Active Elements of Digital Single-session Interventions

NCT ID: NCT06322849

Last Updated: 2024-09-19

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

887 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2024-05-02

Study Completion Date

2024-07-18

Brief Summary

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Depression is a leading cause of disability in young adults. However, access to care is limited due to structural and psychological barriers. Single-session interventions (SSIs) are structured programs designed to maximize the therapeutic output in one interaction between the patient and the provider or a program. Project ABC, a single-session intervention (SSI), has been shown to be effective in reducing depressive symptoms. Project ABC is based on four components-psychoeducation, testimonials, saying is believing exercises, and action planning. However, it is unclear what are the effects of the individual components.

The primary aim of this study is to calculate the main effects of the candidate components-psychoeducation, testimonials + saying is believing exercises, and action planning-on Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) scores at 8-week follow-up.

The secondary aims of this study are to:

1. calculate the main effects of the candidate components-psychoeducation, testimonials + saying is believing exercises, and action planning-on PHQ-8 scores at immediate post-treatment and 2-week follow-up.
2. calculate the interaction effects, if any, among the candidate components on PHQ-8 scores at immediate post-treatment, 2-week, and 8-week follow-up.
3. calculate the main and interaction effects of the candidate components on measures of hopelessness, autonomy, relatedness, and competence.
4. determine if the effects of the candidate components on PHQ-8 are mediated by measures of autonomy, relatedness, and competence.

Additionally, the exploratory aim of this study is to determine if common factors, like credibility of the intervention and expectations to improve, can lead to symptom change.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Depression

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

FACTORIAL

Participants will be randomized to one of 8 different conditions (factorial trial), following the Multiphase optimization Strategy (MOST)
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Participants
Participants will be aware that they will be assigned to an intervention designed to help them with depressive symptoms. Participants will be aware that there are other arms of the study to which other participants are randomized, but they will not be aware of what these other arms entail. Additionally, the measures will be self-administered, so there is no scope for evaluator bias.

Study Groups

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Arm 1

Experimental: Breathing exercise + active elements 1, 2, 3

In this arm, all three factors are set to active (i.e. yes):

* Psychoeducation
* Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises
* Action planning

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Psychoeducation

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Psychoeducation is a potential active element of Project ABC. In psychoeducation, participants learn about the cognitive model of behavior and how they can take action to change their moods.

Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises is a potential active element of Project ABC. In this element, participants learn about how others have taken action to improve their mood and complete one exercise where they give advice to a virtual peer who is stuck in a negative spiral.

Action planning

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Action planning is a potential active element of Project ABC. In this element, participants plan in detail an action they can take to get out of the negative mood spiral.

Breathing exercise

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be presented with a one-minute breathing exercise.

Arm 2

Experimental: Breathing exercise + active elements 1, 2

In this arm, two factors are set to active (i.e. yes):

* Psychoeducation
* Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Psychoeducation

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Psychoeducation is a potential active element of Project ABC. In psychoeducation, participants learn about the cognitive model of behavior and how they can take action to change their moods.

Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises is a potential active element of Project ABC. In this element, participants learn about how others have taken action to improve their mood and complete one exercise where they give advice to a virtual peer who is stuck in a negative spiral.

Breathing exercise

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be presented with a one-minute breathing exercise.

Arm 3

Experimental: Breathing exercise + active elements 1, 3

In this arm, two factors are set to active (i.e. yes):

* Psychoeducation
* Action planning

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Psychoeducation

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Psychoeducation is a potential active element of Project ABC. In psychoeducation, participants learn about the cognitive model of behavior and how they can take action to change their moods.

Action planning

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Action planning is a potential active element of Project ABC. In this element, participants plan in detail an action they can take to get out of the negative mood spiral.

Breathing exercise

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be presented with a one-minute breathing exercise.

Arm 4

Experimental: Breathing exercise + active elements 2, 3

In this arm, two factors are set to active (i.e. yes):

* Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises
* Action planning

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises is a potential active element of Project ABC. In this element, participants learn about how others have taken action to improve their mood and complete one exercise where they give advice to a virtual peer who is stuck in a negative spiral.

Breathing exercise

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be presented with a one-minute breathing exercise.

Arm 5

Experimental: Breathing exercise + active element 1

In this arm, one factor is set to active (i.e. yes):

• Psychoeducation

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Psychoeducation

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Psychoeducation is a potential active element of Project ABC. In psychoeducation, participants learn about the cognitive model of behavior and how they can take action to change their moods.

Breathing exercise

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be presented with a one-minute breathing exercise.

Arm 6

Experimental: Breathing exercise + active element 2

In this arm, one factor is set to active (i.e. yes):

• Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises is a potential active element of Project ABC. In this element, participants learn about how others have taken action to improve their mood and complete one exercise where they give advice to a virtual peer who is stuck in a negative spiral.

Breathing exercise

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be presented with a one-minute breathing exercise.

Arm 7

Experimental: Breathing exercise + active element 3

In this arm, one factor is set to active (i.e. yes):

• Action planning

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Action planning

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Action planning is a potential active element of Project ABC. In this element, participants plan in detail an action they can take to get out of the negative mood spiral.

Breathing exercise

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be presented with a one-minute breathing exercise.

Arm 8

Experimental: Breathing exercise only

In this arm, none of the three factors are set to active (i.e. yes)

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Breathing exercise

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be presented with a one-minute breathing exercise.

Interventions

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Psychoeducation

Psychoeducation is a potential active element of Project ABC. In psychoeducation, participants learn about the cognitive model of behavior and how they can take action to change their moods.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises

Testimonials and Saying is believing exercises is a potential active element of Project ABC. In this element, participants learn about how others have taken action to improve their mood and complete one exercise where they give advice to a virtual peer who is stuck in a negative spiral.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Action planning

Action planning is a potential active element of Project ABC. In this element, participants plan in detail an action they can take to get out of the negative mood spiral.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Breathing exercise

Participants will be presented with a one-minute breathing exercise.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Located in the United States
* Baseline Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) score \>= 10
* Able to read and write English
* Able to access to the internet via a computer, tablet or smartphone for the next eight weeks

Exclusion Criteria

* Participants who have participated in another related study on depression from our laboratory via the same participant recruitment platform in the past two months
* Participants who have submitted gibberish in open response questions
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

35 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Northwestern University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Jessica Schleider

Associate Professor, Northwestern University

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Jessica L Schleider

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Northwestern University

Locations

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Northwestern University

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Schleider JL, Mullarkey MC, Fox KR, Dobias ML, Shroff A, Hart EA, Roulston CA. A randomized trial of online single-session interventions for adolescent depression during COVID-19. Nat Hum Behav. 2022 Feb;6(2):258-268. doi: 10.1038/s41562-021-01235-0. Epub 2021 Dec 9.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 34887544 (View on PubMed)

Kroenke K, Strine TW, Spitzer RL, Williams JB, Berry JT, Mokdad AH. The PHQ-8 as a measure of current depression in the general population. J Affect Disord. 2009 Apr;114(1-3):163-73. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2008.06.026. Epub 2008 Aug 27.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 18752852 (View on PubMed)

Perczel Forintos D, Rozsa S, Pilling J, Kopp M. Proposal for a short version of the Beck Hopelessness Scale based on a national representative survey in Hungary. Community Ment Health J. 2013 Dec;49(6):822-30. doi: 10.1007/s10597-013-9619-1. Epub 2013 Jun 12.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 23756722 (View on PubMed)

Sheldon, K.M., Hilpert, J.C. The balanced measure of psychological needs (BMPN) scale: An alternative domain general measure of need satisfaction. Motiv Emot 36, 439-451 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-012-9279-4

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Devilly GJ, Borkovec TD. Psychometric properties of the credibility/expectancy questionnaire. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2000 Jun;31(2):73-86. doi: 10.1016/s0005-7916(00)00012-4.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 11132119 (View on PubMed)

Provided Documents

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Document Type: Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Other Identifiers

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STU00220591

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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