Internet Interventions

In Review, In Use, and Into the Future

Ritterband, Lee M.
Gonder-Frederick, Linda A.
Cox, Daniel J.
Clifton, Allan D.
West, Rebecca W.
Borowitz, Stephen M.

¹University of Virginia Health System

²CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS ARTICLE should be addressed to Lee M. Ritterband, University of Virginia Health System, Department of Psychiatric Medicine, Center for Behavioral Medicine Research, P.O. Box 800223, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908. E-mail: [email protected]

LEE M. RITTERBAND received his PhD in clinical psychology and doctoral minor in computer science from the University of South Florida in 1998. He is an assistant professor at the Center for Behavioral Medicine Research at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, VA. His research interests focus on the development of Internet treatment interventions for various health psychology issues.

LINDA A. GONDER-FREDERICK received her PhD in health psychology from the University of Virginia in 1985 and her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Virginia in 1994. She is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatric Medicine at the University of Virginia and clinical director of the Behavioral Medicine Center. Her research interests include behavioral and psychological aspects of Type 1 diabetes in adults and children, including the development of psychobehavioral interventions.

DANIEL J. COX received his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Louisville in 1977. He holds a diplomat in clinical psychology and is a professor in the Departments of Psychiatric Medicine and Internal Medicine at the University of Virginia. He is also the director of the Center for Behavioral Medicine Research. His primary areas of research involve behavioral medicine aspects of Type 1 diabetes, pediatric encopresis, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

ALLAN D. CLIFTON received his MA in clinical psychology in 1999 from the University of Virginia, where he is currently a doctoral candidate. He will be attending clinical internship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, PA. His research interests focus on interpersonal aspects of adaptive and maladaptive personality traits.

REBECCA W. WEST received her JD from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1983. She is the executive director of the Piedmont Liability Trust as well as an assistant professor of general medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, where she lectures on law and medicine. She has lectured and published often on legal issues in medicine.

STEPHEN M. BOROWITZ received his MD from Rush Medical College in Chicago in 1980. He is a professor of pediatrics and health evaluation sciences as well as the assistant chief information officer at the University of Virginia Health System. His research interests focus on childhood constipation and encopresis and the use of information technology in the delivery of health care and health education.

Received June 11, 2002; Revision received May 15, 2003; Accepted May 22, 2003

Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 34(5):p 527-534, October 2003.

The provision of health care over the Internet is a rapidly evolving and potentially beneficial means of delivering treatment otherwise unsought or unobtainable. Internet interventions are typically behavioral treatments operationalized and transformed for Web delivery with the goal of symptom improvement. The literature on the feasibility and utility of Internet interventions is limited, and there are even fewer outcome study findings. This article reviews empirically tested Internet interventions and provides an overview of the issues in developing and/or using them in clinical practice. Future directions and implications are also addressed. Although Internet interventions will not likely replace face-to-face care, there is little doubt that they will grow in importance as a powerful component of successful psychobehavioral treatment.