Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jul 26:12:e41440.
doi: 10.2196/41440.

Evaluation of a Web-Based Self-Help Intervention for Patients With Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Julian Rubel  1 , Jannis Quest  1 , Luise Pruessner  2 , Christina Timm  2 , Steffen Hartmann  2 , Sven Barnow  2 , Lisa Rittmeyer  1 , David Rosenbaum  3 , Christopher Lalk  1
Affiliations

Evaluation of a Web-Based Self-Help Intervention for Patients With Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Julian Rubel et al. JMIR Res Protoc. .

Abstract

Background: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a highly prevalent and severely distressing condition that can lead to functional impairments and is considered one of the most difficult anxiety disorders to treat. Following new technological developments, a highly structured cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approach that has already shown success in face-to-face psychotherapy can be implemented: internet-delivered CBT (iCBT). There is now evidence for the efficacy of both guided and unguided iCBT interventions for GAD regarding symptom reduction.

Objective: To establish the usefulness of such interventions, we plan to evaluate the efficacy of a web-based self-help program (Selfapy) for GAD in a relatively large sample. We aim to assess effects beyond symptom reduction, including effects on well-being, functioning, and mental health literacy, as well as the effect on health care burden, while testing the intervention in conditions comparable to routine care.

Methods: Patients (n=156) who have been diagnosed with GAD, are aged between 18 and 65 years, have internet access, and have sufficient German language skills will be recruited for this study. The intervention group (n=78) will receive access to the 12-week self-help web-based program Selfapy. The waitlist control group (n=78) will receive no intervention in the context of the study. However, both groups will be allowed to access further health care services (eg, psychotherapy, medication), reflecting current routine care in Germany. Outcome measures will be assessed at baseline (T1) and 6 weeks (T2) and 12 weeks (T3) after the start of the intervention. The primary outcome will be generalized anxiety symptoms and quality of life at T3. Additional outcomes include depression, work capacity, therapy-related expenses and burdens, health literacy, and negative effects.

Results: By May 2023, all participants had finished the trial and the report was being prepared for publication.

Conclusions: Web-based interventions may be an important addition to the German health care system to reduce barriers to treatment access. Further, they may prove cost-effective for the treatment of GAD.

Trial registration: Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien DRKS00023799; https://tinyurl.com/22bds38x.

International registered report identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/41440.

Keywords: GAD; RCT; anxiety; generalized anxiety disorder; guided; internet intervention; internet-based; mental disorder; mental health; mental illness; online intervention; online self-help; psychotherapy; randomized controlled trial; self-help; web-based.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the study design for intervention and control groups. GAD: generalized anxiety disorder; CG: control group; IG: intervention group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition. Arlington, TX: American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2013.
    1. Judd LL, Kessler RC, Paulus MP, Zeller PV, Wittchen HU, Kunovac JL. Comorbidity as a fundamental feature of generalized anxiety disorders: results from the National Comorbidity Study (NCS) Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl. 1998;393:6–11. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1998.tb05960.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tyrer P, Baldwin D. Generalised anxiety disorder. Lancet. 2006 Dec 16;368(9553):2156–66. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69865-6.S0140-6736(06)69865-6 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bereza BG, Machado M, Einarson TR. Systematic review and quality assessment of economic evaluations and quality-of-life studies related to generalized anxiety disorder. Clin Ther. 2009 Jun;31(6):1279–308. doi: 10.1016/j.clinthera.2009.06.004.S0149-2918(09)00187-8 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Grant BF, Stinson FS, Dawson DA, Chou SP, Dufour MC, Compton W, Pickering RP, Kaplan K. Prevalence and co-occurrence of substance use disorders and independent mood and anxiety disorders: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2004 Aug;61(8):807–16. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.61.8.807.61/8/807 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources