Adapting a Mobile Anxiety Intervention for a University Community: Insights from a Qualitative Analysis

Mental health concerns are highly prevalent among university populations, often overwhelming available clinical services. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions can offer low-cost care to large populations without requiring in-person treatment, making mHealth an excellent candidate for addressing unmet needs. MindTrails is an existing online intervention that uses Cognitive Bias Modification for Interpretations (CBM-I) to change anxious thinking patterns. We describe the co-design of Hoos Think Calmly, a mobile adaptation of MindTrails tailored specifically to undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff in a university setting. This study’s objective is to explore the preferences, experiences, and opinions of university members to inform the design and implementation of Hoos Think Calmly, a mobile anxiety application for the university community. The research team conducted semi-structured interviews with N = 24 leaders of diverse student groups, staff who work closely with university populations, and potential users (i.e., students, faculty, and staff) and identified themes with a template analysis. University members valued a personalized, credible, and gamified mHealth intervention that is non-time-intensive and accessible to diverse populations. This study identifies key features university community members value in mHealth and builds on previous work demonstrating the importance of including stakeholders in mHealth development.