Acceptance of E-mental health interventions and its determinants among psychotherapists-in-training during the first phase of COVID-19.

Background: Although E-mental health (EMH) interventions have been shown to be effective in the treatment of mental health problems and empirical knowledge regarding EMH acceptance for different occupations in health care is established, little is known regarding EMH and psychotherapists-in-training. This seems particularly relevant as psychotherapists-in-training will shape the future health care system since they are as being the next generation of psychotherapists. With social distancing measures in place, COVID-19 has led to an increased demand for EMH, which is broadening the way psychological treatments are delivered. Objective: The present study aims to assess the acceptance of EMH and its determinants among psychotherapists-in-training of different EMH modalities and to retrospectively compare current acceptance with pre-COVID-19 times. Methods: Altogether, 29 training institutions in Switzerland and 232 training institutions in Germany were contacted, resulting in a sample of Results: Acceptance of EMH was moderate ( Discussion: Acceptance by psychotherapists-in-training was moderate and in line with prior research and comparable with other clinicians' acceptance scores. Conclusion: These findings underline the importance of the aforementioned determinants of EMH acceptance and the need for further studies investigating EMH acceptance in order to derive adequate educational programs and to facilitate dissemination among psychotherapists-in-training.