An open trial of a guided internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy intervention to determine the benefits of the Wellbeing Course for Arab Australians with symptoms of anxiety and depression

In this open trial participants will receive access to an 8 week internet-delivered education course, the Wellbeing Course (Arabic speaking background), which teaches participants how to manage symptoms of anxiety and low mood. All participants will have at least mild symptoms of depression or anxiety (PHQ-9 or GAD-7 total score of >4). The Wellbeing Course comprises 5 online lessons, which describe evidence-based cognitive behavioural and interpersonal therapy strategies for managing cognitive, behavioural, and physical symptoms of anxiety and low mood. One lesson will be completed every 7 to 10 days. Each lesson will take about 15 minutes to read. Participants will also have access to summaries of each lesson, and will read anonymous stories about other people with anxiety, taking a further 20 minutes per week. All participants will also receive 10-20 automatic emails to promote adherence and engagement, and brief weekly (<10minutes week) supportive telephone calls from a experienced counsellor. Study questionnaires will be administered at application, pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at 3-months post-intervention. These will take about 20-30 minutes to complete. Strategy used to monitor adherence to the intervention is online monitoring of lessons completed (i.e., completion is logged online once the participant clicks through all the slides of the lesson).