An app can guide uni students through tough times

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-11-01 02:00

Australia; NSW; VIC

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Smartphone apps promoting different types of interventions can be effective at reducing distress in university students who are struggling, according to Australian researchers who compared various types of app-based interventions. 1,282 students at various levels of psychological distress were recruited and assigned to participate in a two-week smartphone-based program that targeted either physical activity, mindfulness, sleep habits or a control that simply assessed their wellbeing without providing an intervention. Compared to that control, the researchers say the physical activity and mindfulness apps were most helpful for students experiencing severe distress, while the physical activity and sleep apps were most effective for those with milder symptoms of distress.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of New South Wales, Deakin University, The University of Melbourne, Macquarie University

Funder: This work was supported by the Commonwealth of Australia Medical Research Future Fund grant MRFAI000028 Optimising Treatments in Mental Health Using AI. Dr Cutler is funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Principal Research Fellowship (1155614). Drs Newby, Whitton,Werner-Seidler, and Rosenbaum are funded by National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grants (Dr Newby: grant 2008839; Dr Whitton: grant 2017521; DrWerner-Seidler: grant 1197074; Dr Rosenbaum: grant 2017506). Dr Beames is funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship (101063326). The team is funded by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Centre of Research Excellence in Depression Treatment Precision (2024796).

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