Malik Ishaq, Neufeld Teagan, Mushquash Aislin
Department of Psychology, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 5E1, Canada, 1 8073438010 ext 8771.
JMIR Hum Factors. 2025 Jul 4;12:e65472. doi: 10.2196/65472.
Mental health difficulties are increasing among Canadian postsecondary students, and many face barriers to accessing mental health care. Mobile health smartphone apps for mental health reduce common barriers to care and improve student mental health outcomes. However, students' engagement and use of mental health apps is low. Evaluating the usability and quality of mental health apps is essential not only for user engagement but also for safety and overall utility. Few mental health apps have undergone usability and quality evaluations, especially with measures explicitly designed for these apps. The JoyPop app is a resilience-building mental health app with evidence supporting its effectiveness for student mental health. It has yet to be evaluated using standardized measures of mental health app usability and quality, and the influence of usability and quality on use is unknown.
We evaluated the usability and quality of the JoyPop app and the predictive importance of usability and quality, compared to other relevant user characteristics, in predicting intentions to use the app in the future (usage intentions).
Participants (N=183) completed preapp measures assessing demographics and personality traits, then used the app for 1 week, and then completed postapp measures assessing the usability, quality, and use of the JoyPop app. Usability (overall; and subscales: ease of use, interface and satisfaction, and usefulness) and quality (objective, subjective, and perceived impact) were assessed with descriptive statistics. Multiple regression analyses tested the predictive importance of usability and quality on usage intentions after controlling for other user characteristics.
Participants rated the JoyPop app's overall usability as "very good" (mean 5.63, SD 0.85). Participants rated the JoyPop app's overall objective quality as "excellent" (mean 4.06, SD 0.54). Subjective quality ratings were good, with many participants (135/183, 73.8%) indicating they would recommend the app to others. Participants rated the app as having a moderate and helpful impact on their mental health and coping skills (mean 3.48, SD 0.88). In each regression model, usability (β=.56, P<.001) and quality (β=.52, P<.001) were the strongest predictors and predicted usage intentions over and above other user characteristics.
Results align with prior research evaluating the JoyPop app and maintain that it is an engaging and high-quality mental health app that can support students. Findings provide important insight into the optimal design of mental health apps for students and inform adaptations to future iterations of the JoyPop app.
加拿大高等院校学生的心理健康问题日益增多，许多人在获得心理健康护理方面面临障碍。用于心理健康的移动健康智能手机应用程序减少了常见的护理障碍，并改善了学生的心理健康状况。然而，学生对心理健康应用程序的参与度和使用率较低。评估心理健康应用程序的可用性和质量不仅对用户参与度至关重要，而且对安全性和整体效用也至关重要。很少有心理健康应用程序经过可用性和质量评估，尤其是使用专门为这些应用程序设计的措施进行评估。JoyPop应用程序是一款增强心理韧性的心理健康应用程序，有证据支持其对学生心理健康的有效性。它尚未使用心理健康应用程序可用性和质量的标准化措施进行评估，可用性和质量对使用的影响也未知。
我们评估了JoyPop应用程序的可用性和质量，以及与其他相关用户特征相比，可用性和质量在预测未来使用该应用程序的意图（使用意图）方面的预测重要性。
参与者（N=183）完成应用前的测量，评估人口统计学和人格特质，然后使用该应用程序1周，然后完成应用后的测量，评估JoyPop应用程序的可用性、质量和使用情况。通过描述性统计评估可用性（总体；以及子量表：易用性、界面与满意度、有用性）和质量（客观、主观和感知影响）。多元回归分析在控制其他用户特征后，测试了可用性和质量对使用意图的预测重要性。
参与者将JoyPop应用程序的总体可用性评为“非常好”（均值5.63，标准差0.85）。参与者将JoyPop应用程序的总体客观质量评为“优秀”（均值4.06，标准差0.54）。主观质量评分良好，许多参与者（135/183，73.8%）表示他们会向其他人推荐该应用程序。参与者认为该应用程序对他们的心理健康和应对技能有中等且有益的影响（均值3.48，标准差0.88）。在每个回归模型中，可用性（β=.56，P<.001）和质量（β=.52，P<.001）是最强的预测因素，并且在其他用户特征之外预测了使用意图。
结果与之前对JoyPop应用程序的研究一致，并认为它是一款引人入胜且高质量的心理健康应用程序，可以为学生提供支持。研究结果为学生心理健康应用程序的优化设计提供了重要见解，并为JoyPop应用程序未来版本的调整提供了参考。
