Effects of online brain training on self-reported mental health symptoms for generally healthy adults during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Brain Behav
; 13(1): e2853, 2023 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2172699
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The cognitive training Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training (SMART) has been shown to improve symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress when completed using in-person delivery, but mental health outcomes have not yet been studied for online delivery of SMART.METHODS:
Data was analyzed from 145 generally healthy adults participating in the BrainHealth Project pilot study who had access to 12 weeks of online self-paced SMART and self-reported mental health symptoms on the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) pre- and post-training. We utilized linear models to examine the change in self-reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress following the 12-week training period and to explore the influence of age, gender, and education on changes in symptomatology. Data from 44 participants who completed a follow-up DASS-21 6 months after completing SMART was used to explore the lasting impact of the training.RESULTS:
Improvements in depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms were observed following online SMART, evidenced by a significant decrease in self-reported symptoms on the DASS-21. Improvement in self-reported mental health symptomatology was maintained or continued to improve 6-month post-training. No significant effect of gender was observed, but findings motivate additional exploration of the effects of education and age.CONCLUSION:
Online SMART should be considered a low-cost, high-impact approach for supporting public mental health for generally healthy adults.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Education, Distance
/
COVID-19
/
Cognitive Training
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Adult
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Brain Behav
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Brb3.2853
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