Table 1.
Characteristic of included studies.
| Authors, Year, | Study Location | Study Design | Population | Intervention | Quality | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sample Size | Mean/Range Age (Years) | Psychosocial Condition | Intervention | Frequency | Assessment | Follow Up | ||||
| Mahoney et al. (2021) [22] | Australia | RCT | 5074 Female (3557) Male (1311) Unspecified (332) |
37.31 (13.53) | Adults experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression | THIS WAY UP (thiswayup.org.au) iCBT | self-guided or guided by the end-user’s clinician, users granted 90 days access to complete their course | Depression: PHQ 9 Anxiety: GAD-7 |
- | 6/7 *** |
| Sharrock et al. (2021) [33] | Australia | RCT | 778 Female (526) Male (220) Unspecified (332) |
37.76 (12.64) | Adults experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression | THIS WAY UP (thiswayup.org.au) iCBT | Ninety days. There is a five-day wait-period between lessons two to six to give participants time to practice the skills covered in the lessons. | Depression: PHQ-9 Anxiety: SHAI |
- | 6/7 *** |
| Ying et al. (2021) [36] | China | RCT | 127 Female (87) Male (40) |
73.39 (7.37) | Symptoms of depression, anxiety, general psychological distress, and functional disability | Healthy Psychological Station (iCBT clinician guided) | Post-treatment (5 weeks) | Depression: PHQ-9 Anxiety: GAD-7 |
1 month | 6/7 *** |
| Oehler et al. (2021) [37] | Germany | RCT | 1423 Female (946) Male (477) |
40.15 (13.35) | guided sample of patients with depression | iFightDepression tool (iFD), a web-based CBT intervention | at least two workshops in the first six weeks | Depression: PHQ-9 | - | 7/7 *** |
| Aminof et al. (2021) [38] | Swedia | RCT | 26 Female (19) Male (7) |
42.1 (16.8) | Participant with elevated levels of psychological distress | 7-week-long individually tailored ICBT | Individual with 13 times completion module for 7 weeks | Depression: PHQ-9 Anxiety: GAD-7 |
- | 7/7 *** |
| Nordgreen et al. (2021) [39] | Norway | RCT | 82 Female (65) Male (17) |
40 (14.19) | Self-reported depressive and anxiety symptoms and change in positive and negative emotions. | Self-guided Internet-delivered intervention integrated with The person-based approach (PBA; Yardley et al., 2015) | a new module every third day (3- day group, a total of 28 days) or a new module every fifth day (5-day group, a total of 40 days). | Depression: PHQ-9 Anxiety: GAD-7 |
6 weeks | 5/7 *** |
| Wahlund et al. (2020) [40] | Swedia | RCT | 335 Female (277) Male (58) |
45 (13) | Daily uncontrollable worry about COVID-19 and its possible consequences (e.g., illness, death, the economy, one’s family) | 3 weeks, Self-guided online cognitive behavioral intervention | Self-guided module, tasks to practice during at least a couple of days for 3 weeks | Anxiety: GAD-7 | 4 weeks | 7/7 *** |
| Shapira et al. (2021) [41] | Israel | RCT | 82 Female (66) Male (16) |
72 (5.6) | community-dwelling older adults | iCBT via Zoom | online sessions via the Zoom video conferencing platform were delivered to groups of 5–7 people during seven sessions over 3.5 weeks each lasting between 1–1.5 h | Depression: PHQ-9 | 1 month | 7/7 *** |
| Perri et al. (2021) [42] | Italy | RCT | 19 Female (13) Male (6) |
52.4 (10.6) | subjects requiring psychological support to manage the ongoing trauma associated with quarantine, isolation or work in COVID-19 hospital wards | trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) using skype | received a 7-session therapy for a total duration of about 3 weeks (2 sessions per week) | Depression: BDI-II Anxiety: STAI-Y1 |
1 month | 6/7 *** |
| Bantjes et al. (2021) [43] | South Africa | RCT | 158 Female (135) Male (23) |
22.4 (4.9) | Web-based groups were being offered to help students learn psychological skills to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression | Web-based (Microsoft Teams) group cognitive behavioral therapy | 10 weekly workshops of 60–75 min. | Depression: PHQ 9 Anxiety: GAD-7 |
4 weeks | 6/7 *** |
| Liu et al. (2021) [34] | China | RCT | 326 Female (102) Male(150) |
IG: 43.76 (14.31) CG: 41.52 (11.51) |
COVID-19 patients had mild to moderate depression or anxiety symptoms. | Computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (cCBT) | 10 min per day to self-directed individual therapy for 1 week | Depression: HAMDA-17 Anxiety: HAMA |
4 weeks | 7/7 *** |
| Al-Alawi et al. (2021) [35] | Oman | RCT | 46 Female (36) Male (10) |
28.51 (8.70) | People in the community with anxiety and depression | iCBT | 6 sessions of therapist-guided online or self-help therapy for week 6 | Depression: PHQ-9 Anxiety: GAD-7 |
6 weeks | 6/7 *** |
Note. (***) Low; BDI = Back’s Depression Inventory; GAD = General Anxiety Disorder; iCBT = Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; HAMA = Hamilton Anxiety Scale; HAMDA = Hamilton Depression.