Designing and evaluating of smartphone-based cognitive behavioral therapy to control anxiety and depression

Depression and anxiety are prevailing mental health disorders. The presence of several barriers in face-to-face approaches for treating these diseases and the emergence of numerous post-pharmacotherapy complications have made researchers embark on removing barriers in treating these diseases. The research on mental healthcare aiming to develop non-pharmaceutical treatments has presented and evaluated many approaches. One of these approaches is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which is effective in depression and anxiety treatment. This study aimed to design and evaluate a psychological program based on CBT and smartphones to control and alleviate the symptoms of anxiety and depression.

This study was framed into a 10-session randomized control trial with the assistance of psychologists and valid scientific books. It was designed and implemented in the form of an applied smartphone-based program. After selecting 45 samples and assigning them to intervention and control groups, the researchers examined the effect of the application-based CBT on patients’ depression and anxiety, then analyzed the results with statistical tests with SPSS software.

After the intervention, the data normality was confirmed by statistical analyses. Then, the paired T-test was used to analyze the pre-intervention and post-intervention data on anxiety and depression and the results were obtained with (P=0.001) and (P=0.002) respectively. According to the results, there was a significant difference between the results of the intervention group before and after using the software, while the control group manifested no significant differences.

With its user-centered approach, this software develops a mobile health (mHealth) program that improves and controls anxiety and depression by providing an efficient therapeutic method within a self-care program and removing spatial and temporal barriers.