Internet-based indicated prevention of anxiety and depression disorder onset three-arm randomized clinical trial.
rct · Level II
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41034558.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41746-025-01990-8 and PMC identifier 12489038.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Preventing mental disorders is important to avoiding clinical conditions. This study evaluated the efficacy of internet-based indicated prevention for anxiety and depressive disorders. In a three-arm randomized controlled trial, 566 adults with subthreshold anxiety (GAD-7 ≥ 5) and/or depressive symptoms (CES-D ≥ 16), but no clinical diagnosis in the past six months (MINI 6.0), were assigned to either an individually (IG-IMI, n = 186) or automatically (AG-IMI, n = 189) guided digital intervention, or waitlist control (WLC, n = 191). The digital intervention comprised 8 transdiagnostic, self-tailored, CBT-based sessions. The primary outcome was time to onset of any anxiety or depressive disorder over 12 months, assessed via blinded diagnostic interviews (MINI). AD/DD onset was 19.4% in IG-IMI, 14.8% in AG-IMI, and 30.9% in WLC. Cumulative incidence was 23.1% (IG-IMI), 20.7% (AG-IMI), and 36.0% (WLC; p < 0.001). Hazard ratios were 0.59 and 0.47; NNTs were 7.76 and 5.79. Both individually guided and automated interventions effectively reduced AD/DD incidence. Trial Registration: The study was preregistered in the German Clinical Trial Registration (DRKS00011099; https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00011099 ).