Trial reportThe Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine2022
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Internet-Based Self-Help for Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Trial report in The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04762173 (Self-Help for Stress Related to COVID-19), which is not on this map. Cited by 20 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Self-Help for Stress Related to COVID-19
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Digital Mental Health Interventions for University Students With Mental Health Difficulties: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Early intervention in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Meta-Analysis of Psychological Interventions for Reducing Stress, Anxiety, and Depression among University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- The effectiveness and associated factors of online psychotherapy on COVID-19 related distress: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Pooled it
- Evaluation of the effectiveness of a 7-week minimal guided and unguided cognitive behavioral therapy-based stress-management APP for students.BMC public health · 2025Trial
- How do we know that they actually use it? Exploring measures of adherence to stress management strategies in university students: A systematic review.Internet interventions · 2025Review
- Digital Mental Health Interventions for Young People Aged 16-25 Years: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Using Machine Learning to Predict Uptake to an Online Self-Guided Intervention for Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2025Article
- Psychological Interventions and Those With Elements of Positive Psychology for Child and Youth Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Literature Review, Lessons Learned, and Areas for Future Knowledge Dissemination.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2024Review
- Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Barriers to Mental Health Treatment Among U.S. College Students.Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) · 2024Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and viral suppression among persons living with HIV in western Washington.AIDS care · 2024Article
- The Effectiveness of Digital-Based Psychotherapy in Overcoming Psychological Problems in College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review.Journal of holistic nursing : official journal of the American Holistic Nurses' Association · 2024Article
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of Internet-based self-help interventions for mental health among adolescents and college students.Internet interventions · 2023Article
- Reach and uptake of digital mental health interventions based on cognitive-behavioral therapy for college students: A systematic review.Journal of behavioral and cognitive therapy · 2023Article
- Using Social Influence Strategies to Improve Rates of Online Mental Health Survey Participation: Results from Two Experiments.Journal of behavioral and cognitive therapy · 2023Article
- Digital Therapy: Alleviating Anxiety and Depression in Adolescent Students During COVID-19 Online Learning - A Scoping Review.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2023Article
- Types of Digital-Based Nursing Interventions for Reducing Stress and Depression Symptoms on Adolescents During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2023Article
- Remote Interventions to Support Students' Psychological Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review of Recent Approaches.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Digital Interventions to Improve College and University Student Mental Health.The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2022Article
- COVID Feel Good: Evaluation of a Self-Help Protocol to Overcome the Psychological Burden of the COVID-19 Pandemic in a German Sample.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the need for mental healthcare that can be delivered remotely and at scale to college students. This study evaluated the efficacy of online self-help for stress among students during the pandemic.
methodCollege students with moderate or higher stress (N = 585) were recruited between November 2020 and February 2021, when COVID-19 had a major impact on colleges. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either online self-help using cognitive-behavioral therapy and positive psychology principles to support resilience and coping with pandemic-related stressors (n = 301) or referral to usual care (n = 284). Stress (primary outcome), depression, and anxiety (secondary outcomes) were assessed at pretreatment, one-month post-treatment, and three-month follow-up.
resultsParticipants in the online self-help condition experienced significantly larger reductions in stress (d = -0.18, p = .035) and depression (d = -0.20, p = .018) from pretreatment to post-treatment than participants in the referral group. Reductions in stress from pretreatment to follow-up were also larger in the treatment versus referral group (d = -0.23, p = .005). Groups did not differ in change in anxiety. More time using the self-help program predicted greater improvement in depression at post-treatment (d = -0.41, p = .001) and follow-up (d = -0.32, p = .007), although usage was unrelated to change in stress or anxiety.
conclusionOnline self-help targeting resilience and coping during the pandemic appears efficacious for long-term alleviation of stress and short-term alleviation of depression symptoms among the college students. REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04762173).
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.