Viabilidade de uma intervenção psicológica assíncrona sobre estresse, ansiedade e depressão para estudantes universitários

Abstract

Stress, anxiety and depression are common problems among university students, and despite effective treatment, access is scarce. In this scenario, asynchronous psychological interventions are presented as an alternative to expand access to mental health prevention and promotion programs. This research aimed to analyze the existing literature on asynchronous online interventions on stress, anxiety and depression for university students. The method was to carry out a systematic review of publications from the last 10 years in Pubmed, LILACS, Web of Science, PsycINFO and SciELO databases. The Subject Descriptors in Health Sciences (DECs) and these in English (MESh) were consulted: Internet-Based Intervention; Stress*; Anxiety; Depression; Student*. The article selection process was independently carried out by two researchers; the data were organized in the Rayyan program. The inclusion criteria of the studies were: to have as participants undergraduate university students, over 18 years old; be an asynchronous online intervention; present results for the three phenomena, anxiety, stress and depression; publication period 2011-2021; design to be a Randomized Clinical Trial. In total, 82 articles were found. After excluding duplicate studies and analyzing titles and abstracts according to previously established criteria, 28 were selected for full reading. After reading, 11 were selected to participate in the systematic review, as they met all previously established criteria. This review was based on the PRISMA – Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analyses checklist. The results concluded that the online interventions included in this study were all based on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, and most of them had significant results for stress, anxiety and depression. There is, however, a gap with regard to studies in Brazil and Latin America, pointing to the need for more studies in these places. Online psychological interventions on stress, anxiety and depression have shown effective results in reducing these symptoms and improving well-being among university students. In Brazil, there are few studies on online interventions, and advancing in this path means providing more access to prevention and mental health promotion programs for the population. This empirical, pre-experimental research aimed to evaluate the feasibility of an online psychological intervention for university students with symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression, applying a pre- and post-test in a single group. For this, the following instruments were used: the WarwickEdinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS- 21), and the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT). The results present the content and materials of the applied intervention, developed after a literature review, using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy as a reference. In the discussion, the construction of the intervention protocol was presented, described according to the TIDieR checklist (Guide for the Description and Replication of Interventions); and also the analysis of its viability. The results were analyzed and discussed mainly through descriptive statistics, and concluded that online interventions on stress, anxiety and depression are feasible to be applied to this population, however, for clinical validation, effectiveness studies are needed