Helping young people with chronic medical conditions experiencing anxiety and depressio

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Chronic medical conditions (e.g., asthma); Mental Health - Anxiety; Mental Health - Other mental health disorders; Mental health (anxiety); Mental health (depression); Mental Health - Depression; Neurological - Multiple sclerosis; Inflammatory and Immune System - Autoimmune diseases; Respiratory - Asthma; Metabolic and Endocrine - Diabetes

• Registration Number: ACTRN12624000114549
• Lead Sponsor: Murdoch Children's Research Institute

Brief Summary

Not available

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2024-02-08
• Last Update Posted: 19 August 2024

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: ot yet recruiting
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 60

Inclusion Criteria

Inclusion criteria are as follows:

a.Have a CMC, defined as any medical condition where the child/adolescent have regular appointments or is seen every 6 months, and has emotional symptoms associated with their medical condition or impacting their medical condition (e.g., treatment adherence). Examples of CMC include asthma, congenital heart disease, diabetes, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and sickle cell disease.

b.Score above the high-risk clinical range (greater than or equal to 65) for any of the subscales on the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS), to indicate clinically concerning levels of depression and anxiety. This will be based on both parent-report and self-reported outcomes on the RCADS.

c. Young person and one parent will need to have sufficient English to complete the protocol without an interpreter. This is because most of the measures used in the project are only available in the English language, and the UP-C/A has not been validated in other languages.

Exclusion Criteria

Exclusion criteria are as follows:

a.Children/adolescents with a CMC where significant medical deterioration is expected and children in palliative care. Rationale: Most children within this high-risk group may be experiencing a complex array of symptoms and potentially be exposed to complex treatment regimens. We are hence excluding this group to limit the effects of these potential confounding factors on the intervention outcomes.

b.Participants taking psychotropic medication, who are not on a stable dose for the 8 weeks prior to starting the study. Rationale: Since change in psychotropic medication can be associated with sporadic changes in mood and behaviour, we are excluding this group to reduce risk of having our treatment effects confounded by the effect of such medications.

c.Children with co-morbid somatisation, eating disorders, significant intellectual disability (suspected or confirmed IQ <70), bipolar disorder, recent psychiatric hospitalization, or severe suicidal ideation or treatment-interfering substance abuse. Rationale: We are excluding this group because these conditions sometimes increased risk of/overlap with anxiety and depression symptoms and pose a high risk of confounding our measurements on these outcomes.

Study & Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Study Design: Not specified