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Relapse prevention after pain management is a neglected area and Internet-based interventions have the potential to partly fill this gap. A challenge in designing effective relapse prevention program is how to motivate patients to persist throughout the full length of treatment. Following a regular pain management program, 29 participants underwent a 20 week long Internet–based relapse prevention program based on acceptance-oriented CBT. Qualitative analyses showed changes in attitudes towards their pain and body during the course of treatment. Degree of personal commitment in treatment goals seemed to affect gains relating to new perspective on self and future. Therapeutic strategies of defusion and mindfulness seemed to ease perspective changes and persistence to comply. Values interventions are hypothesized to be a plausible therapeutic strategy to engage participants in continuous behavior change. Further studies on non-compliers and drop-outs could enhance understanding of interventions necessary to maintaining motivation. When and how to give therapist support during Internet-based treatment for chronic pain is another area in need of further studies.

The overarching goal of this thesis has been to enhance Internet-delivered psychological treatments for depression and its comorbidity. To this end, three randomized controlled trials (Study II, III and IV) with a total of 313 participants were conducted. A prevalence study (Study I) was also conducted to provide an up-to-date estimate of the prevalence of depression, anxiety disorders, and their comorbidity in the Swedish general population. Study I showed that more than every sixth individual in Sweden suffers from symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. Comorbidity between depression and anxiety was substantial and associated with higher symptom burden and lower health-related quality of life. Study II showed that a tailored Internet-based CBT protocol (ICBT) was effective in reducing symptoms of depression when compared to a control group. Among individuals with more severe depression and comorbidities, the tailored ICBT treatment worked better than standardized ICBT. Study III showed that a psychodynamic Internet-based psychotherapy was highly effective in the treatment of depression, when compared to a group who received psychoeducation and online support. In Study IV, an Internet-delivered affect-focused psychodynamic psychotherapy proved to have a large effect on depression and a moderately large effect on anxiety disorders. In conclusion, this thesis shows that in the context of treating depression and its comorbidity, Internet-delivered psychological treatments can be potentially enhanced by psychodynamic psychotherapy and by individualization. / Det övergripande syftet med denna avhandling har varit att vidareutveckla internetbaserad psykologisk behandling för depression och dess komorbiditet. Tre randomiserade kontrollerade studier (Studie II, III och IV) med totalt 313 deltagare genomfördes i linje med detta syfte. En prevalensstudie (Studie I) genomfördes också för att tillhandahålla ett uppdaterat estimat av prevalensen av depression, ångest och deras komorbiditet i Sverige. Studie I visade att mer än var sjätte individ i Sverige lider av symptom på depression och/eller ångest. Det fanns påtaglig komorbiditet mellan depression och ångest, vilket var associerat med högre symptombörda och lägre livskvalitét. Studie II visade att en skräddarsydd internetbaserad KBT-behandling var effektiv för att reducera symptom på depression, i jämförelse med en kontrollgrupp. Bland individer med svårare depression och komorbiditet, fungerade den skräddarsydda interventionen bättre än en standardiserad. Studie III visade att psykodynamisk internetbehandling var effektiv vid behandling av depression, i jämförelse med en grupp som fick psykoedukation och stödsamtal online. I Studie IV visades att en affektfokuserad psykodynamisk internetbehandling hade stor effekt vad gällde att reducera symptom på depression, och medelstor effekt vad gällde att reducera symptom på ångest. Sammanfattningsvis visar denna avhandling att internetbaserad psykologisk behandling kan potentiellt vidareutvecklas av psykodynamisk psykoterapi och individanpassning, vid behandling av depression och dess komorbiditet.

ADHD affects executive functions and pharmacological treatment is the most common intervention. Medication is ineffective for some and psychosocial interventions are scarcely available. CBT that teaches organizational skills for managing ADHD-symptoms has shown promising results. Smartphones can help individuals perform executive tasks such as planning and organization and they could be efficacious as a support tool for ADHD patients. The current study is a RCT that compares an online course (n=29) based on previously effective CBT treatments for ADHD to a wait-list control (n=29). The intervention focused on teaching the use of an online calendar and smartphone apps. The intervention brought significant improvement (p < 0.001) to participants regarding ADHD symptoms and 38% of participants were considered clinically significantly improved. This indicates that online treatments using IT-tools for ADHD is effective and that smartphones can be used as a tool for aiding individuals with impairments in executive functions.