Effects of internet-delivered behavioral activation on individuals with depressive symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Behavioral activation is recognized as a stand-alone, evidence-based therapy for depression. Internet-delivered psychological interventions are easy to access and low cost. Therefore, it is important to determine whether internet-delivered behavioral activation (iBA) is an effective option for improving depressive symptoms and other health-related outcomes. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the effects of iBA on individuals with depressive symptoms. METHODS: statistic values for heterogeneity, either a random effects model or fixed effects model was used. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to the type of control groups. RESULTS: Twenty RCTs met the eligibility criteria. Meta-analyses showed iBA had small to medium effects on depressive symptoms, anxiety, quality of life, functioning, perceived social support, and behavioral activation (BA) in people suffering from depressive symptoms at the immediate posttest and follow-up compared to control conditions. LIMITATIONS: Relatively fewer studies were conducted to compare effects of iBA on outcomes other than depressive symptoms and BA process measures compared to comparison or control conditions. The overall risk of bias across the included RCTs was unclear. CONCLUSIONS: Further high-quality studies are needed to verify the effects of iBA on varied health outcomes and BA process measures for individuals with depressive symptoms.
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The preliminary efficacy findings are broadly in line with several recent meta-analyses that evaluated digital interventions for symptoms of depression.
“Although preliminary, this is broadly in line with several recent meta-analyses that evaluated digital interventions for symptoms of depression [17,20,61].”
From Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of Digital Interventions for Depressive Symptoms in Working Adults: Multiarm Randomized Controlled Trial (2023) · cites this paper as [61]
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Yamasato, A., Fujimoto, A., Irie, T., Aoki, S., Miyasaka, M., Kobayashi, M., Takase, K., Sugiyama, T., & Miyazaki, T. (2026) · doi:10.2196/preprints.114973
- Authors
- Han, A., & Kim, T. H.
- Affiliations
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
- Yonsei University (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Kim, Tae Hui
- Venue
- Journal of Psychiatric Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-08
- Volume
- 152
- Pages
- 104-118
- ISSN
- 0022-3956 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4281728899
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 0.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Psychiatric Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Korea Health Industry Development Institute
- Ministry of Health and Welfare (HR21C0885040021)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Keywords
- behavioral activation, depressive symptoms, depression, anxiety, quality of life, functioning, social support
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Humans, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Internet
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