title: Prevention of depressive symptoms through the use of distance technologies.
abstract: Psychoeducational materials can be disseminated at minimal expense through the use of distance technologies, offering an opportunity for prevention. The objective of this project was to develop and evaluate a psychoeducational computer program designed to prevent depressive symptoms. The program was accessible through the Internet or by touch-tone telephone. A total of 786 participants were randomly assigned either to the preventive intervention or to an information-only control condition. Over a three-month follow-up period, no differences between the groups were observed. However, three of the target variables (cognitive style, activity level, and sleep quality) were found to be strong predictors of whether a participant had an episode of major depression during the follow-up period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. patten@ucalgary.ca
authors.forename: Scott B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Patten
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000416:Alberta; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D020375:Education, Distance / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D013685:Telecommunications