Brief Smartphone-Based Interventions Alleviate Distress Among College Students

More than one in five college students experience psychological distress, which affects academic performance, employment, relationships, and quality of life. Apps offering brief smartphone-based interventions have been considered as a solution.

In this recently published randomized clinical trial, researchers compared the effectiveness of three two-week self-guided smartphone application-based interventions for physical activity, mindfulness, and sleep hygiene. A control group used an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) application, which collected self-reported point-in-time symptom data.

The study included 1,282 distressed college students who were residents of Australia, of whom 74.1% were women. The average . . .