{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T18:01:52Z","timestamp":1782842512757,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"JMIR Publications Inc.","issue":"7","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JMIR Form Res"],"abstract":"\n Background<\/jats:title>\n At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, several mental health care providers were obliged to shut down outpatient services, including group therapy and psychoeducational sessions. The lockdown in many countries is a serious threat to people\u2019s mental well-being, especially for individuals with severe mental illnesses. Discontinued outpatient treatments and disruption of daily routines are considered to be risk factors for destabilization of patients with mental illness.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Objective<\/jats:title>\n The aim of this study was to evaluate the acceptability, usability, and feasibility of a group chat program to replace cancelled face-to-face group sessions in an outpatient psychiatric department.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n Participants (N=33) were recruited in the outpatient department of a large university medical center in Leipzig, Germany. Former face-to-face group participants were invited to take part in a therapist-guided group-chat for 4 weeks (8 sessions) and were asked to evaluate the program via self-administered standardized questionnaires at baseline (T0, preintervention), after every chat session (T1), and posttreatment (T2, after 4-6 weeks). The chat groups were specific to the following mental disorder diagnoses and based on the same therapeutic principles and techniques as the former face-to-face groups: anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and adult attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Sociodemographic measures, attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic, depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), quality of life (abbreviated World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment), treatment credibility\/expectancy (Credibility Expectancy Questionnaire), and participants\u2019 satisfaction (Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 [ZUF-8]) were measured.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n Participants joined an average of 5 out of 8 offered chat sessions. Participation rates in the respective groups were highest in the ADHD group (8.6\/11, 78%) and lowest in the anxiety group (3.7\/9, 41%). The overall preintervention level of depressive symptoms was moderate and showed a slight,\nnonsignificant improvement at posttreatment (T0: mean 10.7, SD 5.5; T2: mean 10.2, SD 5.5).\nA similar result was observed regarding quality of life (T0: median 41.7-68.8; T2: median 50-70.3). Treatment credibility and expectancy scores were medium-high (T0: meancredibility 18.1, SD 3.8; meanexpectancy 11.2, SD 5.1; T2: meancredibility 17.1, SD 4.8; meanexpectancy 10.3, SD 5.8). Further, significant correlations were detected between posttreatment expectancy score and posttreatment PHQ-9 score (r=\u20130.41, P=.02), posttreatment physical quality of life (r=0.54, P=.001), and posttreatment psychological quality of life (r=0.53, P=.002). Overall, participants\u2019 satisfaction with the program was very high, both after chat sessions and at posttreatment (ZUF-8: mean score 20.6, SD 1.0). Of all participants, a majority (27\/31, 87%) rated the program as excellent\/good and indicated they would recommend the group chat program to a friend in need of similar help (23\/31, 74%).<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n A therapist-guided group chat program to substitute outpatient group setting treatment during the COVID-19 lockdown was shown to be feasible, usable, and highly acceptable for participants. Web-based programs such as this one provide an easy-to-implement tool to successfully stabilize participants during a difficult time, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Trial Registration<\/jats:title>\n German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00021527; https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/3btyxc2r<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.2196\/27865","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,8]],"date-time":"2021-06-08T07:48:43Z","timestamp":1623138523000},"page":"e27865","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["Acceptability and Feasibility of the Transfer of Face-to-Face Group Therapy to Online Group Chats in a Psychiatric Outpatient Setting During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Longitudinal Observational 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