Development and pilot evaluation of the effectiveness of Refocus: A mobile application for training cognitive emotion regulation strategies

FloresKanter P.E.; Medrano L.A. · Revista de Psicopatologia y Psicologia Clinica (2026) · DOI: 10.5944/rppc.45692

Resumen

Objective: Mobile mental health applications have emerged as potentially accessible and costeffective tools for extending the reach of psychological interventions, particularly among populations with limited access to inperson mental health services. This study describes the development and preliminary evaluation of Refocus, an mHealth application designed to train cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Method: The application was developed in accordance with international recommendations on usability, data security, and evidencebased clinical principles and comprised two main modules: relaxation and cognitive restructuring. The final sample for the pilot effectiveness study consisted of 20 participants aged 25 to 63 years (M = 41, SD = 8), 65% of whom were women. A quantitative, nonexperimental, singlegroup pretest–posttest design was used. Results: Participants showed a statistically significant reduction in negative affect and increased use of several cognitive emotion regulation strategies, including positive reappraisal, putting into perspective, and refocus on planning. Expert and user evaluations also indicated high levels of satisfaction, clarity, and perceived usefulness. Conclusions: The findings provide preliminary support for the acceptability, usability, and perceived usefulness of Refocus. The observed pre–post changes also suggest its potential utility for promoting adaptive cognitive emotion regulation and reducing negative affect © Asociación Española de Psicología Clínica y Psicopatología

Instituciones: Universidad Continental