Background: COVID-19 has created serious mental health consequences for essential workers or people who have become unemployed as a result of the pandemic. Digital mental health tools have the potential to address this problem in a timely and efficient manner. Objective: The purpose of this study was to document the extent of digital mental health tool (DMHT) use by essential workers and those unemployed due to COVID-19, including asking participants to rate the usability and user burden of the DMHT they used most to cope. We also explored which aspects and features of DMHTs were seen as necessary for managing stress during a pandemic by having participants design their own ideal DMHT. Methods: A total of 2000 people were recruited from an online research community (Prolific) to complete a one-time survey about mental health symptoms, DMHT use, and preferred digital mental health features. Results: The final sample included 1987 US residents that identified as either an essential worker or someone who was unemployed due to COVID-19. Almost three-quarters of the sample (1479/1987, 74.8%) reported clinically significant emotional distress. Only 14.2% (277/1957) of the sample used a DMHT to cope with stress associated with COVID-19. Of those who used DMHTs to cope with COVID-19, meditation apps were the most common (119/261, 45.6%). Usability was broadly in the acceptable range, although participants unemployed due to COVID-19 were less likely to report user burden with DMHTs than essential workers (t_198.1=–3.89, P<.001). Individuals with emotional distress reported higher financial burden for their DMHT than nondistressed individuals (t_69.0=–3.21, P=.01). When the sample was provided the option to build their own DMHT, the most desired features were a combination of mindfulness/meditation (1271/1987, 64.0%), information or education (1254/1987, 63.1%), distraction tools (1170/1987, 58.9%), symptom tracking for mood and sleep (1160/1987, 58.4%), link to mental health resources (1140/1987, 57.4%), and positive psychology (1131/1986, 56.9%). Subgroups by employment, distress, and previous DMHT use status had varied preferences. Of those who did not use a DMHT to cope with COVID-19, most indicated that they did not consider looking for such a tool to help with coping (1179/1710, 68.9%). Conclusions: Despite the potential need for DMHTs, this study found that the use of such tools remains similar to prepandemic levels. This study also found that regardless of the level of distress or even past experience using an app to cope with COVID-19, it is possible to develop a COVID-19 coping app that would appeal to a majority of essential workers and unemployed persons.

中文翻译：

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基本工人和因 COVID-19 而失业的人的心理健康和数字心理健康工具的感知可用性：横断面调查研究

背景： COVID-19 对基本工人或因大流行而失业的人造成了严重的心理健康后果。数字心理健康工具有可能及时有效地解决这个问题。目标：本研究的目的是记录基本工作人员和因 COVID-19 而失业的人员使用数字心理健康工具 (DMHT) 的程度，包括要求参与者对他们最常使用的 DMHT 的可用性和用户负担进行评分。应付。我们还通过让参与者设计自己的理想 DMHT，探讨了 DMHT 的哪些方面和特征被视为在大流行期间管理压力所必需的。方法：从在线研究社区 (Prolific) 中招募了 2000 人，以完成关于心理健康症状、DMHT 使用和首选数字心理健康功能的一次性调查。结果：最终样本包括 1987 名美国居民，他们被确定为基本工人或因 COVID-19 而失业的人。几乎四分之三的样本 (1479/1987, 74.8%) 报告了临床上显着的情绪困扰。只有 14.2% (277/1957) 的样本使用 DMHT 来应对与 COVID-19 相关的压力。在使用 DMHT 应对 COVID-19 的人中，冥想应用程序是最常见的（119/261，45.6%）。可用性大致在可接受的范围内，尽管因 COVID-19 而失业的参与者报告 DMHT 的用户负担的可能性低于基本工人（t _198.1 =–3.89，P <.001）。有情绪困扰的个体报告其 DMHT 的经济负担高于无情绪困扰的个体 ( t _69.0 =–3.21, P=.01）。当为样本提供构建自己的 DMHT 的选项时，最需要的功能是正念/冥想（1271/1987，64.0%）、信息或教育（1254/1987，63.1%）、分心工具（1170/ 1987, 58.9%)，情绪和睡眠症状追踪 (1160/1987, 58.4%)，心理健康资源链接 (1140/1987, 57.4%) 和积极心理学 (1131/1986, 56.9%)。按就业、困境和既往 DMHT 使用状态划分的亚组有不同的偏好。在未使用 DMHT 应对 COVID-19 的人中，大多数表示他们不考虑寻找此类工具来帮助应对（1179/1710，68.9%）。结论：尽管可能需要 DMHT，但本研究发现，此类工具的使用仍与大流行前水平相似。该研究还发现，无论使用应用程序应对 COVID-19 的痛苦程度或什至过去的经验如何，都有可能开发出一款能够吸引大多数基本工人和失业人员的 COVID-19 应对应用程序。