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Invited Address 1

Friday, November 16 | 12:30 p.m.- 1:30 p.m.

The Dodo Bird in the Digital Age: How E-Mental Health Can Improve Prevention and Treatment of Mental Health Problems

Pim Cuijpers, Ph.D., Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Participants earn 1 continuing education credit.

Primary Topics: Technology, Depression, Treatment-CBT

Keywords: mHealth, depression, guided self-help

According to the Dodo Bird Verdict all therapies are about equally effective in the treatment of mental health problems. But if that is the case, what do we need at least for a therapy to be effective? Can we minimize therapies without reducing the effects? Internet-based and mobile interventions offer new opportunities to minimize psychological interventions. In the past 20 years, several dozens of randomized trials have shown that interventions that are delivered through the Internet are effective in the treatment of mental disorders. But are they as effective as face-to-face therapies? Should they be based on cognitive behavioral techniques? Are Internet and mobile interventions only for mild and moderate mental health problems or can people with severe disorders also benefit from them? Should they be guided by professional coaches or can they also be effective without professional support? Do we know who does and does not benefit from these interventions? And if they are delivered by coaches, what kind of training should they have? In this address, these and other questions, as well as the answers that can be given with the current state of knowledge, will be explored. Although Internet and mobile interventions offer many new possibilities to treat large numbers of people with mental health problems, including people who do not currently seek help, it is not an easy solution. There are several dangers and negative aspects of these interventions that should be taken into account, and research is needed on how and when these interventions can help with reducing the disease burden of mental disorders.

This session is designed to help you:

• Gain current knowledge on whether all therapies are equally effective and whether they can be minimized without reducing the effects;
• Describe randomized trials and meta-analyses on Internet-delivered therapies;
• Answer clinically important questions on how Internet-delivered therapies can be delivered;
• Describe dangers and negative aspects of Internet-delivered therapies.

Recommended Readings:

Carlbring, P., Andersson, G., Cuijpers, P., Riper, H., & Hedman, E. (2018). Internet-based vs. face-to-face cognitive behavior therapy for psychiatric and somatic disorders: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 47, 1-18.

Cuijpers, P., Kleiboer, A., Karyotaki, E., & Riper, H. (2017). Internet and mobile interventions for depression: Opportunities and challenges. Depression and Anxiety, 34(7), 596-602.

Karyotaki, E., Riper, H., Twisk, J., Hoogendoorn, A., Kleiboer, A., Mira, A., . . . Cuijpers, P. (2016). Efficacy of self-guided internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) in treatment of depressive symptoms: An individual participant data meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry, 74(4), 351-359.

Invited Address 2

Saturday, November 17 | 12:00 p.m.- 1:00 p.m.

Improving the Quality of Evidence-Based Treatments: Can (and Should) Technology Help?

Patricia A. Areán, Ph.D., University of Washington

Participants earn 1 continuing education credit.

Primary Topics: Technology, Translational, Neuroscience

Keywords: Therapeutic Video Games, Targeted Treatment, Translational Research

The purpose of this talk is to discuss the recent developments in the use of therapeutic video game technology as a potential means for treating mental health problems and for training clinicians in evidence-based treatments. The presentation will begin with a discussion of the Research Domain Criteria Project (RDoC), how findings from cognitive neuroscience can be used to personalize treatment for depression, and how interventions can be translated into digital therapeutics. Dr. Areán will present data from four studies using a therapeutic video game called Project EVO, the first three focused on adults and older adults with depression and co-occurring cognitive control deficits, and the last focused on sixth graders exhibiting behavioral problems in a low-income, largely minority public school. This talk will highlight the potential for these games to quickly remediate neuro-cognitive problems associated with depression, the opportunities these therapeutics have in overcoming access to barriers, as well as the limitations of these programs, and future directions for this body of research.

This session is designed to help you:

• Present latest information about the use of RDoC principles in developing targeted interventions;
• Describe the recent data on effectiveness of therapeutic video treatments and future directions for research;
• Discuss and present data on issues that patients raise about the rise of technology in mental health care.

Recommended Readings:

Anguera, J.A., Gunning, F.M., & Areán, P.A. (2017). Improving late life depression and cognitive control through the use of therapeutic video game technology: A proof-of-concept randomized trial. Depression and Anxiety, 34(6), 508-517.

Arean, P.A., Hallgren, K.A., Jordan, J.T., Gazzaley, A., Atkins, D.C., Heagerty, P.J., & Anguera, J.A. (2016). The use and effectiveness of mobile apps for depression: Results from a fully remote clinical trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 18(12), e330.

Areàn, P. A., Hoa Ly, K., & Andersson, G. (2016). Mobile technology for mental health assessment. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 18(2), 163-169.

Invited Address 3

Saturday, November 17 | 1:45 p.m.- 2:45 p.m.

Using New Technologies to Better Understand, Predict, and Prevent Suicidal Behavior

Matthew K. Nock, Ph.D., Harvard University

Participants earn 1 continuing education credit.

Primary Topics: Suicide and Self-Injury, Technology, Research Methods and Statistics

Keywords: Ecological Momentary Assessment, Self-Injury, Suicide

A major and long-standing challenge to understanding self-harm is that because these behaviors are transient in nature and cannot be induced for study in the laboratory for ethical reasons, until very recently, they have never been observed in research studies. Obtaining data on the actual occurrence of a phenomenon is essential for understanding why it occurs but has not previously been done in the case of suicidal/self-injurious behaviors. Toward this end, we have been conducting studies using electronic diaries and ambulatory physiological monitoring methods to measure suicidal/self-injurious thoughts and behaviors as they naturally occur in real-time. We have documented some of the first data on the real-time occurrence of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors, and our methods and results have been well-received by audiences at major conferences and universities throughout the country.

This session is designed to help you:

• Describe new methods for improving the prediction of suicidal behavior;
• Describe how objective behavioral tests can better predict suicidal thoughts and behaviors;
• Explain how learning/conditioning-based approaches can be used to decrease the risk of suicidal behavior.

Recommended Readings:

Kleiman, E.K., & Nock, M.K. (2018). Real-time assessment of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Current Opinion in Psychology, 22, 33-37. PMID: Pending; PMCID: N/A

Kleiman, E.M., Turner, B.J., Fedor, S., Beale, E.E., Huffman, J.C., & Nock, M.K. (2017). Examination of real-time fluctuations in suicidal ideation and its risk factors: Results from two ecological momentary assessment studies. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 126(6), 726-738. PMID: 28481571; PMCID: N/A

Nock, M. K., Prinstein, M. J., & Sterba, S. (2009). Revealing the form and function of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors: A real-time ecological assessment study among adolescents and young adults. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118(4), 816-827. PMID: 19899851; PMCID: PMC5258190