Hostname: page-component-77c78cf97d-4gwwn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-04-24T04:47:01.075Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Adolescent experiences of app-integrated therapy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 December 2019

Simone Gindidis Open the ORCID record for Simone Gindidis [Opens in a new window] ,
Sandra E. Stewart  and
John Roodenburg
Simone Gindidis*
Affiliation:
Education Psychology Activities, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Sandra E. Stewart
Affiliation:
Education Psychology Activities, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
John Roodenburg
Affiliation:
Education Psychology Activities, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Simone Gindidis, Email: simone.gindidis@monash.edu
Get access

Abstract

Smartphone ownership estimates indicate the vast majority of young people are engaging with smartphone devices. The medium offers a promising opportunity for psychologists to connect with young people seeking help to traverse challenges with mental health, behaviour, learning and wellbeing. However, the views of young people using apps alongside face-to-face therapy remain largely unexplored. Given that clients make the single strongest contribution to therapeutic outcomes it is important to consider the perspectives of adolescents in clinical settings. Using semistructured qualitative interviews, the experiences of seven Australian secondary school-aged adolescents (12–18 years) involved in app-integrated therapy were explored. Thematic analysis resulted in the identification of eight key themes: Between-sessions, Introduction, Responsive, Age, Mindfulness-Meditation, Connection, Knowledge, and App features. Recommending apps appears to encourage young people to take ownership of their therapy, affording opportunities for self-reflection and rehearsal of valuable skills. Further research focused on understanding the views of young people utilising apps with therapy is needed to maximise potential therapeutic benefits. Preliminary practice recommendations and future research directions are proposed.

Keywords

adolescentappsmartphonetherapymHealthqualitative

Information

Type
Articles
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , July 2020 , pp. 20 - 29
Copyright
© Australian Psychological Society Ltd 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ambresin, A.-E., Bennett, K., Patton, G.C., Sanci, L.A., & Sawyer, S.M. (2013). Assessment of youth-friendly health care: A systematic review of indicators drawn from young people’s perspectives. Journal of Adolescent Health, 52, 670–681.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice. (2006). Evidence-based practice in psychology. American Psychologist, 61, 271–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Attride-Stirling, J. (2001). Thematic networks: An analytic tool for qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 1, 385–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Australian Communications and Media Authority. (2016). Aussie teens and kids online. http://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/engage-blogs/engage-blogs/Research-snapshots/Aussie-teens-and-kids-onlineGoogle Scholar
Bailey, V., Baker, A.-M., Cave, L., Fildes, J., Perrens, B., Plummer, J., & Wearring, A. (2016). Mission Australia’s 2016 Youth Survey Report. https://www.missionaustralia.com.au/documents/research/young-people-research/677-mission-australia-youth-survey-report-2016/file: Mission Australia.Google Scholar
Bakker, D., Kazantzis, N., Rickwood, D., & Rickard, N. (2016). Mental health smartphone apps: Review and evidence-based recommendations for future developments. JMIR Mental Health, 3, e7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bennett, E.D., Le, K., Lindahl, K., Wharton, S., & Weng Mak, T. (2017). Five out of the box techniques for encouraging teenagers to engage in counselling. Retrieved from VISTAS Online American Counselling Association Knowledge Center website: https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/vistas/encouraging-teenagers.pdfGoogle Scholar
Bohart, A.C., & Wade, A.G. (2013). The client in psychotherapy. In Lambert, M.J. (Ed.), Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change (6th ed., pp. 219–297). Hokoben, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burns, J.M., Birrell, E., Bismark, M., Pirkis, J., Davenport, T.A., Hickie, I.B., … Ellis, L.A. (2016). The role of technology in Austrailan youth mental health reform. Australian Health Review, 40, 584–590.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burns, J.M., Davenport, T.A., Durkin, L.A., Luscombe, G.M., & Hickie, I.B. (2010). The internet as a setting for mental health service utilisation by young people. The Medical Journal of Australia, 192, S22–S26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlisle, E., Fildes, J., Hall, S., Hicking, V., Perrens, B., & Plummer, J. (2018). Youth Survey Report. Sydney, Australia: Mission Australia.Google Scholar
Chan, A., Kow, R., & Cheng, J.K. (2017). Adolescents’ perceptions on smartphone applications (apps) for health management. Journal of Mobile Technology in Medicine, 6, 47–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, L.H., Hudson, J.L., Dunstan, D.A., & Clark, G.I. (2018). Capturing the attitudes of adolescent males towards computerised mental health help-seeking. Australian Psychologist, 53, 416–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clough, B.A., & Casey, L.M. (2015). Smart designs for smart technologies: Research challenges and emerging solutions for scientist-practitioners within e-mental health. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 46, 429–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dewa, L.H., Lavelle, M., Pickles, K., Kalorkoti, C., Jaques, J., Pappa, S., & Aylin, P. (2019). Young adults’ perceptions of using wearables, social media and other technologies to detect worsening mental health: A qualitative study. PLoS One, 14, e0222655.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edwards-Stewart, A. (2012). Using technology to enhance empirically supported psychological treatments: Positive activity jackpot. Archives of Medical Psychology, 3, 60–66.Google Scholar
Gibson, K., Cartwright, C., Kerrisk, K., Campbell, J., & Seymour, F. (2016). What young people want: A qualitative study of adolescents’ priorities for engagement across psychological services. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25, 1057–1065.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gindidis, S., Stewart, S., & Roodenburg, J. (2018). A systematic scoping review of adolescent mental health treatment using mobile apps. Advances in Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/18387357.2018.1523680Google Scholar
Guest, G., MacQueen, K.M., & Namey, E.E. (2012). Applied thematic analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gulliver, A., Griffiths, K., & Christensen, H. (2010). Perceived barriers and facilitators to mental health help-seeking in young people: A systematic review. BMC Psychiatry, 10, 113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kallapiran, K., Koo, S., Kirubakaran, R., & Hancock, K. (2015). Review: Effectiveness of mindfulness in improving mental health symptoms of children and adolescents: A meta analysis. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 20, 182–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kutscher, M.L. (2017). Problems with the use of digital technology. In Digital kids: How to balance screen time, and why it matters (pp. 19–44). London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Lavik, K.O., Veseth, M., Frøysa, H., Binder, P.-E., & Moltu, C. (2018). ‘Nobody else can lead your life’: What adolescents need from psychotherapists in change processes. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 18, 262–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawrence, D., Johnson, S., Hafekost, J., de Haan, K.B., Sawyer, M., Ainley, J., & Zubrick, S.R. (2015). The mental health of children and adolescents: Report on the second Australian child and adolescent survey of mental health and wellbeing. Retrieved from http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/9DA8CA21306FE6EDCA257E2700016945/$File/child2.pdfGoogle Scholar
McGorry, P., Bates, T., & Birchwood, M. (2013). Designing youth mental health services for the 21st century: Examples from Australia, Ireland and the UK. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 202, S30–S35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, I.R., Murray, A.D., Wordie, S.J., Oliver, C.W., Murray, A.W., & Simpson, A.H.R.W. (2017). Maximising the impact of your work using infographics. Bone & Joint Research, 6, 619–620.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ostojic, M., Chung, J., DiMattia, M., Furlonger, B., Busacca, M., & Chittleborough, P. (2018). A review of the processes by which school psychologists and counsellors can use taxonomies to evaluate health-related apps. Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, 28, 212–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patel, V., Flisher, A.J., Hetrick, S., & McGorry, P. (2007). Mental health of young people: A global public-health challenge. Lancet, 369, 1302–1313.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
QSR International. (2018). NVivo for Mac. https://www.qsrinternational.com/nvivo/nvivo-products/nvivo-12-macGoogle Scholar
Rajendran, A. (2018). Worry Watch (Version 3.5). https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/worry-watch-stress-anxiety/id693833917?mt=8Google Scholar
Rice, S.M., Purcell, R., & McGorry, P.D. (2018). Adolescent and young adult male mental health: Transforming system failures into proactive models of engagement. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62, S9–S17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richards, P., & Simpson, S. (2015). Beyond the therapeutic hour: An exploratory pilot study of using technology to enhance alliance and engagement within face-to-face psychotherapy. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 43, 57–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rickwood, D., Deane, F.P., Wilson, C.J., & Ciarrochi, J. (2005). Young people’s help-seeking for mental health problems. Australian E-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health, 4, 218–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robbins, S.C.C., Rawsthorne, M., Paxton, K., Hawke, C., Skinner, R.S., & Steinbeck, K. (2012). ‘You can help people’: Adolescents’ views on engaging young people in longitudinal research. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 22, 8–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roy Morgan Research. (2016). 9 in 10 Aussie teens now have a mobile (and most are already on to their second or subsequent handset). Article No. 6929. Roy Morgan Research. roymorgan.com.Google Scholar
Schueller, S.M., Washburn, J.J., & Price, M. (2016). Exploring mental health providers’ interest in using web and mobile-based tools in their practices. Internet Interventions, 4, 145–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scott, H., Fawkner, S., Oliver, C., & Murray, A. (2016). Why healthcare professionals should know a little about infographics. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50, 1104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torous, J., & Haim, A. (2018). Dichotomies in the development and implementation of digital mental health tools. Psychiatry Services, 69, 1204–1206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilansky, P., Eklund, J.M., Milner, T., Kreindler, D., Cheung, A., Kovacs, T., … Mills, R.S. (2016). Cognitive behavior therapy for anxious and depressed youth: Improving homework adherence through mobile technology. JMIR Research Protocols, 5, e209.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yuan, E.S. (2018). Zoom. Retrieved from zoom.usGoogle Scholar