AUTHOR=Sapkota Ram P. , Valli Emma , Dear Blake F. , Titov Nickolai , Hadjistavropoulos Heather D. 

TITLE=Satisfaction, engagement, and outcomes in internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy adapted for people of diverse ethnocultural groups: an observational trial with benchmarking

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1270543

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1270543

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health disorders worldwide. Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (ICBT) can reduce barriers to care to broad cross sections of the population. However, People of Diverse Ethnocultural Backgrounds (PDEGs) other than White/Caucasian underutilize mental health services and are under represented in clinical trials of psychological interventions.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>To address this research gap we adapted an evidence-based ICBT program for PDEGs. The current pilot study explores the engagement, satisfaction, and effectiveness in the adapted ICBT program by PDEGs (N=41) when benchmarked against a sample of PDEGs (N=134) who previously completed a non-adapted version of the ICBT program.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>An intent-to-treat analyses showed that the adapted ICBT program is effective in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms among PDEGs. Large within-group pre-to post-treatment Cohen’s effect sizes of <italic>d</italic> = 1.23, 95% CI [0.68, 1.77] and <italic>d</italic> = 1.24, 95% CI [0.69, 1.79] were found for depression and anxiety, respectively. Further, 81.8% of the PDEGs who received the adapted ICBT reported overall satisfaction, 90.9% reported increased confidence in managing symptoms, and 70.7% completed majority of the psychoeducational lessons in the ICBT program.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>No statistically significant differences in the clinical outcomes, engagement, and satisfaction were found between the pilot study and benchmark sample. Future directions for ICBT research with PDEGs are described.</p></sec><sec><title>Clinical trial registration</title><p><uri xlink:href="https://beta.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05523492" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://beta.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05523492</uri>, identifier NCT05523492.</p></sec>