A Randomized Controlled Trial of Multiple Versions of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Matrix App for Well-Being.
A feature-packed ACT matrix app gives only small well-being gains to help-seeking adults and no benefit to students.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers built two phone apps that teach ACT matrix skills. One app was simple. The other had extra videos, reminders, and feedback.
Adults who asked for help and college students were picked at random to use an app or wait. The team then checked well-being and valued action.
What they found
The adults who got the full app felt a little better and took more valued action. The students did not improve, even with the fancy app.
The simple app worked no better than just waiting. Only the feature-rich version helped, and only a small amount.
How this fits with other research
Morrison et al. (2017) ran a free web ACT program for students and saw medium drops in anxiety and depression. Krafft et al. (2019) used an app with students and saw no gain. The difference: the 2017 web course had longer lessons and email coaches.
Paliliunas et al. (2018) gave grad students six in-person ACT values classes and raised grades a bit. The 2019 app tried to copy that with videos, but the gain was smaller, showing that live groups still beat screens.
PCummings et al. (2024) tested an ABA app for toddlers with autism and found big leaps on ADOS scores. Krafft et al. (2019) found only small gains with adults. Apps can work, but target age and skill matter.
Why it matters
If you coach adults who want help, a rich ACT matrix app can be a small add-on, but do not expect big change. For students, skip the app and use web or live ACT instead. Pick the tool that fits the age and add coach contact when you can.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Mobile apps may be useful in teaching psychological skills in a high-frequency, low-intensity intervention. The acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) matrix is a visual tool to help develop psychological flexibility by categorizing moment-to-moment experience and is well suited to a mobile app. This pilot study tested the effects of a simple and complex version of a novel app using the ACT matrix in two distinct samples: help-seeking individuals (n = 35) and students receiving SONA credit (n = 63). Findings indicated no differences between app conditions and a waitlist condition in the SONA credit sample. However, in the help-seeking sample, improvements were found on well-being and valued action in participants who used the app, with greater improvements and app adoption for those using a complex version with additional skills. A mobile app based on the ACT matrix has benefits for help-seeking individuals, but supplementary features may be necessary to support consistent use and benefits.
Behavior modification, 2019 · doi:10.1177/0145445517748561