title: Feasibility of a personal health technology-based psychological intervention for men with stress and mood problems: randomized controlled pilot trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Work-related stress is a significant problem for both people and organizations. It may lead to mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression, resulting in increased work absences and disabilities. Scalable interventions to prevent and manage harmful stress can be delivered with the help of technology tools to support self-observations and skills training.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of the P4Well intervention in treatment of stress-related psychological problems. P4Well is a novel intervention which combines modern psychotherapy (the cognitive behavioral therapy and the acceptance and commitment therapy) with personal health technologies to deliver the intervention via multiple channels, includinggroup meetings, Internet/Web portal, mobile phone applications, and personal monitoring devices.
  
  
  METHODS
  This pilot study design was a small-scale randomized controlled trial that compared the P4Well intervention with a waiting list control group. In addition to personal health technologies for self-assessment, the intervention consisted of 3 psychologist-assisted group meetings. Self-assessed psychological measures through questionnaires were collected offline pre- and post-intervention, and 6 months after the intervention for the intervention group. Acceptance and usage of technology tools were measured with user experience questionnaires and usage logs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 24 subjects were randomized: 11 participants were followed up in the intervention group (1 was lost to follow-up) and 12 participants did not receive any intervention (control group). Depressive and psychological symptoms decreased and self-rated health and working ability increased. All participants reported they had benefited from the intervention. All technology tools had active users and 10/11 participants used at least 1 tool actively. Physiological measurements with personal feedback were considered the most useful intervention component.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results confirm the feasibility of the intervention and suggest that it had positive effects on psychological symptoms, self-rated health, and self-rated working ability. The intervention seemed to have a positive impact on certain aspects of burnout and job strain, such as cynicism and over-commitment. Future studies need to investigate the effectiveness, benefits, and possible problems of psychological interventions which incorporate new technologies.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES), Project number 40011/08.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylän yliopisto, Finland. paivi.k.lappalainen@jyu.fi.
authors.forename: Päivi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lappalainen
authors.forename: Kirsikka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaipainen
authors.forename: Raimo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lappalainen
authors.forename: Henna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hoffrén
authors.forename: Tero
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Myllymäki
authors.forename: Marja-Liisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kinnunen
authors.forename: Elina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mattila
authors.forename: Antti P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Happonen
authors.forename: Heikki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rusko
authors.forename: Ilkka
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Korhonen
keywords: Internet; acceptance and commitment therapy; cognitive behaviour therapy; mhealth; mobile health; personal health technologies; smartphone; stress; technology-supported mini-intervention