A RCT of DST in Reducing Depressive Symptoms, Enhancing Self-esteem, and Promoting Quality of Life Among CCSs

NCT ID: NCT07052110

Last Updated: 2025-07-04

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

248 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-01-01

Study Completion Date

2025-12-31

Brief Summary

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

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of Digital storytelling (DST) in reducing depressive symptoms, enhancing self-esteem, and promoting quality of life among Chinese survivors of childhood cancer.

Participants in the experimental group will be divided into groups of 6 to 8 childhood cancer survivors to receive the intervention, which comprises four workshops. Each workshop will last 2.5 hours and will be conducted by a qualified interventionist. Parents are not required to attend the workshop. We will provide a waiting room for them. Parents will also be provided with a leaflet developed by Hong Kong Department of Health which contains self-help material for depression.

No intervention will be carried out among participants in the control group. However, customary care including medical follow-up, medication prescription, and nursing interventions will be provided, as usual. Parents will also be provided with a leaflet containing self-help materials for depression.

Detailed Description

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

Conditions

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

Cancer

Study Design

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

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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

Intervention: Intervention Arm

Participants in the experimental group will receive the DST intervention, which comprises four workshops. Each workshop will last 2.5 hours and will be conducted by a qualified interventionist. In the workshops, a group of 6-8 participants will first share their personal cancer experiences and offer feedback to other participants in the context of a story circle. A set of guiding questions will be used to facilitate participants in telling their own stories. Particularly, probing will be used to guide the child participants to share their own experiences. Open-ended questions such as 'How do you think about your cancer experience?' will be asked. Subsequent supplementary questions, such as 'What makes you feel in this way?' and 'can you give me some examples' will be asked to encourage more sharing. Afterwards, participants wil be encouraged to write their own script and storyboard, record their stories using a microphone, and choose photos and videos to illustrate their stories.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Digital storytelling

Intervention Type OTHER

DST is an intervention that can potentially mitigate the psychological impact of traumatic experiences. People can usually find positive meaning in a traumatic experience by communicating their experience using narratives like storytelling. In particular, by externalising the traumatic experience in the form of a narrative, the individual can become an objective agent, distancing themselves from negative meanings attached to the experience. This lowers people's resistance to and defence against the experience, assisting them to explore alternative perspectives regarding the experience and to identify its positive aspects, which boost self-esteem. Likewise, storytelling engages different areas of the brain, including those responsible for visual, language, and hearing functions, to reorganise the disorganised traumatic experience into a coherent story, facilitating integration of the experience into existing memories.

No Intervention: Control Arm

No intervention will be carried out among participants in the control group. However, customary care including medical follow-up, medication prescription, and nursing interventions will be provided, as usual.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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

Digital storytelling

DST is an intervention that can potentially mitigate the psychological impact of traumatic experiences. People can usually find positive meaning in a traumatic experience by communicating their experience using narratives like storytelling. In particular, by externalising the traumatic experience in the form of a narrative, the individual can become an objective agent, distancing themselves from negative meanings attached to the experience. This lowers people's resistance to and defence against the experience, assisting them to explore alternative perspectives regarding the experience and to identify its positive aspects, which boost self-esteem. Likewise, storytelling engages different areas of the brain, including those responsible for visual, language, and hearing functions, to reorganise the disorganised traumatic experience into a coherent story, facilitating integration of the experience into existing memories.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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

Inclusion Criteria

* (1) age between 13 and 18 years;
* (2) able to speak Cantonese and read Chinese; and
* (3) completed the active treatment of cancer.

Exclusion Criteria

* survivors with mental and behavioural problems documented in their medical records.
Minimum Eligible Age

13 Years

Maximum 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.

Hong Kong Children's Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Research Grants Council, Hong Kong

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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

Dr Eva Ho

associate professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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

Ka Yan Ho, phd

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Locations

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

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,

Hong Kong, , Hong Kong

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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

Hong Kong

Central Contacts

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

Ka Yan Ho, PhD

Role: CONTACT

+8527666417

Facility Contacts

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

Ting MAO

Role: primary

Other Identifiers

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

DST intervention

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

More Related Trials

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

Acupressure for Cough in Lung Cancer Survivors
NCT07315672 NOT_YET_RECRUITING NA
Lingzhi for Cancer Children
NCT00575926 COMPLETED PHASE3