@Article{info:doi/10.2196/resprot.6525,
author="Stallard, Paul
and Porter, Joanna
and Grist, Rebecca",
title="Safety, Acceptability, and Use of a Smartphone App, BlueIce, for Young People Who Self-Harm: Protocol for an Open Phase I Trial",
journal="JMIR Res Protoc",
year="2016",
month="Nov",
day="16",
volume="5",
number="4",
pages="e217",
keywords="self-harm; smartphone app; BlueIce; adolescents; CBT; DBT",
abstract="Background: Up to 18{\%} of adolescents will engage in an act of self-harm before young adulthood, with the majority of acts occurring in private. Mobile apps may offer a way of providing support for young people at times of distress to prevent self-harm. Objective: This is a proof-of-concept study designed to explore the safety, acceptability, feasibility, and usability of a smartphone app, BlueIce, with young people who are self-harming. Methods: In this phase I open trial we will evaluate BlueIce, a smartphone app developed and coproduced with young people with lived experience of self-harm. BlueIce includes a mood-monitoring diary, selection of mood-lifting techniques based on cognitive behavior therapy and dialectical behavior therapy, and direct access to emergency telephone numbers. We will recruit young people (n=50) attending specialist child and adolescent mental health services with a current or past history of self-harm to trial BlueIce as an adjunct to their usual care. Questionnaires and interviews will be completed at baseline, postfamiliarization (2 weeks), and at follow-up (12 weeks after baseline) to assess safety, app use, and acceptability. Interviews will be undertaken with clinicians to assess the feasibility of BlueIce within a clinical setting. Results: Recruitment occurred between May and November 2016. The recruitment target was 50, and by the beginning of November 54 young people had been referred. Conclusions: This study is the first to evaluate an app specifically developed with young people for young people (under the age of 18 years) who self-harm. It will determine whether BlueIce is acceptable, how often it is used, and whether it is safe and does not have any unintentional adverse effects. This information will determine whether a feasibility trial to test recruitment, randomization, retention, and appropriate outcome measures should be pursued. ",
issn="1929-0748",
doi="10.2196/resprot.6525",
url="http://www.researchprotocols.org/2016/4/e217/",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/resprot.6525",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27852560"
}