NCT04551794

Different Levels of Guidance in iCBT for Depression (RCT)

iCBT for Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Different Levels of Guidance

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 126 (actual)
• Sponsor: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The study examines the effectiveness of a internet-based self-help-program called Selfapy for individuals who are experiencing mental stress. The main objective of the study is to investigate the extent to which Selfapy leads to a significant reduction in depressive symptoms. As this study is the first to evaluate the program Selfapy, also quality of life and acceptance of the program are evaluated. The study is conducted as a randomized-controlled trial with parallel assignment into three conditions. The groups were organized into one wait-list control group and two groups receiving access to Selfapy with different levels of guidance.

Detailed description

The study examines the effectiveness of a internet-based self-help-program called Selfapy for individuals who are experiencing mental stress. The main objective of the study is to investigate the extent to which Selfapy leads to a significant reduction in depressive symptoms. As this study is the first to evaluate the program Selfapy, also quality of life and acceptance of the program are evaluated. The primary outcome is the PHQ-9 as a measure of the severity of depressive symptoms, combined with the BDI-II. Secondary outcomes are rates of quality of life and satisfaction with the program, which were measured with the WHOQOL-BREF and ZUF-8. The study is conducted as a randomized-controlled trial with parallel assignment into three conditions over the course of three months. The groups were organized into one wait-list control group, one that received Selfapy with additional peer support and one that received Selfapy with therapeutic guidance.The wait-list control group received access to the program after completion of the post-survey.

Conditions

• Depressive Symptoms
• Quality of Life
• Self Esteem

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Selfapy with therapeutic guidance	The program consists of 9 modules with many interactional exercises. Themes that are addressed in the online-program are for example self-esteem, coping with relapse, establishing a structure for daily life and attention and breathing exercises as well as depression-specific topics such as negative thoughts management and arranging and maintaining social contacts. In addition, participants were able to talk about personal experiences with a therapeutic guide.
BEHAVIORAL	Selfapy with additional peer support	The program consists of 9 modules with many interactional exercises. Themes that are addressed in the online-program are for example self-esteem, coping with relapse, establishing a structure for daily life and attention and breathing exercises as well as depression-specific topics such as negative thoughts management and arranging and maintaining social contacts. In addition, participants were able to participate in exchange with peers via an internal closed forum.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-08-15
• Primary completion: 2016-12-09
• Completion: 2016-12-09
• First posted: 2020-09-16
• Last updated: 2020-09-16

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Germany