Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Depression and Anxiety in Perinatal Parents

NCT ID: NCT06881693

Last Updated: 2025-11-17

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

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

60 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-02-24

Study Completion Date

2026-06-30

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Wellbeing Course for New and Expecting Parents (WCNEP), an internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) intervention, in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression in perinatal parents, within a routine care online therapy clinic (the Online Therapy Unit). The study aims to assess treatment uptake, perceptions, feasibility, and effectiveness of the WCNEP in routine care among birthing and non-birthing parents. Over the duration of 8 weeks, participants will review course materials online and respond to questionnaires aimed at assessing changes in various outcomes over time.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Depression and anxiety in the perinatal stage are associated with adverse outcomes such as pregnancy and birth complications, developmental impacts on the baby, relationship issues and poor wellbeing with the partner. Despite these challenges, barriers such as stigma and shame, poor understanding and awareness of symptoms, and lack of treatment availability prevent access to treatment.

Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) is an effective and accessible treatment. The Online Therapy Unit (OTU) routinely delivers ICBT programs for various concerns to Saskatchewan residents. ICBT programs offered by OTU have shown great success, particularly in addressing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Furthermore, previous trials conducted by OTU - Maternal Depression Online and Wellbeing Course for New Moms - have demonstrated the effectiveness of the programs in addressing postnatal depression and anxiety among birthing parents.

Despite the effectiveness of these programs, they were limited in scope; Maternal Depression Online was primarily designed to address depression, and both programs were offered exclusively to postnatal birthing parents. Accordingly, the Wellbeing Course for New and Expecting Parents (WCNEP) has been developed as an 8-week transdiagnostic ICBT program for perinatal birthing and non-birthing parents experiencing depression and/or anxiety. To develop the WCNEP, the Wellbeing Course for New Moms was adapted for parents across the perinatal stage by revising the program content and incorporating additional patient stories of perinatal birthing and non-birthing parents.

Although recruitment and service provision will include both birthing and non-birthing perinatal parents, the Course will be evaluated in two phases. In phase 1, the investigators will evaluate the Course for perinatal birthing parents. In phase 2, the investigators will evaluate the course for non-birthing parents. Prospective clients may learn about the WCNEP from advertisements to the public, healthcare providers, and community organizations. Interested clients will be directed to the study website to complete a screening protocol. Clients will subsequently book and complete a telephone screening with an OTU therapist. Following the telephone screening, eligible clients will be enrolled in the WCNEP. Participants will have access to five lessons that they will complete in consecutive order with 1 to 2 weeks between lessons. They will be asked to complete questionnaires at various time points, and provided with homework activities to complete after each lesson. Participants will also have access to therapist support for a minimum of 8 weeks, which can be extended up to 12 weeks in the event that the birth of a child or some unexpected event occurs during the duration of the Course. After completing treatment, a subset of participants will take part in a semi-structured interview for feedback on overall course content and specific course components (i.e., patient stories).

The overall goals of the study are to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention on various outcomes in perinatal parents over time, and the uptake of and engagement with different components (e.g., patient stories) of the treatment.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Anxiety Depression

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

NA

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

All clients will be directed to complete the Wellbeing Course for New and Expecting Parents
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Wellbeing Course for New and Expecting Parents

Participants in the current study will be perinatal parents experiencing symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. All participants will have access to 5 ICBT lessons released gradually over 8 weeks. The 5 ICBT lessons target challenges and symptoms of anxiety and depression in perinatal parents and focus on: 1) symptom identification and the cognitive behavioural model; 2) thought monitoring and challenging; 3) de-arousal strategies and pleasant activity scheduling; 4) graduated exposure; and 5) relapse prevention. Materials are text-based with visual images, and are presented as slideshows, stories, homework reflections, and additional resources.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Internet-delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The Wellbeing Course for New and Expecting Parents (WCNEP) is an adaptation of the Wellbeing Course (developed and evaluated at Macquaire University, Australia) and the Wellbeing Course for New Moms (a Canadian adaptation of the Wellbeing Course for new moms). The WCNEP is a transdiagnostic ICBT intervention designed for perinatal parents experiencing depression and/or anxiety, and will be offered by the Online Therapy Unit, a unit providing routine care ICBT services in Canada. The WCNEP will be evaluated in phases; phase 1 will evaluate the course for birthing parents only and phase 2 will evaluate the course for birthing and non-birthing parents. Therapist support will be offered for 8 weeks, with the possibility to extend the support to 12 weeks. Therapists will spend \~15 minutes/week communicating with each client, via secure messages. Phone calls will only be made if there is a significant clinical issue requiring attention that the therapist feel cannot be addressed in messages.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Internet-delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

The Wellbeing Course for New and Expecting Parents (WCNEP) is an adaptation of the Wellbeing Course (developed and evaluated at Macquaire University, Australia) and the Wellbeing Course for New Moms (a Canadian adaptation of the Wellbeing Course for new moms). The WCNEP is a transdiagnostic ICBT intervention designed for perinatal parents experiencing depression and/or anxiety, and will be offered by the Online Therapy Unit, a unit providing routine care ICBT services in Canada. The WCNEP will be evaluated in phases; phase 1 will evaluate the course for birthing parents only and phase 2 will evaluate the course for birthing and non-birthing parents. Therapist support will be offered for 8 weeks, with the possibility to extend the support to 12 weeks. Therapists will spend \~15 minutes/week communicating with each client, via secure messages. Phone calls will only be made if there is a significant clinical issue requiring attention that the therapist feel cannot be addressed in messages.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* Become the guardian of an infant in the last 24 month by birth or adoption/fostering or are expecting the birth of an infant as a birthing parent or partner;
* Self-reported difficulty with depression and/or anxiety;
* Are aged 18 years or older; or 16 if participant meets criteria to be treated as a mature minor based on Saskatchewan legislation;
* Willingness to learn information and skills to self-manage mental health difficulties, consent to course and associated research.

Exclusion Criteria

* Current severe medical or psychiatric condition that requires immediate treatment (e.g. current mania or psychosis, actively suicidal or unable to keep themselves safe, medical condition requiring immediate surgery or other invasive treatment);
* Living outside of Saskatchewan;
* Unable to read and understand English. (All content is provided in English and staff is English speaking; it is cost prohibitive at this time to provide the complete service in languages other than English).
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

Government of Saskatchewan, Ministry of Health

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

Macquarie University, Australia

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Regina

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Heather Hadjistavropoulos, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Regina

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

Online Therapy Unit

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

Canada

Central Contacts

Reach out to these primary contacts for questions about participation or study logistics.

Marcie Nugent, MSW

Role: CONTACT

306-337-2946

Heather Hadjistavropoulos, PhD

Role: CONTACT

306-585-5133

Facility Contacts

Find local site contact details for specific facilities participating in the trial.

Marcie Nugent, MSW

Role: primary

306-337-2946

Heather Hadjistavropoulos, PhD

Role: backup

306-585-5133

Related Links

Access external resources that provide additional context or updates about the study.

https://www.onlinetherapyuser.ca/

Link to the primary unit running the study

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

985

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

More Related Trials

Additional clinical trials that may be relevant based on similarity analysis.

Online PHN CBT for PPD
NCT04928742 COMPLETED NA