NCT06334887

esTOCma, an App Used by Teachers: an RCT

A RCT of a Mobile App (esTOCma) to Improve Mental Health Literacy, Stigmatizing Attitudes Related to OCD, and Confidence in Dealing With Students With OCD in Teachers

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 175 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Valencia · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 99 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The aim of the present study is to assess the efficacy of a mobile application called esTOCma in promoting mental health literacy, reducing stigmatizing attitudes related to the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and improving teachers' confidence in dealing with students that might have OCD. A parallel, randomized controlled trial with two conditions (experimental and control group) will be carried out in a sample of teachers that work in primary and secondary education. Pre-post changes will be assessed. Experimental group will use the app until they finish it (within a set period of 10 days), whereas control group will do nothing for 10 days. Primarily, it is expected that after the use of the app, participants will show an improvement in OCD-related literacy, stigmatizing attitudes, desired social distance and their comfort, confidence and perceived ability in teaching and handling students with OCD. Secondarily, the investigators hypothesize that experimental group might show a reduction in obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

Detailed description

Adolescence is a critical stage that is associated with a high vulnerability to developing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Schools are part of the natural developmental context of adolescents, and teachers are involved in their education and personal development. In this sense, teachers play an essential role in the early detection and referral of students with possible obsessional symptoms and will also have to deal with the management of this symptomatology in the classroom. Moreover, teachers often have low knowledge of mental health problems and lack strategies for handling mental symptomatology in the classroom. esTOCma is a mobile health (mHealth) application that has been developed to promote mental health literacy and reduce stigmatizing attitudes associated with OCD. Previous studies have shown that it is a tool with great potential in terms of intervention on stigma and OCD literacy in the general population. Thus, it could be of great interest to use this app in the field of education, and especially in non-university education since adolescents, a highly vulnerable collective to the development of OCD, spend much of their time in the classroom, and often seek help from school staff.

Conditions

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Use of esTOCma	Participants of the experimental group will use the esTOCma mobile app until completion, within a set period of 10 days. EsTOCma is a a serious game with 10 missions where users have to free 10 characters who have been imprisoned by a monster called esTOCma, which metaphorically represents the stigma in OCD. With each mission, users will gain knowledge about OCD and free an imprisoned character until the tenth mission, when they will defeat the monster. This game has three modules: (1) Psychoeducation (missions 1-5), where general information about OCD, OCD treatments and where to seek help is provided; (2) Indirect Contact (missions 6 and 7), which consists of a series of audio-visual recordings in which OCD patients report their symptoms and the impact the disorder has had on their lives; and finally, (3) Cognitive Restructuring (missions 8-10), where common dysfunctional beliefs about OCD and OCD treatment are challenged.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-02-26
• Primary completion: 2024-06-30
• Completion: 2024-06-30
• First posted: 2024-03-28
• Last updated: 2025-12-30

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Spain