Sora Beatriz, Nieto Rubén, Montesano Adrian, Armayones Manuel
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.
Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, eHealth Center, Open University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain.
Front Psychol. 2022 Jul 6;13:821671. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.821671. eCollection 2022.
Currently, most people who might need mental health care services do not receive them due to a number of reasons. Many of these reasons can be overcome by telepsychology, in other words, the use of ICT technologies for therapy (e.g., phone, videoconferencing, and apps); given that it facilitates access to specialized interventions. In fact, telepsychology is currently offered as an active service in many psychotherapy centers. However, its usage, how it is perceived, and who uses it are still largely unknown.
The aim of this study was (1) to determine if any pattern exists in the usage of telepsychology and face-to-face psychology, (2) to clarify people's perception of telepsychology in terms of the advantages, barriers and efficacy of online psychotherapy, and (3) to examine usage patterns in terms of individual characteristics and identify patients' profiles.
An online survey was conducted on a convenience sample of 514 subjects recluted by using an online advertisement. The inclusion criteria were: (1) to be older than 18 years old and (2) to answer completely the questionnaire. Cluster analysis, ANOVAs, and discriminant analysis were performed to test our research objectives.
Three usage clusters were found: (1) face-to-face psychotherapy (57%; = 292); (2) non-therapy (36.8%; = 189); and (3) combined face-to-face psychotherapy and telepsychology (6.4%; = 33). In addition, the perception of telepsychology varied among usage clusters, but a common perception emerged about the main telepsychology advantages, barriers and efficacy. Finally, the results showed that personal characteristics differentiated people in each of these clusters.
The most common form of access to psychotherapy is the face-to-face form but the second way of delivery was a combination between face to face and online psychotherapy (research objective 1). People who combine face to face with online psychotherapy perceives this last as more efficient and with less barriers to access (research objective 2). Finally, some characteristic as eHealth experience and sociodemographic variables can help to identify people that will attend telepsychology initiatives (research objective 3). These clusters provide insight into opportunities for face-to-face and online patient engagement strategies.
目前，许多可能需要心理健康护理服务的人由于多种原因未能获得此类服务。其中许多原因可通过远程心理学克服，即利用信息通信技术进行治疗（如电话、视频会议和应用程序）；因为它便于获得专业干预。事实上，目前许多心理治疗中心都将远程心理学作为一项积极的服务提供。然而，其使用情况、人们对它的看法以及使用者情况在很大程度上仍不为人所知。
本研究的目的是：（1）确定远程心理学和面对面心理治疗的使用是否存在任何模式；（2）从在线心理治疗的优势、障碍和疗效方面阐明人们对远程心理学的看法；（3）根据个体特征研究使用模式并确定患者概况。
对通过在线广告招募的514名受试者的便利样本进行了在线调查。纳入标准为：（1）年龄超过18岁；（2）完整回答问卷。进行聚类分析、方差分析和判别分析以检验我们的研究目标。
发现了三种使用类别：（1）面对面心理治疗（57%；n = 292）；（2）非治疗（36.8%；n = 189）；（3）面对面心理治疗与远程心理学相结合（6.4%；n = 33）。此外，不同使用类别对远程心理学的看法各不相同，但对于远程心理学的主要优势、障碍和疗效出现了一种共同看法。最后，结果表明个人特征在这些类别中的每一类中都使人们有所区别。
获得心理治疗最常见的形式是面对面形式，但第二种提供方式是面对面和在线心理治疗相结合（研究目标1）。将面对面与在线心理治疗相结合的人认为后者效率更高且获取障碍更少（研究目标2）。最后，一些特征如电子健康体验和社会人口统计学变量有助于识别将参与远程心理学项目的人（研究目标3）。这些类别为面对面和在线患者参与策略的机会提供了见解。
