@article{Osma2022a,
title = {Developing a smartphone App based on the Unified Protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders: A qualitative analysis of users and professionals' perspectives},
author = {Jorge Osma and Laura Martínez-García and Javier Prado-Abril and Óscar Perís-Baquero and Alberto González-Pérez},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2022.100577},
issn = {2214-7829},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-12-01},
journal = {Internet Interventions},
volume = {30},
pages = {100577},
abstract = {Emotional Disorders have become the most prevalent mental disorders in the world. In relation to their high prevalence, mental health care from public health services faces major challenges. Consequently, finding solutions to deliver cost-effective evidence-based treatments has become a main goal of today's clinical psychology. Smartphone apps for mental health have emerged as a potential tool to deal with it. However, despite their effectiveness and advantages, several studies suggest the need to involve patients and professionals in the design of these apps from the first stage of the development process. Thus, this study aimed to identify, from both a group of users and professionals, the needs, opinions, expectations and design aspects of a future smartphone app based in the Unified Protocol (UP), that will allow to develop the subsequent technical work of the app engineers. Two focus groups were conducted, one with 7 professionals and the other with 9 users, both groups familiar with the UP. A thematic content analysis based in grounded theory was performed in order to define emergent categories of analysis derived from the interview data. The results revealed 8 common topics in both focus groups and 5 specific key topics were identified in the professionals' focus group. Of the total proposals, 93 % of the professionals' and 78 % of the users' are implemented in the preliminary version of the app.},
keywords = {emotional disorders, mental health, smartphone app, thematic content analysis},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

@article{diazsanchez2022a,
title = {Client’s Experiences Using a Location-Based Technology ICT System during Gambling Treatments’ Crucial Components: A Qualitative Study},
author = {Laura Díaz-Sanahuja and Ignacio Miralles and Carlos Granell-Canut and Adriana Mira and Alberto González-Pérez and Sven Casteleyn and Azucena García-Palacios and Juana Bretón-López

},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073769},
issn = {1660-4601},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-03-22},
journal = {International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health},
volume = {19},
number = {7},
pages = {3769},
abstract = {Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the treatment of choice for Gambling Disorder (GD), with stimulus control (SC) and exposure with response prevention (ERP) being its two core components. Despite their efficacy, SC and ERP are not easy to deliver, so it is important to explore new ways to enhance patient compliance regarding SC and ERP. The aim of this study is to describe and assess the opinion of two patients diagnosed with problem gambling and GD that used the Symptoms app, a location-based ICT system, during SC and ERP. A consensual qualitative research study was conducted. We used a semi-structured interview, developed ad-hoc based on the Expectation and Satisfaction Scale and System Usability Scale. A total of 20 categories were identified within six domains: usefulness, improvements, recommendation to other people, safety, usability, and opinion regarding the use of the app after completing the intervention. The patients considered the app to be useful during the SC and ERP components and emphasized that feeling observed and supported at any given time helped them avoid lapses. This work can offer a starting point that opens up new research paths regarding psychological interventions for gambling disorder, such as assessing whether location-based ICT tools enhance commitment rates.},
keywords = {gambling, geolocation, mental health, symptoms},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

@article{Osma2021,
title = {Implementation, efficacy and cost effectiveness of the unified protocol in a blended format for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders: a study protocol for a multicentre, randomised, superiority controlled trial in the Spanish National Health System },
author = {Jorge Osma and Laura Martínez-García and Óscar Perís-Baquero and María Vicenta Navarro-Haro and Alberto González-Pérez and Carlos Suso-Ribera},
doi = {10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054286},
issn = {2044-6055},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-12-31},
journal = {BMJ Open},
volume = {11},
number = {e054286},
abstract = {Introduction: Emotional disorders (EDs) have become the most prevalent psychological disorders in the general population, which has boosted the economic burden associated with their management. Approximately half of the individuals do not receive adequate treatment. Consequently, finding solutions to deliver cost-effective treatments for EDs has become a key goal of today’s clinical psychology. Blended treatments, a combination of face-to-face and online interventions, have emerged as a potential solution to the previous. The Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of EDs (UP) might serve this purpose, as it can be applied to a variety of disorders simultaneously and its manualised format makes it suitable for blended interventions.

Methods and analysis: The study is a multicentre, randomised, superiority, clinical trial. Participants will be 310 individuals with a diagnosis of an ED. They will be randomised to a treatment as usual (individual cognitive behavioural therapy) or a UP condition in a blended format (face-to-face individual UP +online, app-based UP). Primary outcomes will be ED diagnostic criteria and depression and anxiety symptoms. Cost efficiency of the intervention, app usability, as well as opinion and confidence in the treatment will also be evaluated. Assessment points will include baseline and 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after UP treatment.

Ethics and dissemination: The study has received approvals by the Ethics Research Committee of Navarra, Castellón, Euskadi, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Lleida and Aragón. The study is currently under an approval process by the Ethics Research Committees of all the remaining collaborating centres. Outcomes will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at international conference meetings.},
keywords = {mental health, symptoms},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

@article{Miralles-Tena2020b,
title = {Smartphone apps for the treatment of mental disorders: a systematic review},
author = {Ignacio Miralles-Tena and Carlos Granell-Canut and Laura Díaz-Sanahuja and William Van Woensel and Juana Bretón-López and Adriana Mira and Diana Castilla and Sven Casteleyn},
doi = {10.2196/14897},
issn = {2291-5222},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-03-04},
journal = {JMIR mHealth and uHealth},
volume = {8},
number = {3},
pages = {e14897},
abstract = {Background: Smartphone apps are an increasingly popular means for delivering psychological interventions to patients suffering from a mental disorder. In line with this popularity, there is a need to analyze and summarize the state of the art, both from a psychological and technical perspective.
Objective: This study aimed to systematically review the literature on the use of smartphones for psychological interventions. Our systematic review has the following objectives: (1) analyze the coverage of mental disorders in research articles per year; (2) study the types of assessment in research articles per mental disorder per year; (3) map the use of advanced technical features, such as sensors, and novel software features, such as personalization and social media, per mental disorder; (4) provide an overview of smartphone apps per mental disorder; and (5) provide an overview of the key characteristics of empirical assessments with rigorous designs (ie, randomized controlled trials [RCTs]).
Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for systematic reviews were followed. We performed searches in Scopus, Web of Science, American Psychological Association PsycNET, and Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, covering a period of 6 years (2013-2018). We included papers that described the use of smartphone apps to deliver psychological interventions for known mental disorders. We formed multidisciplinary teams, comprising experts in psychology and computer science, to select and classify articles based on psychological and technical features.
Results: We found 158 articles that met the inclusion criteria. We observed an increasing interest in smartphone-based interventions over time. Most research targeted disorders with high prevalence, that is, depressive (31/158,19.6%) and anxiety disorders (18/158, 11.4%). Of the total, 72.7% (115/158) of the papers focused on six mental disorders: depression, anxiety, trauma and stressor-related, substance-related and addiction, schizophrenia spectrum, and other psychotic disorders, or a combination of disorders. More than half of known mental disorders were not or very scarcely (<3%) represented. An increasing number of studies were dedicated to assessing clinical effects, but RCTs were still a minority (25/158, 15.8%). From a technical viewpoint, interventions were leveraging the improved modalities (screen and sound) and interactivity of smartphones but only sparingly leveraged their truly novel capabilities, such as sensors, alternative delivery paradigms, and analytical methods.
Conclusions: There is a need for designing interventions for the full breadth of mental disorders, rather than primarily focusing on most prevalent disorders. We further contend that an increasingly systematic focus, that is, involving RCTs, is needed to improve the robustness and trustworthiness of assessments. Regarding technical aspects, we argue that further exploration and innovative use of the novel capabilities of smartphones are needed to fully realize their potential for the treatment of mental health disorders.},
note = {IF},
keywords = {Health applications, mental health, Mobile apps, symptoms},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

@article{Miralles-Tena2020,
title = {Enhancing in vivo exposure in the treatment of panic disorder and agoraphobia using location-based technologies: A case report},
author = {Ignacio Miralles-Tena and Carlos Granell-Canut and Azucena García-Palacios and Diana Castilla and Alberto González-Pérez and Sven Casteleyn and Juana Bretón-López.},
isbn = {1534-6501},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-03-01},
journal = {Clinical case studies},
volume = {19},
number = {2},
pages = {145-159},
abstract = {Panic disorder (PD) is quite prevalent and often appears along with agoraphobia (PD/A). The treatment of choice is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Transdiagnostic intervention, an emotion-focused, cognitive behavioral intervention that has led to the Unified Protocol (UP), emphasizes the common underlying mechanisms that contribute to the development and maintenance of emotional disorders such as PD/A. A core feature of this treatment approach is in vivo exposure (IVE) to feared situations, which aims to prevent avoidance behaviors and encourages the patient to confront feared situations gradually. It is a difficult component for patients, especially when implementing the exposure on their own. Different feedback formats can be used to increase adequate IVE and reduce overt or subtle avoidance. The use of smartphones is a very useful option to initiate and sustain exposure behavior. The purpose of this study is to describe the use of location-based technologies (LBTs) during the IVE component of the UP treatment of a 47-year-old patient with PD/A. The acceptability and usability of the system were assessed. The Symptoms platform was employed during the exposure module, using LBT with a smartphone app. The patient reported positive expectations, high satisfaction scores, and an overall satisfactory experience. Enhancing key therapeutic components during treatment through the development of media-based tools is a very promising future research aim, and the possibility of using advanced smartphone features should be explored.},
keywords = {Health applications, LBS, mental health, symptoms},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}