The smartphone as a tool in psychotherapy

Use and benefit on the basis of transdiagnostic factors

Abstract

With the exception of some children and elderly people, nearly everyone is using a smartphone or a similar device. By this, online interventions get easier to access for more people. Digital interventions, which can be used transdiagnostic, show some advantages, compared to disorder specific interventions (e. g. less costs and a broader use). The here discussed literature review evaluated transdiagnostic factors, that were identified in previous Smartphone based Ecological Momentary Interventions (EMI) for various psychological disorders. The scientific databases PubMed, APA PsycArticles, APA PsycInfo und PSYNDEX were searched through with the same search terms and with a filter for academic journals only. Out of this, 13 articles were extracted. Ultimately, the following transdiagnostic factors were identified: emotion regulation, repetitive negative thinking, self-management, metacognitive thinking, stress-reduction/coping, and interpretation bias. Overall, this literature review gives an overview of transdiagnostic factors that were targeted in previous EMIs for Smartphones. One limitation of the stated study is that the included studies are a selected sample, from which 8 out of 13 studies were pilot studies. However, 3 randomised controlled trials and one literature review were also included.