Abstract

Background

Technology use may be one strategy to promote mental health and wellbeing among young adults in post-secondary education settings experiencing increasing distress and mental health difficulties. The JoyPop™ app is mobile mental health tool with a growing evidence base. The objectives of this research are to (1) evaluate the effectiveness of the JoyPop™ app in improving emotion regulation skills (primary outcome), as well as mental health, wellbeing, and resilience (secondary outcomes); (2) evaluate sustained app use once users are no longer reminded and determine whether sustained use is associated with maintained improvements in primary and secondary outcomes; (3) determine whether those in the intervention condition have lower mental health service usage and associated costs compared to those in the control condition; and (4) assess users’ perspectives on the quality of the JoyPop™ app.

Methods

A pragmatic, parallel arm randomized controlled trial will be used. Participants will be randomly allocated using stratified block randomization in a 1:1 ratio to the intervention (JoyPop™) or control (no intervention) condition. Participants allocated to the intervention condition will be asked to use the JoyPop™ app at least twice daily for 4 weeks. Participants will complete outcome measures at four assessment time-points (first [baseline], second [after 2 weeks], third [after 4 weeks], fourth [after 8 weeks; follow-up]). Participants in the control condition will be offered access to the app after the fourth assessment time-point.

Discussion

Results will determine the effectiveness of the JoyPop™ app for promoting mental health and wellbeing among post-secondary students. If effective, this may encourage more widespread adoption of the JoyPop™ app by post-secondary institutions as part of their response to student mental health needs.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06154369. Registered on November 23, 2023.

Details

Title
Promoting mental health and wellbeing among post-secondary students with the JoyPop™ app: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Author
MacIsaac, Angela 1 ; Mann, Vamika 1 ; Toombs, Elaine 1 ; Schmidt, Fred 2 ; Olthuis, Janine V. 3 ; Stewart, Sherry H. 4 ; Newton, Amanda 5 ; Ohinmaa, Arto 6 ; Mushquash, Aislin R. 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  Lakehead University, Department of Psychology, Thunder Bay, Canada (GRID:grid.258900.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 0687 7127) 
2  Lakehead University, Department of Psychology, Thunder Bay, Canada (GRID:grid.258900.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 0687 7127); Children’s Centre Thunder Bay, Thunder Bay, Canada (GRID:grid.258900.6) 
3  University of New Brunswick, Department of Psychology, Fredericton, Canada (GRID:grid.266820.8) (ISNI:0000 0004 0402 6152) 
4  Dalhousie University, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology & Neuroscience, Halifax, Canada (GRID:grid.55602.34) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8200) 
5  University of Alberta, Department of Pediatrics, Edmonton, Canada (GRID:grid.17089.37) 
6  University of Alberta, School of Public Health, Edmonton, Canada (GRID:grid.17089.37) 
Pages
576
Publication year
2024
Publication date
Dec 2024
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
e-ISSN
17456215
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-024-08424-y
ProQuest document ID
3099943867
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.