The effect of Cognitive behaviour therapy on adult mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

INTERVENTION: Intervention group names: Immediate and Waitlist The study will involve providing participants with a low‐intensity, self‐help CBT guide to coping with anxiety and depression during the COVID‐19 pandemic, developed specifically for the current study. This will include information for children (use of parts relating to children will be facilitated by adult participants only), adolescents (use of parts relating to adolescents will be facilitated by adult participants only), and adults (including older adults), and include simplified CBT coping strategies as well as a comprehensive resource list of the many internet‐based CBT programs, websites, and self‐help books available as e‐books to help people recognize and address different types of unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours which may contribute to heightened anxiety and depression during the pandemic. Coping strategies included in the guide include: ‐ Taking action to protect yourself against COVID‐19 by following expert guidelines (COVID‐19 specific) ‐ Engage in general self‐care (non‐COVD‐19 specific) ‐ Engage in pleasant events (non‐COVD‐19 specific) ‐ Ways to deal with worry and rumination (non‐COVD‐19 specific) ‐ Ways to deal with anxiety over your health (non‐COVD‐19 specific) ‐ Ways to deal with anxiety over your finances (non‐COVD‐19 specific) ‐ Engage in problem solving (non‐COVD‐19 specific) ‐ Relaxation Exercises (non‐COVD‐19 specific) ‐ Mindfulness (non‐COVD‐19 specific) ‐ Exercise (non‐COVD‐19 specific) ‐ Challenge unhelpful thoughts with thought records (non‐COVD‐19 specific) ‐ Challenging unhelpful thoughts with behavioural experiments (non‐COVD‐19 specific) All participants will be provided with an online information and consent form outlining what CONDITION: Anxiety;Depression; ; Anxiety ; Depression Mental Health ‐ Anxiety Mental Health ‐ Depression PRIMARY OUTCOME: Anxiety, as measured by mean scores on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD‐7).; ; [Baseline, and one week after intervention commencement.] Depression, as measured by mean scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ‐9).[Baseline, and one week after intervention commencement.] SECONDARY OUTCOME: Ease of use for various components of the guide (e.g., information read, strategies provided, additional resources suggested) as measured by three items sourced from: ; Rozental, A., Kothari, R., Wade, T., Egan, S.J., Andersson, G., Carlbring, P., & Shafran, R. (2020). Reconsidering perfect: A qualitative study of the experiences of Internet‐based cognitive behaviour therapy for perfectionism. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy.[One week after intervention commencement.] Extent to which the guide was used (e.g., how much of the guide was read, time spent using the guide, usefulness of the guide, and how easy the guide was to read), as measured by four items sourced from: ; Thiels, C., Schmidt, U., Treasure, J., Garthe, R., & Troop, N. (1998). Guided self‐ change for bulimia nervosa incorporating use of a self‐care manual. ; American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 947‐953. doi:10.1176/ajp.155.7.947 ; ; (composite secondary outcome) INCLUSION CRITERIA: Participants who are 18 years of age or over, low risk in terms of their suicidality (i.e., those who score below 6 on a set of screening questions to assess risk of suicidality sourced from the MINI‐5.0), and have access to a computer or smart phone will be eligible to participate. ; [One week after intervention commencement.] Feedback preferences for the guide (e.g., format of guide, additional in‐person guidance, any gaps in the resources, and additional comments) as measured by 6 questions (questions designed specifically for this study).[One week after intervention commencement.] General feedback about the usefulness and relevance of the guide, as measured by a feedback interview that will be transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.[After the completion of the post‐intervention questionnaire, at varying time points based on participant's schedule.] Use of specific strategies and resources, as measured by two questions listing all of the strategies and resources included in the guide (questions designed specifically for this study).[One week after intervention commencement.]