NCT06894368

Group Version of the UP-A in a Spanish Public Mental Health Setting.

Development and Evaluation of a Group Version of the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents (UP-A) in a Spanish Public Mental Health Setting.

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 31 (actual)
• Sponsor: Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 11 Years – 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The study aims to adapt the Spanish version of the UP-A to a group format in a public mental health setting for adolescents with moderate emotional symptoms and evaluate its clinical utility and feasibility. This includes assessing anxiety, depression, transdiagnostic variables, engagement, and satisfaction from adolescents, parents, and clinicians, with follow-ups at 3, 6 and 12 months. The goal is to improve adolescent mental health and explore whether this approach could help alleviate the pressure on public healthcare services.

Detailed description

Anxiety and depression are among the most prevalent mental health disorders in adolescents, with growing concerns about their increasing incidence. Studies indicate that emotional disorders often co-occur due to shared transdiagnostic factors, such as poor emotion regulation, high negative affect, and cognitive avoidance. Given these shared mechanisms, transdiagnostic treatments like the Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents (UP-A) have been developed to improve adaptive emotion regulation and reduce avoidance behaviors. While the UP-A has been primarily evaluated as an individual therapy, its adaptation to a group format could enhance accessibility and efficiency, particularly in public mental health settings. This study aims to adapt the Spanish version of the UP-A to a group format for adolescents with moderate emotional symptoms in a public mental health setting and assess its clinical utility and feasibility. The program is administered at a public mental health center in Madrid, with 31 adolescents (ages 11-17) diagnosed with emotional disorders. The intervention consists of 16 weekly sessions for adolescents, alongside three parental sessions. The program incorporates modifications such as individual sessions for defining personal treatment goals, structured peer support, and behavioral reinforcement strategies.

Conditions

• Anxiety Disorders
• Depressive Disorder
• Emotional Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	UP-A	The intervention is a group adaptation of the Spanish version of the Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents (UP-A; Ehrenreich-May et al., 2018, 2020, 2022). It consists of 16 weekly 90-minute sessions held in person at a public Mental Health Center. The intervention also includes three in-person group sessions for parents, each lasting one hour, held at the beginning, middle, and end of the program. These sessions cover content from the therapist's guide, including the Parent Module (Parenting the Emotional Adolescent), and provide a space for questions and emotional support.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-11-17
• Primary completion: 2025-06-15
• Completion: 2025-07-15
• First posted: 2025-03-25
• Last updated: 2025-09-16

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Spain