Objective Medical students experience high rates of depression, and often face barriers to receiving traditional mental health services. Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) programs offer a more accessible method of receiving care. Here, we conducted an open trial of an iCBT program for medical students and characterize program usage, program users, and self-reported psychosocial symptoms and coping skills. Methods All incoming first year medical students at a large state-run university were invited to use an iCBT program which focused on mood management and mood symptom prevention. Participants received access to the 16-week program and completed measures of perceived stress, quality of life, and the development of cognitive and behavioral coping skills at baseline and end of program. Results Of the 194 students in the class, 53 (27.32%) signed up to use the program. While the program attracted a representative portion of underrepresented minority students, program engagement among males was particularly low. Repeated use of the program was low. Self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety were low at baseline, and continued to be low at end of program. Slight increases were observed from baseline to end of program in the self-reported use of cognitive coping skills. Conclusions Digital mental health tools appear to be of interest to first year medical students, but need to be better designed to support continued program use and to attract specific subgroups of students who may face additional barriers to seeking mental health services.

中文翻译：

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针对一年级医学生的基于互联网的认知行为疗法的公开试验。


目的 医学生的抑郁症发病率很高，并且经常面临接受传统心理健康服务的障碍。基于互联网的认知行为治疗 (iCBT) 计划提供了一种更方便的接受护理方法。在这里，我们对医学生进行了 iCBT 项目的公开试验，并描述了项目使用情况、项目用户以及自我报告的心理社会症状和应对技能。方法 邀请一所大型公立大学的所有一年级医学生参加 iCBT 项目，该项目侧重于情绪管理和情绪症状预防。参与者接受了为期 16 周的项目，并在项目基线和项目结束时完成了感知压力、生活质量以及认知和行为应对技能发展的测量。结果 全班 194 名学生中，有 53 人（27.32%）报名使用该计划。虽然该项目吸引了代表性不足的少数族裔学生，但男性的项目参与度特别低。该程序的重​​复使用率很低。自我报告的抑郁和焦虑症状在基线时较低，并且在项目结束时继续较低。从基线到项目结束，自我报告的认知应对技能的使用略有增加。结论 数字心理健康工具似乎对一年级医学生感兴趣，但需要更好地设计，以支持项目的持续使用，并吸引可能在寻求心理健康服务时面临额外障碍的特定学生群体。