HIPAA-compliant virtual meeting platform (e.g., Zoom) to assess intervention adherence and answer brief questionnaires designed to assess feasibility, acceptability, and mood symptoms at baseline, week 3, week 6 (end of treatment), and week 12 (follow up).