ABOUT THE APP PROGRAM

The app program is named SPARK (Small Practices for Awareness, Resilience, and Knowledge). SPARK is designed to address the psychological and behavioral factors that contribute to anxiety, depression, and low levels of well-being. These include negative thinking patterns, a lack of positive emotions, difficulty accepting challenging situations, and limited understanding of mental health concepts and their impact. Users can develop individual skills through quick, automated activities based on various therapeutic techniques, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance-Based Therapies. The app is designed to seamlessly integrate into daily life, empowering users to take control of their mental health, by allowing users to complete small activities that take only minutes each.

​

The purpose of this study is to evaluate how people use and respond to SPARK. Participants will be assigned the SPARK app to use over an 8 week period. Participants will complete questionnaires before and after using the app. During the 8 week period, you will also be asked to respond to daily questionnaires sent to your phone. The purpose of these daily questionnaires is to improve understanding of why people decide to use, or not use, the SPARK app, and whether use is linked to people’s emotions, pain, and sleep. Each questionnaire is expected to take about 2 minutes to complete. The findings from this study will help researchers better understand whether SPARK could be useful for influencing people's mood and overall mental health, and how to tailor SPARK to different types of users.

​The SPARK app ise not intended to take the place of medical evaluation and treatment. It is also not designed to be a treatment for severe forms of depression and anxiety that may require more serious care. If you believe you might have other medical conditions other than depression or anxiety, you should see a physician or go see a mental health provider for further evaluation.