Efficacy of the “Foundations” smartphone application in improving mental well-being in students: a randomized controlled trial

Schulze, Laura, Henwood, Amanda, Matić, Aleksandar, Skorulski, Bartlomiej, Schneider, Luc, Dix, Sophie, Guerreiro, João and Dolan, Paul (2024) Efficacy of the “Foundations” smartphone application in improving mental well-being in students: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science. ISSN 2366-5963

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Abstract

The mental health challenges faced by student populations is a growing global public health issue. Accessible, scalable, and effective interventions are urgently needed. The primary objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of Foundations (Koa Health; Barcelona, Spain), a digital mental health intervention, compared to a waitlist control group in university students. We hypothesized that participants in the Foundations group would show greater improvement in well-being scores compared to those in the control group, after 2 and 4 weeks of usage. As part of a larger study, 232 participants were included in the primary analyses (Foundations, n = 95; control, n = 137). Well-being scores improved in both groups; however, improvements in well-being were significantly greater in the Foundations group after 4 weeks. Taken together, the present findings support the efficacy of digital mental health tools like Foundations in a student population. Trial Registration: OSF Registration, Registration https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/HVTF8 ; https://osf.io/hvtf8.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://link.springer.com/journal/41347
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Divisions:	LSE Management Psychological and Behavioural Science
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology T Technology > T Technology (General)
Date Deposited:	01 Jul 2024 14:06
Last Modified:	15 Jul 2024 21:12
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/124062

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