Patients' experiences in a guided Internet- and App-based stress intervention for college students: A qualitative study

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Authors

  • R. J. Fleischmann
  • M. Harrer
  • A. C. Zarski
  • H. Baumeister
  • Dirk Lehr
  • David Daniel Ebert

Introduction: Academic education is often associated with increased stress and adverse effects on mental health. Internet-based interventions have shown to be effective in reducing stress-related symptoms. However, college students as target group so far have not been reached appropriately with psychological interventions and little is known about college students' perception of Internet-based stress management interventions. The objective of this study was to explore the experiences of students participating in an Internet- and App-based stress management intervention originally developed for stressed employees and subsequently adapted and tailored to college students. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten participants selected from a randomized controlled trial that evaluated the effectiveness of an Internet- and App-based stress training. The selection of participants aimed to include students with different levels of treatment success. In order to enable an in-depth examination of intervention elements causing dissatisfaction, the interviews were systematically adapted regarding participants' statements in a precedent questionnaire. The interview material was analyzed based on the grounded theory method and thematic analysis. Results: Results suggest students perceive a necessity to adapt Internet-based interventions to their particular needs. Students' statements indicate that a scientific perspective on the intervention and instable life circumstances could be student-specific factors affecting treatment experience. General themes emerging from the data were attitudes towards individualization and authenticity as well as demands towards different functions of feedback. Discussion: Participants' experiences hint at certain intellectual and lifestyle-related characteristics of this population. Future studies should explore whether adaptions to these characteristics lead to a higher acceptance, adherence and effectiveness in the target population.

Original languageEnglish
JournalInternet Interventions
Volume12
Pages (from-to)130-140
Number of pages11
ISSN2214-7829
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.06.2018

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© 2018 The Authors

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