Is one additional phone call enough? - Effectiveness of additional human support to reduce dropout from an internet-based intervention for depressive symptoms: A randomized-controlled trial.

Sophie Christine Eicher, Manuel Heinrich, Pavle Zagorscak, Annette Brose, Christine Knaevelsrud

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Internet interventions, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed

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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

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3 · Its place in the literature

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0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Sophie Christine EicherDivision of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.

Manuel HeinrichDivision of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.

Pavle ZagorscakDivision of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.

Annette BroseDivision of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.

Christine KnaevelsrudDivision of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Internet-Based Interventions (IBIs) are effective treatments for mental disorders, but their implementation faces challenges, particularly in addressing high dropout rates. Adding more human support or guidance might reduce treatment dropout rates in IBIs, but it may also limit scalability. Therefore, small, easy-to-implement, guidance-based add-on interventions are warranted to reduce dropout rates. This study tests if offering one additional brief phone contact reduces treatment dropout rates in an IBI for depressive symptoms with written guidance. Methods: We analyze data from Results: Pooled dropout rates in the study group were 30.5 % ( Conclusion: We tested a strategy of additional human contact to reduce treatment dropout rates in a guided IBI for depressive symptoms. All estimates descriptively favored the study group, but were small and non-significant. Further research is needed to determine how additional contact can be employed to reduce treatment dropout.

Indexed as

DepressionHuman supportInternet-based interventionTreatment dropout

Identifiers

PMID40160512

DOI10.1016/j.invent.2025.100818

PMCPMC11952021

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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.