Exploring Digitalized Interventions for Stress and Problem Solving

The New Age of Cyber Care: Exploring Digitalized Interventions for Stress and Problem Solving - A Randomized Controlled Trial

Excessive and prolonged stress can have detrimental effects on both psychological and physiological health, compromising overall well-being and functioning. This study examines the impact of telepsychiatric group consultation using Instagram as an unexplored online social media platform on stress levels and problem-solving skills among young adults.

A randomized, single-blind factorial trial with a control group was conducted. Over eight weeks, participants received cognitive behavioral-based intervention through online sessions. Pre-/post-test and follow-up assessments employed the Problem-Solving Inventory and Perceived Stress Scale, analyzed using factorial analysis of variance. Effect sizes were determined using ηp2 and Cohen's r.

Significant differences were found between groups for Problem-Solving Inventory (F(2-104):5.005)(p<0.05). The key findings of our RCT study is the strong impact of digitalized intervention on the time-group interaction (p<0.05). This highlights the effectiveness of the Instagram-based telehealth tool in facilitating long-lasting improvements among young adults. These findings shed light on the potential of social media platforms, like Instagram, as not only popular but successful tools for mental health interventions. Nurses can incorporate these digital interventions to enhance mental health support, reach a wider audience, and overcome barriers associated with traditional methods.

1. H1: There is a significant difference between the mean scores of the Problem Solving Inventory in favour of the Instagram-based intervention group in the time series.
2. H1: There is a significant difference between the mean scores of the Perceived Stress Scale in favour of the Instagram-based intervention group in the time series.
3. H1: Instagram-based telehealth is effective for reducing Problem Solving Inventory scores.
4. H1: Instagram-based telehealth is effective for reducing Perceived Stress Scale scores.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Be over 18 years of age,
• Being an university student,
• Volunteer for the study,
• Possess the necessary technological resources

Exclusion Criteria:

• Have a physical or sensory impairment that would affect the ability to use online technology (e.g., history of temporal brain damage, limb loss, hearing loss, etc.),
• Have a psychiatric diagnosis that would affect decision-making and orientation assessment abilities
• Be receiving any professional support that could potentially influence their coping skills during data collection

This calculation was performed to ensure that the study would have an appropriate sample size to detect meaningful effects and draw reliable conclusions. In this study, an alpha level of 0.05 and a beta level of 0.20 have been set. Based on the results of previous similar studies, it has been determined that a minimum sample size of 24 (total 48) is required for each group.

Following the completion of the announcement and registration phase, a random assignment process was conducted to allocate 54 students into either the control or intervention groups, adhering to the guidelines of the Consort Model.

Gender, problem-solving skills, and perceived stress levels were taken into account during the group allocation process.

The RCT's statistical power, calculated post hoc within a 95% confidence interval and a sampling error of d=.05, was determined to be 83.0%.