Introducing RuminAid: The Development and Focus Group Testing of a Mobile Health App for Depression (Preprint)

UNSTRUCTURED Effective treatments for depression exist, yet access to evidence-based care remains limited. Mobile health (mHealth) apps offer one avenue for improving access. We describe the development of RuminAid, a mHealth app that uses evidence-based techniques. This intervention targets a single key depressogenic process—rumination. Its behavioral strategies are rooted in empirically-supported interventions for depression and rumination. RuminAid is consistent with recommendations by mHealth researchers and integrates “gamified” elements. The goal of RuminAid is to teach users to increase awareness of ruminative episodes, deploy behavioral strategies to replace habitual rumination, and address rumination-related deficits in attention. An initial focus-group study found that the consumer-rated quality of a storyboard version of RuminAid was in the acceptable to good range. Participants endorsed overwhelming positive beliefs about the perceived impact of RuminAid. Namely, 95% of participants reported that they believe RuminAid will help depressed ruminators with depression and rumination. Results highlighted a need for improved app aesthetics (eg, a more appealing color scheme and modern design). Subsequent modifications based on focus-group feedback and future directions are discussed.