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Attitudes of Adults Treated for Depression Toward Technology-Assisted Therapy
Title
Attitudes of Adults Treated for Depression Toward Technology-Assisted Therapy
Creator
Johnston, Winter D.
Date
2021
Description
Depression is associated with functional impairment (Saarni et al., 2007), high economic costs (Cuijpers et al., 2007; Greenberg & Birnbaum,...
Show moreDepression is associated with functional impairment (Saarni et al., 2007), high economic costs (Cuijpers et al., 2007; Greenberg & Birnbaum, 2005), and loss of quality of life (Rapaport et al., 2005), and has been named a major reason for illness-related disability worldwide (Vos et al., 2013). Barriers to treatment include being physically limited to access services (Apolinario-Hagen et al., 2018), fear of stigmatization, desire to handle the problem on ones’ own, lack of confidence in the healthcare system (Königbauer et al., 2017), lack of motivation to change, and negative perception of psychological and/or drug treatments (Richards et al., 2015). As technological options have advanced and become more reliable, they have become tools to improve access to care and reduce barriers. Clinicians’ attitudes have been studied pertaining to incorporating different technology modalities into traditional therapy; however, client attitudes are less explored. The present study aims to (1) explore client attitudes towards hypothetical technology-assisted interventions, (2) assess the relative preferences for various technology-assisted interventions, (3) identify correlates of the participant’s preference of different technology-assisted interventions, including: (a) attitudes towards technology-assisted therapy, (b) sociodemographic variables, (c) help-seeking variables (seeking health information, use of technology outside therapy, awareness of technology-assisted options for therapy), (d) previous therapy experience (therapeutic approach, helpfulness of therapy, number of previous therapists), and (4) assess if working alliance with participants’ most recent therapist moderated the effect of therapist condition (current/recent or new) on preferences. The technology options in this study are videoconferencing, online therapy, mobile phones, and virtual reality/avatars. Individuals were asked to imagine continuing therapy using these technological options. Participants viewed videos demonstrating how each technology is used in a therapeutic setting and provided their attitudes and preferences afterwards. The participants consisted of adults who currently or in the recent past have received therapy to treat any severity of depression. Overall, participants had a positive attitude towards technology-assisted therapy. Participants’ relative preference for various technology-assisted interventions and their first-choice modality of therapy did not differ by whether the participant was to keep their same therapist or start therapy with a new therapist. A variety of determinants were associated with greater preference towards the different modalities. Lastly, the strength of working alliance did not moderate whether preferences differed based on staying with the participant’s current/most recent therapist or starting with a new therapist. Limitations, strengths, and conclusions are also discussed.
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