Stress-Less Mobile App: An app-intervention to reduce stress in adult carers

Use of a smartphone app-based intervention called the 'Stress-Less Mobile App' to reduce stress and improve personal wellbeing. This group is prompted (via app) to monitor responses to stress up to 4 times per day (randomly twice in the a.m. and twice in the p.m.) for a period of 5 weeks. Participants set (via the app) earliest and latest times to receive the first and last prompt of each day. At each prompt, participants respond to a one-minute survey that will evaluate participants' experiences of stressful events (i.e., Have you experienced a stressful event in the last 30 mins?), types of strategies employed to cope with stress (i.e., I talked to someone about it), their perceptions about how they coped with the stressor (i.e., At the time, how confident did you feel dealing with the stressful situation), and stress levels (i.e., How stressed do you feel right now?). They will receive tailored feedback (via graphical displays in the app) about how they respond to stress, and thus will be able self monitor progress throughout the days and weeks. In addition this group is given access to intervention materials (via app), with the instructions to complete each of the 5 x 30 minute modules in sequence. It is emphasised that the modules are designed to be paced at one per week. The treatment material consists of 5 modules based on 3rd Wave Cognitive and Behavioural approaches to treat stress and negative moods, and to improve resilience and subjective wellbeing: (1) acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to identify personal values (2) mindfulness based stress reduction to diffuse stress, tension, and negative thoughts and feelings (3) wellbeing maintenance to promote healthy levels of self-esteem, optimism, and to savour acts of gratitude and kindness, (4) Behavioural Activation to increase social support seeking, exposure to positive situations, and act in accordance with values (5) Troubleshooting for relapse prevention. In addition to self-guided use of intervention materials, (i.e., complete one module per week for 5 weeks), this group will also be invited to undertake brief, additional content (top-up activities) at times of greatest need (i.e., when their stress scores are elevated they may be recommended to complete a brief relaxation task). These top-up activities are additional to, rather than substitutes for, the 5 weeks of module content, and participants are encouraged to continue to progress through the 5 modules regardless of how many times they may engage in to-up activities. Adherence and usage is monitored by the app for both intervention and control groups. The treatment group will receive weekly check-ins from the research team (via text and phone and email) to promote cohort engagement