Children's Hospital Los Angeles Tests an mHealth App to Take on Teen Depression

The hospital is partnering with digital health company Limbix to test its SparkRx digital therapeutic app on adolescents who have an increased risk of depression.

Children's Hospital Los Angeles has launched a year-long study to determine whether a digital therapeutic mHealth app can help treat depression in adolescents.

CHLA is partnering with digital health company Limbix on the project, which will test the company's SparkRx app on roughly 40 people between the ages of 13 and 22 with elevated depressive symptoms who are being treated in the hospital's cardiology and gastroenterology programs. The app uses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) concepts to guide users through an interactive program on their smartphones to identify the relationship between mood and behavior.

"We’re excited about this opportunity to offer our patients a new resource for adolescent depression via a digital therapeutic that could help minimize barriers and increase access to mental health treatment," Heather Bemis, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist in the Division of Comfort and Palliative Care at CHLA's Department of Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine at CHLA and principal investigator of the study, said in a press release.

The five-week program is divided into five segments, which are intended to be completed each week. Patients are guided through the program by a character called Limbot, who provides examples of how they have undertaken behavioral activation therapy as they pas through each stage. Patients complete a patient health questionnaire and participant symptom check each week, and have access to online resources and in-app crises services if needed.

Participants will earn a gift car for as much as $100 for completing the study, as well as $125 if they take part in weekly calls about their experience.

Hospital officials say the mHealth app is designed to "help teens understand their depression and learn coping skills to manage their symptoms." It's being piloted on adolescents with chronic medical issues like cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases because they're often at a higher risk for depression.