BMC Psychiatry

A pandemic is a very stressful event, especially for highly vulnerable people (e.g., older adults). The purpose of the current study was to investigate the main and interactive relationships of social support and resilience on individual mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic across three age groups: emerging adults, adults, and older adults.

A survey was conducted with 23,192 participants aged 18–85. Respondents completed a questionnaire, including items on the COVID-19-related support they perceived from different sources, the abbreviated version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Mental Health Inventory.

Latent profile analysis identified five profiles of social support, and the patterns of potential profiles were similar in all groups. However, category distribution in the five profiles was significantly different among the age groups. Furthermore, analysis using the BCH command showed significant differences in mental health among these profiles. Lastly, interactive analyses indicated resilience had a positive relationship with mental health, and social support served as a buffer against the negative impact of low resilience on mental health.

This study provides quantitative evidence for socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) and enables several practical implications for helping different age groups protecting mental health during pandemic.

This paper reports the results of a pilot randomized controlled trial comparing the delivery modality (mobile phone/tablet or fixed computer) of a cognitive behavioural therapy intervention for the treatment of depression. The aim was to establish whether a previously validated computerized program (The Sadness Program) remained efficacious when delivered via a mobile application.

35 participants were recruited with Major Depression (80% female) and randomly allocated to access the program using a mobile app (on either a mobile phone or iPad) or a computer. Participants completed 6 lessons, weekly homework assignments, and received weekly email contact from a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist until completion of lesson 2. After lesson 2 email contact was only provided in response to participant request, or in response to a deterioration in psychological distress scores. The primary outcome measure was the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9). Of the 35 participants recruited, 68.6% completed 6 lessons and 65.7% completed the 3-months follow up. Attrition was handled using mixed-model repeated-measures ANOVA.

Both the Mobile and Computer Groups were associated with statistically significantly benefits in the PHQ-9 at post-test. At 3 months follow up, the reduction seen for both groups remained significant.

These results provide evidence to indicate that delivering a CBT program using a mobile application, can result in clinically significant improvements in outcomes for patients with depression.

Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN 12611001257954