User Experiences and Perceptions of Internet Interventions for Depression

Literature Review

A recent meta-synthesis of user experiences of computer-based interventions identified two overarching themes (Knowles et al., 2014); (1) First, interventions need to be more personalized and sensitive to the individual users’ needs, so that users can identify with the program and relate the program content to themselves and their daily lives (e.g., use of role models, examples, and homework assignments). Second, the level of support and guidance, either by a professional or lay person, is experienced as contradictory. For some, support may help identify different clinical needs and relate program content to the user’s situation, and recognize and acknowledge personal emotional and motivational difficulties. For others, support may be experienced negatively (e.g., perceptions of high demands or expectations from the therapist). The authors also concluded that these findings may not generalize to other user groups (e.g., ethnic minorities, elderly or pregnant women) and approaches other than cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). In addition, this synthesis included mixed qualitative studies on anxiety and depression, and 7 out of 8 included studies were desktop-based CBT interventions. Thus, it is necessary to examine experiences among other user groups, include different therapeutic approaches, and examine user experiences that are specifically related to internet interventions for depression.