Effectiveness and Moderators of an Internet-Based Mobile-Supported Stress Management Intervention as a Universal Prevention Approach: Randomized Controlled Trial

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Background: Emerging evidence indicates the effectiveness of internet-based mobile-supported stress management interventions (iSMIs) in highly stressed employees. It is yet unclear, however, whether iSMIs are also effective without a preselection process in a universal prevention approach, which more closely resembles routine occupational health care. Moreover, evidence for whom iSMIs might be suitable and for whom not is scarce. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the iSMI GET.ON Stress in a universal prevention approach without baseline inclusion criteria and to examine the moderators of the intervention effects. Methods: A total of 396 employees were randomly assigned to the intervention group or the 6-month waiting list control group. The iSMI consisted of 7 sessions and 1 booster session and offered no therapeutic guidance. Self-report data were assessed at baseline, 7 weeks, and at 6 months following randomization. The primary outcome was perceived stress. Several a priori defined moderators were explored as potential effect modifiers. Results: Participants in the intervention group reported significantly lower perceived stress at posttreatment (d=0.71, 95% CI 0.51-0.91) and at 6-month follow-up (d=0.61, 95% CI 0.41-0.81) compared to those in the waiting list control group. Significant differences with medium-to-large effect sizes were found for all mental health and most work-related outcomes. Resilience (at 7 weeks, P=.04; at 6 months, P=.01), agreeableness (at 7 weeks, P=.01), psychological strain (at 6 months, P=.04), and self-regulation (at 6 months, P=.04) moderated the intervention effects. Conclusions: This study indicates that iSMIs can be effective in a broad range of employees with no need for preselection to achieve substantial effects. The subgroups that might not profit had extreme values on the respective measures and represented only a very small proportion of the investigated sample, thereby indicating the broad applicability of GET.ON Stress.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere22107
JournalJournal of Medical Internet Research
Volume23
Issue number12
Number of pages19
ISSN1439-4456
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22.12.2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Journal of Medical Internet Research. All rights reserved.

Documents

DOI

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Internationale Berichtssysteme
  2. From railroad imperialism to neoliberal reprimarization: Lessons from regime-shifts in the Global Soybean Complex
  3. One Size fits None
  4. Ein un(mögliches) Programm
  5. To separate or not to separate: what is necessary and enough for a green and sustainable extraction of bioactive compounds from Brazilian citrus waste
  6. Self-regulatory thought across time and domains
  7. Internationaler Masterstudiengang 'Sustainable Development and Management'
  8. Coauthoring collaborative strategy when voices are many and authority is ambiguous
  9. Inheriting Cosmopolitics
  10. Fertilized graminoids intensify negative drought effects on grassland productivity
  11. Blockchain for the Circular Economy: Analysis of the Research-Practice Gap
  12. Assisted colonization is a techno-fix
  13. The Epistemology of Management: An Introduction
  14. Minimal conditions of motor inductions of approach-avoidance states
  15. § 1 Einleitung
  16. Identifying governance gaps among interlinked sustainability challenges
  17. Capacity building for transformational leadership and transdisciplinarity
  18. Towards a future conceptualization of destination resilience
  19. Saproxylic beetle assemblages of three managed oak woodlands in the Eastern Mediterranean
  20. Lu Märten
  21. Schreibfähigkeit
  22. Asset Management
  23. Altruism and the Indispensability of Motives
  24. Public perceptions of how to reduce carbon footprints of consumer food choices
  25. The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard as a Framework to Link Environmental Management Accounting with Strategic Management