(PS5-C59) Improving Access to Anxiety Treatment: Findings and Implications from a Novel Video-based Strategy

Introduction: Evidence-based treatments such as Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and computerized interventions are widely available and have been demonstrated to effectively treat clinical anxiety. However, these resources are significantly underutilized, highlighting the need for strategies to improve treatment access. We evaluated treatment-seeking attitudes and behaviors toward a single-session empirically supported computerized anxiety sensitivity treatment (CAST) and in-person CBT following a novel, brief, video-based computerized presentation. We also evaluated the acceptability of the presentation and the effects of incorporating “nudges" - a behavioral economic strategy aimed at promoting healthy or desirable decision-making (e.g., framing effects, default options).

Method: Participants (n = 90, 84% female, M/SD age = 18.74/1.06) were recruited from an undergraduate population and screened for elevated anxiety symptoms. Participants viewed a 15-minute video-based presentation covering the nature of anxiety, evidence-based treatments, and their effectiveness. Approximately half of participants were randomly assigned to view a nudging version (n = 42). Afterward, participants completed questionnaires assessing motivation to seek treatment and acceptability of the overall presentation; treatment-seeking was measured by participants’ decisions to receive a link to CAST via email or a call for in-person CBT screening.

Results: Participants rated the video-presentation as highly acceptable: 98.9% rated it as at least moderately helpful and 93.3% rated it as easy to understand. Half of participants (n = 45) opted to receive a link to CAST via email. However, despite high average levels of anxiety in the sample (M/SD GAD-7 = 11.78/5.86), only one participant completed the intervention after three opened the link. Three participants opted to screen for in-person CBT, and one eventually presented for treatment. Logistic regressions revealed no significant differences between nudging and non-nudging groups in treatment-seeking or self-reported motivation to use computerized or in-person treatments, though all trended in the expected direction.

Discussion: The presentation’s high level of acceptability and participants' significant interest in receiving the CAST link provides promising preliminary support for this highly scalable strategy to facilitate computerized treatment access, warranting further research in randomized controlled trials. The low CAST completion rate highlights a potential practical limitation of self-directed computerized interventions, which may benefit from adaptations to promote treatment completion. Our relatively small and homogenous sample may have underpowered our analyses to detect nudge effects, which would benefit from continued investigation.