Mental Health, Well-Being
Conditions
Keywords
Faith-based intervention, Mobile health, mHealth, University students, college mental health, mobile application, Feasibility, mental health, well-being, digital mental health intervention
Brief summary
This single-arm feasibility and preliminary effectiveness trial examines PRAY.COM, a faith and prayer mobile application (app), among university students. Enrolled students at Regent University are asked to use the app for at least 10 minutes per day for 8 weeks. Feasibility is assessed by app demand (≥70% weekly use benchmark) and acceptability (≥75% satisfaction benchmark). Preliminary effectiveness is assessed at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks for mental health (depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress), well-being (loneliness, sense of purpose and meaning), and academic outcomes (time management confidence, school-life balance satisfaction, confidence managing academic challenges, feeling overwhelmed by academic responsibilities, classes missed due to mental health, difficulty concentrating, frequency of mental health negatively impacting academic performance, and difficulty completing coursework). Three analysis groups are examined: completers with confirmed objective app engagement (primary), all 8-week completers (secondary), and all enrolled participants using last observation carried forward imputation (tertiary).
Detailed description
This study is a single-arm feasibility and preliminary effectiveness trial conducted with currently enrolled students at Regent University. Participants are recruited via a university-wide email listserv and are asked to use the PRAY.COM app, a faith-based mobile application delivering Daily Prayer, Meditative Prayers, Scripture Readings, Bedtime Bible Stories, Podcasts, Sermons, a Bible in a Year program, and Pray AI (an AI-powered faith companion), for at least 10 minutes per day over 8 weeks. No instructions are given regarding which specific features or content to engage with. Upon completing the baseline survey, participants receive a complimentary premium PRAY.COM subscription for the duration of the study. Feasibility is assessed across demand and acceptability domains. Demand is operationalized as the percentage of participants reporting at least weekly app use with a benchmark of ≥70%. Acceptability is operationalized as the percentage of participants reporting satisfaction (satisfied or very satisfied) with a benchmark of ≥75%. Additional feasibility indicators include perceived appropriateness for students and intent to continue use. Objective app usage data are obtained directly from PRAY.COM to complement self-reported engagement. Preliminary effectiveness outcomes are assessed using validated measures at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks. Mental health outcomes include depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress (DASS-9; 3 items each, 0-3 scale), and loneliness (UCLA-3; 3 items, 1-3 scale). Well-being outcomes include sense of purpose and meaning (2 items adapted from the Claremont Purpose Scale, 1-5 scale). Academic outcomes include time management confidence, school-life balance satisfaction, confidence managing academic challenges, feeling overwhelmed by academic responsibilities, classes missed due to mental health, difficulty concentrating, frequency of mental health negatively impacting academic performance, and difficulty completing coursework (8 investigator-developed items). Statistical approach: Pre-post changes are analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with normality of change scores assessed via Shapiro-Wilk tests. Effect sizes are calculated as Cohen's d (mean change / SD of change scores). Three analysis groups are examined: 1) the primary per-protocol sample of 8-week completers with confirmed objective app engagement (i.e., having at least one recorded app session exceeding one second); 2) a secondary analysis of all 8-week completers regardless of objective engagement status; and 3) a tertiary full-enrollment analysis using last observation carried forward (LOCF) imputation as a conservative lower-bound estimate, with multiple imputation as a sensitivity check. Additional analyses examine dose-response relationships, subgroup differences (age, sex, race/ethnicity, student type), and baseline severity effects.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALPRAY.COM Mobile Application
PRAY.COM is a nondenominational, Bible-based faith and prayer mobile application delivering daily prayers, guided meditations, scripture readings, bedtime stories, podcasts, and worship music. Participants were instructed to use the app for at least 10 minutes per day for 8 weeks but were not given specific instructions regarding which features to engage with.
Sponsors
Fit Minded
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Currently enrolled university student with a corresponding institutional email address (@edu) * 18 years of age or older * US resident * Able to read and understand English * Willing to complete brief surveys including questions related to faith and faith-based practices * Willing to download a faith and prayer mobile application onto a smartphone or tablet
Exclusion criteria
* Not a currently enrolled university student or does not have a corresponding institutional email address * Less than 18 years of age * Not a US resident * Unable to read or understand English * Not willing to complete surveys related to faith and faith-based practices * Not willing to download a faith and prayer mobile application
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Acceptability (satisfaction) | Measured at 4 weeks and 8 weeks | Percentage of participants reporting satisfied or very satisfied; benchmark ≥75% |
| Demand | From enrollment to 4 and 8 weeks | Percentage of participants reporting at least weekly app use; benchmark ≥70% |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Perceived appropriateness | 4 weeks and 8 weeks | Percentage rating PRAY.COM as very or extremely appropriate for students |
| Intent to continue use | 4 weeks and 8 weeks | Percentage reporting likely or very likely to continue using PRAY.COM after the study |
| Depressive symptoms | Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks | Measured by the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-9). Scores range from 0-9 with higher scores indicating greater symptom severity. |
| Anixety | Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks | Measured by the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-9). Scores range from 0-9 with higher scores indicating greater symptom severity. |
| Stress | Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks | Measured by the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-9). Scores range from 0-9 with higher scores indicating greater symptom severity. |
| Loneliness | Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks | Measured by the UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA-3). Total scores range from 3-9, with higher scores indicating greater loneliness. |
| Sense of Purpose and Meaning | Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks | Measured by two adapted items from the Claremont Purpose Scale. Scores range from 2-10 with higher scores indicating greater meaning and purppose. |
| Time Management Confidence | Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks | Investigator-developed item with a 5-point scale (0=not at all confident to 4=extremely confident) |
| School-life balance satisfaction | Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks | Investigator-developed item with a 5-point scale (1=very dissatisfied to 5=very satisfied) |
| Confidence managing academic challenges | Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks | Investigator-developed item with a 5-point scale (0=not at all confident to 4=extremely confident) |
| Feeling overwhelmed | Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks | Investigator-developed item; 6-point scale (0=never to 5=daily) |
| Difficulty concentrating | Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks | Investigator-developed item; 5-point scale (0=not difficult at all to 4=extremely difficult) |
| Classes missed due to mental health | Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks | Investigator-developed item; 5-point scale (0=0 to 4=4 or more) |
| Mental health negatively impacted academics | Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks | Investigator-developed item; 5-point scale (0=never to 4=always) |
| Difficulty completing coursework | Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks | Investigator-developed item; 6-point scale (0=never to 4=daily) |
Countries
United States
Contacts
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORJennifer Huberty, PhD
Fit Minded
Outcome results
None listed