The Effect of Computerized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on People's Anxiety and Depression During the 6 Months of Wuhan's Lockdown of COVID-19 Epidemic: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Background: The effectiveness of computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) has been proven for mild and moderate anxiety and depression. In 2016, the first official Chinese CCBT system was launched by Chinese Cognitive Behavior Therapy Professional Organizations and included four items: getting out of depression, overcoming anxiety, staying away from insomnia and facing Obsessive-compulsive disorder. During the COVID-19 epidemic, Chinese CCBT system served the public for free. This study explored the effects of CCBT on anxiety and depression by comparing the use of the platform during the epidemic and during the same period in 2019. Methods: Users were divided into a depression group or an anxiety group according to their own discretion. The subjects used the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) before each training. Each training group completed the corresponding CCBT training project, which had 5-6 training sessions, an average of once every 5 days. The training content in 2019 and 2020 was identical. This study compared the demographic characteristics, depression, and anxiety levels of CCBT platform users during the lockdown period in Wuhan (LP2020), where the outbreak was concentrated in China, from January 23 to July 23, 2020 and the same period in 2019 (SP2019). Result: (1) There were significant differences in gender (χ2 = 7.215, P = 0.007), region (χ2 = 4.225, P = 0.040) and duration of illness (χ2 = 7.867, P = 0.049) between the two periods. (2) There was a positive Pearson correlation between the number of users of CCBT platform during LP2020 and number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in each province (r = 0.9429, P < 0.001). (3) In LP2020, the SAS (t = 2.579, P = 0.011) and SDS (t = 2.894, P = 0.004) scores at T0 in Hubei were significantly higher than those in other regions. (4) The CCBT platform has an obvious effect on anxiety (F = 4.74, P = 0.009) and depression on users (F = 4.44, P = 0.009). Conclusion: This study showed women, students and people who are more seriously affected by the epidemic were more likely to accept the CCBT training. The CCBT platform made a significant contribution toward alleviating the anxiety and depression symptoms of users during the epidemic. When face-to-face psychotherapy is not available during the epidemic, CCBT can be used as an effective alternative.

Keywords: COVID-19; anxiety; computerized cognitive behavioral therapy; depression; lockdown of Wuhan.