What might get in the way: Barriers to the use of apps for depression
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Objective: Smartphones are being used with increasing frequency to deliver behavioral interventions for depression via apps. However, barriers specific to using an app for depression are poorly defined. The purpose of the current study is to identify barriers to the use of a mobile app to deliver treatment for depression. Secondarily, design implications will be provided based upon identified barriers. Method: A card sorting task that ranked and grouped barriers to the use of apps for depression was completed. Participants first completed a card sorting task identifying barriers to face-to-face treatment, as a primer to identification of treatment barriers. The sample consisted of those above ( n = 9) and below ( n = 11) the threshold for a referral to psychotherapy, to capture anticipated barriers for likely end users. Cluster analyses were conducted to analyze the card sorting data. Multiple analyses were conducted to identify: 1) the most important barriers, and 2) how consistently barriers were ranked as important. Result: The card sorting task identified a number of primary barriers to the use of apps for depression treatment, including concerns over intervention efficacy, app functioning, privacy, cost, and lack of guidance and tailored feedback. The top face-to-face treatment barrier was cost, overlapping with mobile barriers. Conclusion: This study identified perceived barriers to the use of mobile treatment apps. Identification of barriers implicates design recommendations for apps for depression.
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In 7 studies, participants expressed concerns over the eventual costs associated with using an intervention.
“In 7 studies, participants expressed concerns over the eventual costs associated with using an intervention [85,93,104,123,165,223,224].”
From Barriers to and facilitators of user engagement with digital mental health interventions: Systematic review (2021) · cites this paper as [165]
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- Authors
- Stiles-Shields, C., Montague, E., Lattie, E. G., Kwasny, M. J., & Mohr, D. C.
- Affiliations
- Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
- Northwestern University (US)
- Venue
- DIGITAL HEALTH
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2017-01
- Volume
- 3
- Pages
- 2055207617713827-2055207617713827
- ISSN
- 2055-2076 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6001178
- OpenAlex
- W2623357307
- Cited by
- 68
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 5.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Digital Health (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Keywords
- depression, mobile health apps, barriers to app use, mobile application design, privacy concerns, cost barriers, personalized feedback, card sorting
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