PMID- 38536225
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20240328
LR  - 20240425
IS  - 1438-8871 (Electronic)
IS  - 1439-4456 (Print)
IS  - 1438-8871 (Linking)
VI  - 26
DP  - 2024 Mar 27
TI  - Effectiveness of the Minder Mobile Mental Health and Substance Use Intervention 
      for University Students: Randomized Controlled Trial.
PG  - e54287
LID - 10.2196/54287 [doi]
LID - e54287
AB  - BACKGROUND: University attendance represents a transition period for students 
      that often coincides with the emergence of mental health and substance use 
      challenges. Digital interventions have been identified as a promising means of 
      supporting students due to their scalability, adaptability, and acceptability. 
      Minder is a mental health and substance use mobile app that was codeveloped with 
      university students. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the effectiveness of 
      the Minder mobile app in improving mental health and substance use outcomes in a 
      general population of university students. METHODS: A 2-arm, parallel-assignment, 
      single-blinded, 30-day randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate Minder 
      using intention-to-treat analysis. In total, 1489 participants were recruited and 
      randomly assigned to the intervention (n=743, 49.9%) or waitlist control (n=746, 
      50.1%) condition. The Minder app delivers evidence-based content through an 
      automated chatbot and connects participants with services and university social 
      groups. Participants are also assigned a trained peer coach to support them. The 
      primary outcomes were measured through in-app self-assessments and included 
      changes in general anxiety symptomology, depressive symptomology, and alcohol 
      consumption risk measured using the 7-item General Anxiety Disorder scale, 9-item 
      Patient Health Questionnaire, and US Alcohol Use Disorders Identification 
      Test-Consumption Scale, respectively, from baseline to 30-day follow-up. 
      Secondary outcomes included measures related to changes in the frequency of 
      substance use (cannabis, alcohol, opioids, and nonmedical stimulants) and mental 
      well-being. Generalized linear mixed-effects models were used to examine each 
      outcome. RESULTS: In total, 79.3% (589/743) of participants in the intervention 
      group and 83% (619/746) of participants in the control group completed the 
      follow-up survey. The intervention group had significantly greater average 
      reductions in anxiety symptoms measured using the 7-item General Anxiety Disorder 
      scale (adjusted group mean difference=-0.85, 95% CI -1.27 to -0.42; P<.001; Cohen 
      d=-0.17) and depressive symptoms measured using the 9-item Patient Health 
      Questionnaire (adjusted group mean difference=-0.63, 95% CI -1.08 to -0.17; 
      P=.007; Cohen d=-0.11). A reduction in the US Alcohol Use Disorders 
      Identification Test-Consumption Scale score among intervention participants was 
      also observed, but it was not significant (P=.23). Statistically significant 
      differences in favor of the intervention group were found for mental well-being 
      and reductions in the frequency of cannabis use and typical number of drinks 
      consumed. A total of 77.1% (573/743) of participants in the intervention group 
      accessed at least 1 app component during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: In a 
      general population sample of university students, the Minder app was effective in 
      reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression, with provisional support for 
      increasing mental well-being and reducing the frequency of cannabis and alcohol 
      use. These findings highlight the potential ability of e-tools focused on 
      prevention and early intervention to be integrated into existing university 
      systems to support students' needs. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov 
      NCT05606601; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05606601. INTERNATIONAL 
      REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/49364.
CI  - (c)Melissa Vereschagin, Angel Y Wang, Chris G Richardson, Hui Xie, Richard J 
      Munthali, Kristen L Hudec, Calista Leung, Katharine D Wojcik, Lonna Munro, 
      Priyanka Halli, Ronald C Kessler, Daniel V Vigo. Originally published in the 
      Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 27.03.2024.
FAU - Vereschagin, Melissa
AU  - Vereschagin M
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-0378-3296
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 
      Vancouver, BC, Canada.
FAU - Wang, Angel Y
AU  - Wang AY
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-2001-2220
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 
      Vancouver, BC, Canada.
FAU - Richardson, Chris G
AU  - Richardson CG
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-7641-7027
AD  - School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of 
      British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
FAU - Xie, Hui
AU  - Xie H
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-3328-7135
AD  - Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
FAU - Munthali, Richard J
AU  - Munthali RJ
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-8492-7409
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 
      Vancouver, BC, Canada.
FAU - Hudec, Kristen L
AU  - Hudec KL
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-8573-1491
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 
      Vancouver, BC, Canada.
FAU - Leung, Calista
AU  - Leung C
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-0016-3961
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 
      Vancouver, BC, Canada.
FAU - Wojcik, Katharine D
AU  - Wojcik KD
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-4964-4248
AD  - Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Sciences, Baylor College of 
      Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.
FAU - Munro, Lonna
AU  - Munro L
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-8002-8008
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 
      Vancouver, BC, Canada.
FAU - Halli, Priyanka
AU  - Halli P
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-5806-6024
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 
      Vancouver, BC, Canada.
FAU - Kessler, Ronald C
AU  - Kessler RC
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-4831-2305
AD  - Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United 
      States.
FAU - Vigo, Daniel V
AU  - Vigo DV
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-4445-4122
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 
      Vancouver, BC, Canada.
AD  - School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of 
      British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
LA  - eng
SI  - ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT05606601
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Randomized Controlled Trial
DEP - 20240327
PL  - Canada
TA  - J Med Internet Res
JT  - Journal of medical Internet research
JID - 100959882
RN  - general anxiety disorder
SB  - IM
MH  - Humans
MH  - Mental Health
MH  - *Alcoholism
MH  - Universities
MH  - Anxiety Disorders
MH  - *Cannabis
PMC - PMC11007604
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - college students
OT  - digital interventions
OT  - mental health
OT  - mobile interventions
OT  - mobile phone
OT  - randomized controlled trial
OT  - substance use
COIS- Conflicts of Interest: For the past 3 years, RCK has been a consultant for the 
      Cambridge Health Alliance; Canandaigua Veterans Affairs Medical Center; Holmusk; 
      Partners Healthcare, Inc; RallyPoint Networks, Inc; and Sage Therapeutics. He has 
      stock options in Cerebral Inc, Mirah, PYM, Roga Sciences, and Verisense Health.
EDAT- 2024/03/27 12:46
MHDA- 2024/03/28 06:45
PMCR- 2024/03/27
CRDT- 2024/03/27 11:54
PHST- 2023/11/05 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2024/02/17 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/12/05 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2024/03/28 06:45 [medline]
PHST- 2024/03/27 12:46 [pubmed]
PHST- 2024/03/27 11:54 [entrez]
PHST- 2024/03/27 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - v26i1e54287 [pii]
AID - 10.2196/54287 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - J Med Internet Res. 2024 Mar 27;26:e54287. doi: 10.2196/54287.