Background Expectations are considered an important mechanism of change in psychotherapeutic interventions, including internet- and mobile-based interventions (IMI). This study aims to investigate whether two expectation-focused microinterventions can enhance the effects of an IMI for participants with elevated depression. Methods All participants will receive an established IMI consisting of six evidence-based cognitive behavioral modules. In this 2×3 factorial design, 720 adult participants will be randomized to receive (1) either the IMI in standard or personalized framing (first randomization factor), in combination with (2) an expectation-focused telephone call mid-treatment, a supportive phone call or no phone call (second randomization factor). The primary outcome is depression at mid- and post-treatment (BDI-II). Secondary measures include expectations, adherence, state and trait anxiety and depression, disability, negative effects, and satisfaction with treatment. Discussion This study will increase knowledge about applying micro-interventions to modify expectations and improve the effects of IMI in the treatment of depressive symptoms. Scalable IMI has the potential to improve healthcare but ways to further improve their effects and adherence need to be explored. Trial registration The trial was prospectively registered under DRKS00032982. Registered on July 11, 2023.

Background: There is an urgent need to innovate methods of health education, which can often be resource- and time-intensive. Microinterventions have shown promise as a platform for rapid, tailored resource dissemination yet have been underexplored as a…

The everyday slights, insults and offensive behaviors that people of marginalized groups experience in daily interactions cause real psychological harm

Background: #Digital microinterventions have strong potential to improve the lives of adults diagnosed with #Cancer. However, little is known about which types of #Digital microinterventions are most desired and how contextual factors may influence those preferences. This potentially limits guidance for personalized and timely #Digital microintervention delivery. Objective: This study aims to identify time-varying and person-level predictors of relative #Digital microintervention interest among adult survivors of #Cancer. Methods: We enrolled US adults within 5 years of a #Cancer diagnosis in a 5-week observational study using ecological momentary assessment. Participants (N=407) were asked 3 times a day for 5 weeks which of 9 brief, #Mobile-delivered interventions, if any, they would have been interested in completing within the past hour. Intervention options were (1) reducing worry, (2) reducing negative thoughts, (3) problem solving, (4) increasing positive emotions, (5) connecting with values, (6) guided relaxation, (7) getting support from others, (8) setting goals, and (9) something else. Multinomial models were used to identify demographic (ie, age), #Cancer-related (ie, treatment status), and psychological (ie, depression symptom severity, anxiety symptom severity, history of major depressive diagnosis, history of anxiety disorder diagnosis, and psychotherapy status) predictors of individual differences in modal intervention preference. Multilevel logistic and multilevel multinomial models were used to identify momentary negative affect, positive affect, and pain predictors of relative intervention interest. Results: Participants indicated interest in completing a #Digital microintervention in 87% (20,429/23,472) of completed surveys. The most frequently selected intervention option was guided relaxation (8611/20,429, 42%). Neither #Cancer treatment status (χ29=6.5; P=.69) nor psychotherapy status (χ29=14.0; P=.12) differentiated between modal intervention preferences. Participants with greater anxiety (χ29=35.1; P

Background: Parenting skills programs are the primary intervention for conduct disorders in children. The Pause app enhances these programs by providing digital microinterventions that reinforce learning between sessions and after program completion. The potential of artificial intelligence (#AI) (AI) in this context remains untapped. Hackathons have proven effective for health care innovation and can facilitate collaborative development in this space. Objective: We aimed to rapidly build AI-powered features in the Pause app to enhance parenting skills. Methods: We undertook a 1-day hackathon that included an ideation phase drawing on the Design Council’s double diamond framework and a development phase using microsprints based on agile and scrum approaches. The interdisciplinary participants included medical professionals, developers, and product managers. Results: Participants identified 3 core problems: generating age-appropriate distractions, receiving feedback on parenting efforts, and effectively using the journal function. During the solution phase, a wide range of options were explored, resulting in 3 key solutions: AI-assisted idea generation, a tool for summarizing parenting interactions, and a weekly journal roundup. During the development phase, participants completed 4 microsprints. Teams focused on 3 workstreams: building a “weekly roundup” module, creating an AI-based distraction generator, and developing a summarizer for active play sessions. These prototypes were integrated into the preproduction environment, with each workstream producing a functional component. Participant feedback (n=4) was unanimously positive, with all participants rating the event as “excellent” and highlighting the value of in-person collaboration. Conclusions: This 1-day hackathon used the double diamond approach to develop AI-powered features for parenting programs. Three solutions were explored across workstreams, resulting in 2 fully functioning and 1 near-functioning app component. The rapid problem-solving approach mirrors other health technology hackathons and highlights the untapped potential of AI in digital parenting support, surpassing traditional e-learning or video-based methods. This work suggests broader applications of AI-driven coaching in fields like social care. Despite a small team, the hackathon was focused and productive, generating relevant solutions based on prior engagement with parents and practitioners. Future research will assess the impact of the app’s AI-powered features on parenting outcomes.

Background: Although many digital health interventions have been studied in human-computer interaction, long-term engagement remains a challenge. Microinterventions that leverage small but meaningful steps toward health outcomes have been proposed as a method for providing flexible and engaging, yet short and focused, interventions. One way to mitigate the potentially limiting scope of each microintervention is through narratives combining multiple different microinterventions over time to facilitate greater effects and engagement. As an emerging field of research, significant focus has thus far been placed on the creation and testing of individual microinterventions with little consideration for the consolidated experience, that is, the narrative over time. A more concise terminology and framework could make it easier to design, evaluate, and compare systems for microinterventions, facilitate collaboration in the field, and foster communication across required disciplines. Objective: This paper aims to provide a framework for the creation of microintervention systems and the narratives served by these through their microinterventions. Methods: To synthesize a framework, we carried out a critical interpretive synthesis involving reciprocal translational analysis, refutational synthesis, and lines-of-argument synthesis, based on a systematic review of microintervention literature following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines across the Association for Computing Machinery Digital Library, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. To assess the resulting framework, we applied it retroactively back onto the literature. Results: Based on a review including 35 studies, of which 80% (n=28) were published after 2020, we present and rationalize the Design for Microintervention Software Technology (D-MIST) framework, which can be used to better classify, design, and evaluate microinterventions. D-MIST defines a microintervention system on three levels: (1) the narrative, (2) the microintervention, and (3) the event. The narrative is the consolidated experience of engaging with multiple microinterventions over time, supporting a narrative goal, for example, a clinical goal. A microintervention is a highly focused intervention consisting of self-contained events aiming to facilitate small but meaningful steps toward the narrative goal. The event attempts a positive momentary change through a resource, for example, an exercise. Events may, for example, be designed for single use, present variations to facilitate engagement, or present order-dependent sequential resources. We additionally discuss supporting constructs, such as decision rules, conceptual models, and the system’s interaction model, that is, how the system interacts with the user through its design and other actors to create a consolidated narrative. Conclusions: The resulting D-MIST framework, based on current state-of-the-art literature, describes the components of microintervention systems and how these contribute to a consolidated experience. Based hereon, we suggest opportunities for personalization of microintervention systems, discuss design guidelines, and the roles of actors in creating health narratives aiming to obtain better distal health outcomes.

Background: Body dissatisfaction is a global public health issue negatively impacting young people’s mental and physical well-being, underscoring an urgent need to develop early interventions. Emerging evidence suggests that microinterventions are acceptable and effective in delivering mental health interventions. Given the popularity of video games among young people, gaming holds great promise for body image microinterventions. As such, we developed Super U Story, a stand-alone, self-paced, narrative-based adventure video game for the popular gaming platform Roblox grounded in the Tripartite Influence Model of body dissatisfaction and basic tenets of positive body image. Objective: This trial evaluated the effectiveness of playing a purpose-built Roblox video game once on US children and adolescents’ state and trait body image and related outcomes. Gameplay was capped at 30 minutes. Methods: Overall, 1059 US-based girls and boys (n=460, 43.4% girls) aged 9 to 13 years (mean age 10.9, SD 1.36 years) from diverse ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic backgrounds were recruited online via a research agency into a 3-arm, online, parallel randomized controlled trial. Participants were assigned to an intervention group, active control group (a Roblox game called Rainbow Friends 2 Story [Color Story]), or attention control group (web-based word search). Participants completed self-report assessments at baseline (1 week before the intervention and before randomization), immediately before and after intervention testing, and 1 week after the intervention. Outcomes included state measures of body satisfaction (primary outcome), mood, and body functionality and trait measures of body esteem, body appreciation, internalization of appearance ideals, and social media literacy. Data were evaluated using repeated-measure analysis of covariance controlling for baseline. Engagement and acceptability data were collected. Results: Intervention participants showed improved state body satisfaction (F1,694=5.20; P=.02; ηp2=0.01) relative to the active control but not in comparison to the attention control. State mood, state body functionality, internalization of appearance ideals, and social media literacy showed no effects. Relative to the intervention group, the active control showed improved trait body esteem (F1,663=5.40; P=.02; ηp2=0.01) and body appreciation (F1,663=6.08; P=.01; ηp2=0.01). Exploratory analyses found that age and gender did not moderate the effects. We were unable to examine dose-response effects. Acceptability scores were good. Self-report engagement data suggested that participants experienced a highly variable and often low-dose exposure. Conclusions: This large-scale, fully powered trial is the first to assess the effectiveness of a Roblox-based body image intervention, demonstrating the potential for disseminating microinterventions to children and adolescents on large and popular commercial platforms. Overall, playing Super U Story did not cause harm; however, evidence is lacking to suggest that it improved body image. Learnings are discussed, including psychoeducation as an intervention technique, “chocolate-covered broccoli” phenomena (ie, losing players who recognize thinly disguised educational messages), and measuring intervention engagement. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05669053; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05669053

Discover micro-wellness and how sensory microinterventions; small cues using scent, sound, and light—can reset your nervous system and align your biofield.