Computer-based psychological treatments for depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Highlights
► Computer-based psychological interventions for depression are effective. ► A range of different interventions, communication types and support types exist. ► Improvements in depression are significant post-treatment with many recovering. ► Improvements are maintained at follow-up, but less pronounced. ► Supported interventions yield better outcomes and greater retention.
Section snippets
Literature search and selection of studies
The aim of the literature search was to find all references related to computer-based psychological treatments for depression. A search of three databases (EMBASE, PubMed, and PsychINFO including PsychARTICLES) was conducted for studies published in peer-reviewed journals in the last 10 years (March 2001–March 2011). While work has been carried out previous to March 2001 (e.g. Selmi, Klein, Greist, Sorrell, & Erdman, 1990), the authors decided that the years represented a meaningful timeframe in
Results of the review
Three databases, PubMed (n = 872), EMBASE (n = 1184), and PsychINFO including PsychARTICLES (n = 263), were searched. Identified papers (n = 2319) were screened against the established inclusion criteria, yielding 44 papers. A further one paper was identified through hand search (Wright et al., 2005). Fig. 1 shows the results of the systematic review. In total, 45 papers met the inclusion criteria and are reviewed below. These include 24 RCT studies (n = 28 papers) and 17 open trials (n = 17 papers).
Results from the meta-analysis
Using the search terms outlined in the method section, and the established eligibility criteria, 19 RCT studies (representing 23 papers) were included into the meta-analysis (Fig. 1).
Discussion
The aim of the paper was to systematically review the literature on computer-based psychological treatments for depression and conduct a meta-analysis on the available RCTs. Across 40 studies (45 published papers), eighteen different interventions were identified and described. While the majority were CBT-based programs, alternative content was described for some interventions. The majority were delivered online and four delivered through standalone CD-ROM, although one of these, Beating the
Conclusion
The review and meta-analysis support the efficacy and effectiveness of computer-based psychological treatments for depression, in community, primary, and secondary care, and with diverse populations. As well as reductions in self-reported symptoms, computer-based interventions can also produce clinically significant improvements and recovery in depression. Supported interventions yield better outcomes, along with greater retention. Further research is needed, in particular to investigate the
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