Meuldijk Denise, Deady Mark, Collins Daniel A J, Williams Douglas O, Bryant Richard A, Harvey Samuel B
Black Dog Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales, High St, Kensington, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia, 61 02 9065 9103.
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Kensington, 2052, Australia.
JMIR Form Res. 2025 Jul 28;9:e50995. doi: 10.2196/50995.
BACKGROUND: Emergency service workers are at an elevated risk for stressor-related mental health (MH) issues, such as anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Barriers to help-seeking are widespread across this sector, necessitating interventions tailored to the unique needs of this population. Build Back Better is a smartphone-based intervention designed to provide evidence-based strategies for the prevention of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder among emergency service workers. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the usability, acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness of the Build Back Better app among emergency service workers. METHODS: A single-group (N=67), 1-month pilot study assessing the impact of the Build Back Better app on MH outcomes, including general distress, anxiety, depression, and traumatic stress coping, was undertaken with emergency service workers. Participants completed baseline and 1-month follow-up assessments using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire, 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder, World Health Organization Well-Being Index, and the Trauma Coping Self-Efficacy Scale. The app's usability and acceptability were also evaluated through participant feedback and usage data. RESULTS: Of the 71 participants enrolled, 67 completed the baseline assessment and downloaded the app, with 33 participants providing follow-up data. The mean age of participants was 44.73 (SD 11.4) years, and 64% (n=43) were male. The majority of respondents rated the app quality as very high (n=27, 79%), felt that the app was easy to use (n=20, 61%), easily understood (n=18, 55%), improved their mental fitness (n=27, 80%), and would recommend the app to others (n=20, 61%). Encouraging trends toward improvement were found across symptom and well-being outcomes; however, these trends were not significant: general distress (t32=0.65, P=.52), depression (t32=0.75, P=.46), anxiety (t32=1.08, P=.29), or traumatic stress coping (t32=-0.27, P=.79), with effect sizes ≤0.2, likely due to the small sample size. CONCLUSIONS: The Build Back Better app demonstrated satisfactory levels of usability and acceptability. While the pilot study showed encouraging trends toward improved MH, further research with a larger sample size is needed to determine its efficacy. Participants furthermore suggested improvements in app navigation and content clarity, emphasizing the need for a more intuitive user experience. Given the positive feedback and improvement in MH outcomes, a larger-scale efficacy trial is warranted to further assess the app's potential for MH support in this high-risk population.
背景:应急服务工作者面临与压力源相关的心理健康(MH)问题的风险较高,如焦虑、抑郁和创伤后应激障碍。在这一领域,寻求帮助的障碍普遍存在,因此需要针对这一人群的独特需求进行干预。“重建得更好”是一款基于智能手机的干预措施,旨在为预防应急服务工作者的焦虑、抑郁和创伤后应激障碍提供循证策略。 目的:本研究旨在评估“重建得更好”应用程序在应急服务工作者中的可用性、可接受性、可行性和初步效果。 方法:对应急服务工作者进行了一项单组(N = 67)、为期1个月的试点研究,评估“重建得更好”应用程序对MH结果的影响,包括一般困扰、焦虑、抑郁和创伤应激应对。参与者使用凯斯勒心理困扰量表、9项患者健康问卷、7项广泛性焦虑症量表、世界卫生组织幸福指数和创伤应对自我效能量表完成了基线和1个月的随访评估。还通过参与者反馈和使用数据评估了该应用程序的可用性和可接受性。 结果:在71名登记的参与者中,67名完成了基线评估并下载了该应用程序,其中33名参与者提供了随访数据。参与者的平均年龄为44.73(标准差11.4)岁,64%(n = 43)为男性。大多数受访者对应用程序质量的评价非常高(n = 27,79%),认为该应用程序易于使用(n = 20,61%)、易于理解(n = 18,55%)、改善了他们的心理健康(n = 27,80%),并会向他人推荐该应用程序(n = 20,61%)。在症状和幸福感结果方面发现了令人鼓舞的改善趋势;然而,这些趋势并不显著:一般困扰(t32 = 0.65,P = 0.52)、抑郁(t32 = 0.75,P = 0.46)、焦虑(t32 = 1.08,P = 0.29)或创伤应激应对(t32 = -0.27,P = 0.79),效应大小≤0.2,可能是由于样本量较小。 结论:“重建得更好”应用程序表现出令人满意的可用性和可接受性水平。虽然试点研究显示出在改善MH方面令人鼓舞的趋势,但需要进行更大样本量的进一步研究来确定其疗效。参与者还建议改进应用程序的导航和内容清晰度,强调需要更直观的用户体验。鉴于积极的反馈和MH结果的改善,有必要进行更大规模的疗效试验,以进一步评估该应用程序在这一高风险人群中提供MH支持的潜力。
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021-12-6
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016-4-4
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020-7-1
Health Technol Assess. 2025-7
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015-1-20
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017-5-23
Front Digit Health. 2021-11-4
Arch Environ Occup Health. 2022
Front Public Health. 2020-9-4
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020-9-16
Psychol Med. 2022-2
Health Informatics J. 2020-9