Pilot Evaluation of Peer-support Coaching to Increase Adherence to Online Self-help for College Mental Health

NCT ID: NCT04573465

Last Updated: 2021-09-29

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

236 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2020-09-28

Study Completion Date

2021-07-05

Brief Summary

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This study aims to test if coaching can improve program adherence to an online mental health program in college students if delivered by undergraduate peers. Participants will be randomly assigned to either receive phone coaching, text message coaching, or no coaching. It is hypothesized that participants who receive phone coaching will exhibit greater adherence to the provided online mental health program than participants who receive text message coaching or no coaching.

Detailed Description

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The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility and effectiveness of an innovative peer support coaching model for college students. The primary aim of the coaching model is to increase participants' adherence to ACT Guide, an online mental health program. To test the effects of peer-support coaching on ACT Guide adherence rates and outcomes, the investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial with three conditions (peer-support phone coaching, peer-support text message coaching, and a no support control group) using a sample of 300 Utah State University undergraduate students. Individuals who indicate interest in participating will complete an automated online workflow through Qualtrics which will include informed consent, baseline assessment, ACT Guide registration, and randomization into one of the three conditions. Participants will then gain access to a research version of ACT Guide, either with no additional support, with concurrent peer-support coaching, or with concurrent peer-support text messaging based on their randomly assigned condition. Coaching will take place over 10 weeks, with the post assessment being administered 10 weeks after baseline assessment. The investigators hypothesize that participants will adhere to coaching (80% completing ≥ 6 coaching calls; 80% responding to texts \> 6 weeks), be satisfied with coaching (M = 5 "agree" on a 6-point self-reported coaching satisfaction scale), and that coaching fidelity will be maintained (80% of audited coaching calls/texts meeting criteria for fidelity). The investigators also hypothesize that participants who receive peer-support phone coaching will complete more ACT Guide modules and will report greater improvements in mental health relative to both the text messaging and no support conditions, and that the text messaging condition will perform greater in this regard than the no support condition.

Conditions

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Treatment Adherence

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Participants will be randomly assigned with equal likelihood to receive the online intervention with coaching delivered through weekly phone calls, the online intervention with coaching delivered through weekly text messages, or the online intervention with no coaching.
Primary Study Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Phone Coaching Condition

Participants will receive weekly, 10-15 minute phone coaching from a trained peer-support coach throughout the 10 weeks that they use ACT Guide, an online program for general mental health. Coaches will adhere to an ACT-based protocol that includes reinforcing adherence, identifying and problem solving non-adherence, strengthening and generalizing ACT skills, and using ACT skills to increase commitment to ongoing program adherence.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Phone Coaching

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants receiving phone coaching receive one 10-15 minute phone call each week from their randomly assigned peer-support coach. During coaching calls, the peer-support coach will discuss ACT Guide usage with the participant (e.g., asking how many modules the participant completed, asking what the participant liked/disliked about the modules, etc.).

ACT Guide

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

ACT Guide is an online self-help program based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), targeting acceptance, mindfulness, and values-based processes. It is intended to be used for 20 to 40 minutes at time, a few times a week. While using ACT Guide, participants will read about concepts relevant to ACT and engage in guided experiential exercises, with additional exercises being assigned to be completed in between sessions as homework.

Text Message Coaching Condition

Participants assigned to the text messaging condition will receive weekly text messages from their peer-support coach throughout the 10 weeks that they use ACT Guide, an online program for general mental health. These text messages will reflect content delivered in the phone coaching group, but through a briefer protocol that accounts for the abbreviated, asynchronous nature of texting. Text messages will similarly focus on reinforcing adherence, problem solving non-adherence, strengthening ACT skills, and using ACT to increase program adherence. However, these areas will be covered in short messages and with limited exchanges between participants and coaches due to the asynchronous nature of texting.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Text Message Coaching

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants receiving text message coaching receive text messages on a weekly basis from their randomly assigned peer-support coach. Text messages from the peer-support coach will discuss ACT Guide usage with the participant (e.g., asking how many modules the participant completed).

ACT Guide

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

ACT Guide is an online self-help program based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), targeting acceptance, mindfulness, and values-based processes. It is intended to be used for 20 to 40 minutes at time, a few times a week. While using ACT Guide, participants will read about concepts relevant to ACT and engage in guided experiential exercises, with additional exercises being assigned to be completed in between sessions as homework.

No Coaching Condition

Participants will be asked to use ACT Guide, an online program for general mental health, over the course of 10 weeks while receiving no coaching.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

ACT Guide

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

ACT Guide is an online self-help program based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), targeting acceptance, mindfulness, and values-based processes. It is intended to be used for 20 to 40 minutes at time, a few times a week. While using ACT Guide, participants will read about concepts relevant to ACT and engage in guided experiential exercises, with additional exercises being assigned to be completed in between sessions as homework.

Interventions

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Phone Coaching

Participants receiving phone coaching receive one 10-15 minute phone call each week from their randomly assigned peer-support coach. During coaching calls, the peer-support coach will discuss ACT Guide usage with the participant (e.g., asking how many modules the participant completed, asking what the participant liked/disliked about the modules, etc.).

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Text Message Coaching

Participants receiving text message coaching receive text messages on a weekly basis from their randomly assigned peer-support coach. Text messages from the peer-support coach will discuss ACT Guide usage with the participant (e.g., asking how many modules the participant completed).

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

ACT Guide

ACT Guide is an online self-help program based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), targeting acceptance, mindfulness, and values-based processes. It is intended to be used for 20 to 40 minutes at time, a few times a week. While using ACT Guide, participants will read about concepts relevant to ACT and engage in guided experiential exercises, with additional exercises being assigned to be completed in between sessions as homework.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* USU undergraduate student
* Fluent in English

Exclusion Criteria

* Must have not used ACT Guide in the past
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Utah State University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Michael Levin

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Michael E Levin, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Utah State University

Locations

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Utah State University

Logan, Utah, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Boss L, Lehr D, Reis D, Vis C, Riper H, Berking M, Ebert DD. Reliability and Validity of Assessing User Satisfaction With Web-Based Health Interventions. J Med Internet Res. 2016 Aug 31;18(8):e234. doi: 10.2196/jmir.5952.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27582341 (View on PubMed)

Bond FW, Hayes SC, Baer RA, Carpenter KM, Guenole N, Orcutt HK, Waltz T, Zettle RD. Preliminary psychometric properties of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II: a revised measure of psychological inflexibility and experiential avoidance. Behav Ther. 2011 Dec;42(4):676-88. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2011.03.007. Epub 2011 May 25.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22035996 (View on PubMed)

Francis A, Dawson D, Golijani-Moghaddam N. The development and validation of the Comprehensive assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy processes (CompACT). Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. 2016; 5(3): 134-145.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Keyes CL. Mental illness and/or mental health? Investigating axioms of the complete state model of health. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2005 Jun;73(3):539-48. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.73.3.539.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15982151 (View on PubMed)

Osman A, Wong JL, Bagge CL, Freedenthal S, Gutierrez PM, Lozano G. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21): further examination of dimensions, scale reliability, and correlates. J Clin Psychol. 2012 Dec;68(12):1322-38. doi: 10.1002/jclp.21908. Epub 2012 Aug 28.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22930477 (View on PubMed)

Levin ME, Krafft J, Hicks ET, Pierce B, Twohig MP. A randomized dismantling trial of the open and engaged components of acceptance and commitment therapy in an online intervention for distressed college students. Behav Res Ther. 2020 Mar;126:103557. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2020.103557. Epub 2020 Jan 22.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 32014692 (View on PubMed)

Levin ME, Haeger JA, Pierce BG, Twohig MP. Web-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Mental Health Problems in College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Behav Modif. 2017 Jan 1;41(1):141-162. doi: 10.1177/0145445516659645. Epub 2016 Jul 20.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27440189 (View on PubMed)

Shelef K, Diamond GM. Short form of the revised Vanderbilt therapeutic alliance scale: development, reliability, and validity. Psychother Res. 2008 Jul;18(4):433-43. doi: 10.1080/10503300701810801.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 18815995 (View on PubMed)

Shim M, Mahaffey B, Bleidistel M, Gonzalez A. A scoping review of human-support factors in the context of Internet-based psychological interventions (IPIs) for depression and anxiety disorders. Clin Psychol Rev. 2017 Nov;57:129-140. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2017.09.003. Epub 2017 Sep 12.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28934623 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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11308

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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