esTOCma, an App Used by Teachers: an RCT
- Conditions
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
- Interventions
- Device: Use of esTOCma
- Registration Number
- NCT06334887
- Lead Sponsor
- University of Valencia
- Brief 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.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 168
- Being a practising teacher in non-university education.
- Working in the education field as a guidance counsellor, language teacher or therapeutic pedagogue.
- Working in a field other than those mentioned above.
- Having less than 18 years old.
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Use of esTOCma Use of esTOCma Experimental group will use esTOCma until they finish it (within a preestablished 10-days period).
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Change in stigmatizing attitudes related to OCD associated with a vignette Through app completion (an estimation of 10 days). Score change in stigma associated with a vignette measured by:
1. Attribution Questionnaire (AQ-9; González-Sanguino, et al., 2019) is a self-report measure. It has a Likert scale ranging from 1 = "Not at all" to 9 = "Very much". Investigators will not use the items corresponding to Coercion, Pity and Avoidance. The higher the score (total and per item), the higher the stigma.
2. OCD Stigma Measure (OSM; Ponzini et al., 2023) is a self-report measure composed by 16 items and two subscales (Severe Mental Illness-related Stereotypes and Anxiety-relevant Stereotypes). 11 items will be used in this study. A total score (sum of all the items) is interpreted, as well as each subscale.Change in comfort in addressing OCD Through app completion (an estimation of 10 days). Score change in the comfort in dealing with people with OCD will be measured by Comfort Questionnaire (Kutcher et al., 2016). It is a self-report instrument with two parts. Part A assesses the sense of comfort in talking to, identifying and advising students with OCD, and part B appraises the referrals, that is, whether participants have identified and advised a student or acquaintance who might have OCD, or if they have sought help for themselves. Part A has a Likert scale ranging from 1 "Completely disagree" to 5 "Completely agree" so the total score will be obtained by adding up and averaging these items. And in part B they have to answer Yes or No, therefore each item will be reviewed individually in terms of percentages.
Change in OCD literacy associated with a vignette Through app completion (an estimation of 10 days). Score change in mental health literacy associated with a vignette assesses by:
1. An ad hoc questionnaire with 2 items: an open-ended question that inquires about what the participants thinks is happening to the person described in the vignette; and a Likert question "To what extent do you feel capable of helping a student like N?" with a 5-point scale (from 1 "Slightly/Not at all confident" to 5 "Extremely/Very confident". Each item will the reviewed individually.
2. Questionnaire developed by Whitley \& Gooderham (2016) composed by 6 items. The 3 items corresponding to Teacher Efficacy, Teacher Expectations and Problem Severity will be used. 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1"Least/Lowest" to 4 "Most/Highest". The total score and each item will be taken into account.
There will be two vignettes that will be randomly assigned. Both portray a student with OCD but one focuses on the contamination content, and the other on the aggressive content.Change in general OCD literacy Through app completion (an estimation of 10 days). Score change in the knowledge and the attitudes towards obsessive-compulsive disorder measured by the OCD Knowledge Stigma Assessment Scale (OKSAS). It is a self-report ad hoc questionnaire with 24 items and a response scale ranging from 1 "Completely disagree" to 5 "Completely agree". The total score is the sum of the items and higher score indicate more knowledge about the disorder.
Change in desired social distance Through app completion (an estimation of 10 days). Score change in desired social distance will be measured by Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS; Evans-Lacko et al., 2011). It is a self-report measure with 8 items and it inquires about Reported and Intended Behaviour among four different contexts: (1) living with, (2) working with, (3) living nearby and (4) continuing a relationship with someone with a mental health problem. Investigators will use the 4 items corresponding to Intended Behaviour subscale. Likert scale from 1 "Agree strongly" to 5 " Disagree strongly" and an additional "Don't know" response option. The total score is calculated by adding together the response values, and "Don't know" is coded as a neutral value (i.e. 3).
This questionnaire will be used in association with a vignette.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Change in obsessive-compulsive symptoms Through app completion (an estimation of 10 days). Score change in OCD symptoms will be measured by Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory - Revised. The reduced 4-item version (OCI-4; Abramovich et al., 2021) that assesses four dimensions of OCD (washing, checking, ordering, obsessing) will be used. It has a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 "Not at all" to 4 "Very much". The items will be added.
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
University of Valencia/ Universitat de València
🇪🇸Valencia, Spain