Interpersonal Psychotherapy Online Training Study

NCT ID: NCT03405077

Last Updated: 2019-03-28

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 43 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2016-01-31
• Study Completion Date: 2019-02-26

Brief Summary

Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is an evidence-based therapy for the treatment of eating disorders (including binge eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, and disordered eating not meeting full diagnostic criteria). On a basic level, IPT is a time-limited treatment that helps the client understand the relationship between symptoms and social interactions. Traditional training methods require substantial cost, time, and resources, making evidence-based treatments difficult to disseminate. As such, college clinicians are not typically trained in IPT delivery, which prevents their clients from reaping the potential benefits of treatment. This study will attempt to show how technology can overcome such barriers to training dissemination.

The purpose of this study is to see if online training in IPT is as effective as in-person training. To find out, the following procedures will occur: First, college mental health clinicians will complete baseline online questionnaires and deliver their usual treatment to 1 or 2 clients with symptoms of eating disorders. Then, they will complete the guided online training program and post-training assessments. Next, they will treat 1 or 2 different clients with eating disorders and complete post-training assessments. As part of the baseline and post-training assessments, clinicians will complete a telephone-based simulation assessment with staff raters, in which the investigators will recreate a client session and rate how well the clinicians adhere to IPT in treating the simulated client. The guided on-line training program will ultimately be compared to the "gold standard" training (the group receiving in-person training in an associated, IRB-approved study, # 201111113).

Conditions

Eating Disorder

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

IPT Online Training

Therapists in this study will be trained in IPT using an online platform. The program is self-paced but will have a deadline; the suggested pace is at least 12 hours spaced over 2 months. The guided online training program was developed in collaboration with 3C institute, an award-winning research and development company that creates web- and evidence-based programs. Content will be adapted from "gold-standard" training.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

IPT Online Training

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

First, college mental health clinicians will complete baseline online questionnaires and deliver their usual treatment to 1 or 2 clients with symptoms of eating disorders. Then, they will complete the guided online training program and post-training assessments. Next, they will treat 1 or 2 different clients with eating disorders and complete post-training assessments. As part of the baseline and post-training assessments, clinicians will complete a telephone-based simulation assessment with staff raters, in which the investigators will recreate a client session and rate how well the clinicians adhere to IPT in treating the simulated client. The guided on-line training program will ultimately be compared to the "gold standard" training.

Interventions

IPT Online Training

First, college mental health clinicians will complete baseline online questionnaires and deliver their usual treatment to 1 or 2 clients with symptoms of eating disorders. Then, they will complete the guided online training program and post-training assessments. Next, they will treat 1 or 2 different clients with eating disorders and complete post-training assessments. As part of the baseline and post-training assessments, clinicians will complete a telephone-based simulation assessment with staff raters, in which the investigators will recreate a client session and rate how well the clinicians adhere to IPT in treating the simulated client. The guided on-line training program will ultimately be compared to the "gold standard" training.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Therapist must be a staff member at the counseling center and have a patient case-load large enough to be able to complete data collection at the different time points (>8 hours/week)
• Staff member is expected to continue working at the counseling center for several years • Postdocs who anticipate to be at their center for at least one year are eligible

• Student patients of therapists who seek counseling services at their respective schools
• Students exhibiting symptoms of an eating disorder

Exclusion Criteria

• Therapists from all universities affiliated with the NIH-funded trial (IRB# 201111113)
• Therapists working less than 8 hours/week
• Therapists who are anticipating leaving employment at the recruited counseling center within the time frame of the study including, but not limited to trainees and interns
• Therapists for whom their administrative duties preclude seeing a sufficient number of clients to be able to complete data collection at the different study time points
• Therapists who do not see students seeking treatment for eating disorders
• Individuals who are non-degreed trainees (i.e., psychology interns)

STUDENTS:

• Students exhibiting symptoms of anorexia nervosa

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Washington University School of Medicine

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Denise Wilfley, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Scott Rudolph University Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, Pediatrics, and Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine

Terry Wilson, PhD

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Oscar K. Buros Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University

Stewart Agras, MD

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Professor of Psychiatry (Emeritus), Stanford University, School of Medicine

Other Identifiers

201408037

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id