TY - JOUR
T1 - The DBT Coach App as an adjunct to a comprehensive DBT programme for adolescents: an acceptability and feasibility study
AU - Ramzan, Natasha
AU - Camp, Jake
AU - Tranah, Troy
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies.
PY - 2025/2/24
Y1 - 2025/2/24
N2 - Smartphone apps combined with psychological interventions may be beneficial for increasing adherence to treatment tasks and augmenting outcomes. Yet, there is limited research on the acceptability and feasibility of adjunctive smartphone apps with psychological therapies for adolescents engaging in self-harm and suicidal behaviours. This study aimed to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of integrating the Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Coach app as an adjunct to a comprehensive DBT programme. The study also aimed to explore statistical trends of the potential relationship between the DBT Coach app and symptom reduction, including self-harm, borderline personality disorder symptoms, emotion dysregulation, and DBT skill use, to inform future study design. A mixed-method design was used to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of the app and clinician’s portal from the perspective of adolescent and clinician participants. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. Results indicated varied experiences of acceptability and feasibility of the DBT Coach app and portal as an adjunct to DBT. Thematic analysis generated four over-arching themes and ten subthemes. The regression analysis provided statistical trends regarding potential relationships between app use and clinical outcomes, which would be helpful to explore in future research. Findings suggest that the app and portal were acceptable and feasible for the most part, with some barriers and challenges identified. Implications of this study are discussed.
AB - Smartphone apps combined with psychological interventions may be beneficial for increasing adherence to treatment tasks and augmenting outcomes. Yet, there is limited research on the acceptability and feasibility of adjunctive smartphone apps with psychological therapies for adolescents engaging in self-harm and suicidal behaviours. This study aimed to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of integrating the Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Coach app as an adjunct to a comprehensive DBT programme. The study also aimed to explore statistical trends of the potential relationship between the DBT Coach app and symptom reduction, including self-harm, borderline personality disorder symptoms, emotion dysregulation, and DBT skill use, to inform future study design. A mixed-method design was used to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of the app and clinician’s portal from the perspective of adolescent and clinician participants. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. Results indicated varied experiences of acceptability and feasibility of the DBT Coach app and portal as an adjunct to DBT. Thematic analysis generated four over-arching themes and ten subthemes. The regression analysis provided statistical trends regarding potential relationships between app use and clinical outcomes, which would be helpful to explore in future research. Findings suggest that the app and portal were acceptable and feasible for the most part, with some barriers and challenges identified. Implications of this study are discussed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85219143608&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S1754470X25000017
DO - 10.1017/S1754470X25000017
M3 - Article
SN - 1754-470X
VL - 18
JO - The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist
JF - The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist
M1 - e13
ER -