Mobile apps for stress management

Elephants soothe each other with their trunks when stressed.

A natural stress-coping mechanism on the savanna. But what about humans? How do we manage stress?

There’s no doubt that stress is a major factor in modern life. Recent reports show that 62% of people worldwide have experienced stress intense enough to impact their daily lives at least once.

So, what are our coping mechanisms?

Maybe that phone that we carry with us everywhere that causes some of this stress, coul also be used to reduce it?

Today’s insights is drawn from the scientific article: 

“Efficacy of the Mental Health App Intellect to Reduce Stress: Randomized Controlled Trial With a 1-Month Follow-up”

Today's newsletter

• Takeaways:

• The study in a nutshell:

• What they did:

• What the authors found out:

• What can we learn from this study?

• Quick Answers to Your Top of Mind Questions

Takeaways:

📱 App based programs can work.

I’ve tried a few different app-based programs for everything from meditation to habit-building, always wondering if they really work. So, for me, it’s really motivating to see solid scientific evidence that these programs can actually make a difference.

🕵️‍♂️ Cultivate an ability to self-reflect

Those who had low confidence in their ability to handle stress but a strong capacity for self-reflection saw the best results from this intervention. So, it’s likely that the ability to self-reflect plays a key role in making a self-driven self-improvement program work - valuable insights for people like us.

The study in a nutshell:

Today’s study investigated a stress management program delivered through the app Intellect. 

In a randomized controlled trial, 321 students participated in either an 8-day stress-coping program or an active control task.

The intervention significantly reduced stress and anxiety levels, and the results were shown to last for at least one month.

However, it had no effect on depressive symptoms.

Interestingly students with lower confidence in their ability to manage stress and overcome challenges (CSE) and higher psychological mindedness (PM) experienced the greatest stress relief.

I find these results very interesting because they validate the effectiveness of an app-based stress reduction tactic in a large-scale study, which makes the findings more reliable.

What they did:

This study was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with 321 university students assigned to either an 8-day self-guided stress-coping intervention (Intellect) or an active control group focused on cooperation skills.

Participants completed daily exercises through the app, averaging five minutes per session.

What the authors found out:

Of the 321 students who enrolled, 264 completed the study.

Immediately after the intervention period (post test), the intervention group reported significantly lower perceived stress and anxiety levels compared to the control group.

Importantly, the reduction in stress remained significant at the one-month follow-up (follow-up), while improvements in anxiety faded over time.

No significant differences were found between groups for depressive symptoms, suggesting that the intervention was effective for stress and anxiety but not for depression.

A moderation analysis, which examines whether the relationship between two variables changes depending on a third variable, revealed that students with lower coping self-efficacy (CSE) and higher psychological mindedness (PM) experienced the greatest stress reduction.

CSE refers to a person’s confidence in their ability to manage stress effectively, while PM describes an individual's tendency to reflect on their own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

This means that those who lacked confidence in their stress-coping abilities but were more self-reflective experienced the most benefit from the intervention.

However, these moderating effects were not observed at follow-up, which indicates that these students experienced faster short-term benefits but did not maintain long-term advantages over others.

What can we learn from this study?

This study shows that a relatively brief app-based intervention can significantly reduce stress and anxiety in university students, with stress reduction lasting at least one month.

However, it did not significantly impact depressive symptoms, which could possibly indicate that stress and anxiety are more responsive to short-term interventions or self-driven app-programs.

I personally find this study very motivating as it gives us reason to believe that app-based interventions might actually work for something as complex as stress.

The exciting part is that this wasn’t just a small study with a handful of participants - it was a large-scale study with a control group, which makes the findings even more robust.

Also, the intervention period was only 8 days, and the participants spend only 5 minutes per day! That’s nothing in terms of working on self-improvement. So, it makes me wonder—how much more impact could we see with a longer intervention?

That thought alone is pretty motivating.

Although strong in its approach, I have to note some limitations of the study—for example, its reliance on self-reported data and the absence of objective engagement tracking.

It’s super nice that the study included a one-month follow-up, but naturally, it leaves me wondering; what happens after that? How do the results hold up after that first month?

That said, I think there’s a lot we can take away from this as young, ambitious professionals.

Let me hear your thoughts:

Quick Answers to Your Top of Mind Questions

🙋‍♀️   Does self-guided app-based interventions actually work on reducing stress?

Yes, based on this study, it does. This study found a significant reduction in perceived stress that were sustained at a 1-month follow-up.

🙋‍♂️ Does this mean that I can just incorporate an app-based program when I’m feeling stressed?

Not necessarily. While the study is strong in it’s design and sample size, it does have some limitations, such as reliance on self-reported data, a short intervention duration, and a lack of objective engagement tracking.

Moreover, without being an expert, I’d say there are different levels of stress, and some cases likely require professional, in-person support. Always consult a professional when dealing with serious mental health concerns!

_{Disclaimer: The above is based on the article “Efficacy of the Mental Health App Intellect to Reduce Stress: Randomized Controlled Trial With a 1-Month Follow-up” by Sean Han Yang Toh, BA; Jessalin Hui Yan Tan, BA: Feodora Roxanne Kosasih & BA; Oliver Sündermann, PhD and aims to provide key takeaways and a condensed overview of its content. While the essence is drawn from the original article, some parts have been simplified or rephrased to enhance understanding. Please note that we at, OptiMindInsights or any other potential writers or contributors to our summaries, do not accept responsibility for any consequences arising from the use of this summary. The information provided should not be considered a substitute for personal research or professional advice. Readers are encouraged to consult the original article for detailed insights and references. The summary does not include references, but they can typically be found within the original publication. Always exercise due diligence and consider your unique circumstances before applying any information in your personal or professional life. We refer to the creative commons for reproducibility rights.}