Can a phone app help beat loneliness and depression?
NCT ID NCT07471529
First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests a smartphone app that prompts people with depression to reach out to friends or family for support at the right moments. Over 21 days, 120 adults awaiting therapy will be randomly assigned to different versions of the app or no app at all. The goal is to see if these prompts reduce daily depressive symptoms and loneliness.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Smartphone-based social support intervention
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could provide a simple, low-cost way to help people with depression feel less lonely and more supported while waiting for therapy.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage study with only 120 participants, so results may not apply to everyone. The intervention is just a prompt—it may not be enough to meaningfully change symptoms.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 120 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Apr 2026
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 70 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * indicating to seek outpatient psychotherapy * elevated levels of self-reported depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI) score \> 13 (out of 63); Kühner et al., 2007) * owning a smartphone * signing the informed consent form Exclusion Criteria: * first session for outpatient psychotherapy is scheduled within four weeks * suicidal ideation (values \> 2 in BDI item 9) * presence of manic symptoms (Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) score \> 7), - shift work * age below 18 or above 70
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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University of Zurich
RECRUITINGZurich, Canton of Zurich, 8050, Switzerland
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