Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23285271›Full record

Trial reportPloS one2012

The effectiveness of an online support group for members of the community with depression: a randomised controlled trial.

Kathleen M Griffiths, Andrew J Mackinnon, Dimity A Crisp, Helen Christensen, Kylie Bennett, Louise Farrer

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04948996 (Effectiveness of Group Versus Individual Self-management of Depression Using a Mobile App to Increase Treatment Adherence Among Users of a University-based Helpline in the Dominican Republic.), which is not on this map. Cited by 60 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
60citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
6.1field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04948996 naterminatednot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

Effectiveness of Group Versus Individual Self-management of Depression Using a Mobile App to Increase Treatment Adherence Among Users of a University-based Helpline in the Dominican Republic.

TypeinterventionalSponsorNorthern Illinois UniversityRan2021 to 2021Enrolled27ConditionsDepression Mild, Depression ModerateArmsEl Buen Consejo Móvil- Group (EBCM-G), El Buen Consejo Móvil- Individual (EBCM-I)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

60 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 140 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Web-Based Tools and Mobile Applications To Mitigate Burnout, Depression, and Suicidality Among Healthcare Students and Professionals: a Systematic Review.Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry · 2018
    Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Trial
  6. Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Trial
  11. Trial
  12. Trial
  13. Harnessing Peer Support in an Online Intervention for Older Adults with Depression.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2017
    Trial
  14. Trial
  15. Trial
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Kathleen M GriffithsCentre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Kathy.Griffiths@anu.edu.au
Andrew J Mackinnon
Dimity A Crisp
Helen Christensen
Kylie Bennett
Louise Farrer
Australian National University · AUOrygen Youth Health · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInternet support groups (ISGs) are popular, particularly among people with depression, but there is little high quality evidence concerning their effectiveness.

aimThe study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of an ISG for reducing depressive symptoms among community members when used alone and in combination with an automated Internet-based psychotherapy training program.

methodVolunteers with elevated psychological distress were identified using a community-based screening postal survey. Participants were randomised to one of four 12-week conditions: depression Internet Support Group (ISG), automated depression Internet Training Program (ITP), combination of the two (ITP+ISG), or a control website with delayed access to e-couch at 6 months. Assessments were conducted at baseline, post-intervention, 6 and 12 months.

resultsThere was no change in depressive symptoms relative to control after 3 months of exposure to the ISG. However, both the ISG alone and the combined ISG+ITP group showed significantly greater reduction in depressive symptoms at 6 and 12 months follow-up than the control group. The ITP program was effective relative to control at post-intervention but not at 6 months.

conclusionsISGs for depression are promising and warrant further empirical investigation.

trial registrationControlled-Trials.com ISRCTN65657330.

Indexed as

InternetOnline SystemsSelf-Help GroupsAdolescentAdultAgedCommunity NetworksDepressionEducationFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPsychotherapyTreatment OutcomeYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID23285271
PMCPMC3532446
OpenAlexW2095772798

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.