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The Study of Internet-delivered, Transdiagnostic Treatments for Anxiety and Depression

Not Applicable
Active, not recruiting
Conditions
Depression
Anxiety Disorders
Interventions
Other: Access to a moderated forum
Other: No access to a moderated forum
Registration Number
NCT05016843
Lead Sponsor
Stockholm University
Brief Summary

Anxiety and depression are common psychiatric disorders, resulting in suffering and impaired functioning for the individual. Today, most psychological treatments are disorder specific, even tough comorbidity between depression and anxiety and different anxiety disorders is rule rather than exception. Transdiagnostic treatments target the common features between depression and anxiety disorders and has shown to be as effective as disorder specific treatments in reducing symptoms of the disorders. Unified protocol and Affect phobia treatment are two types of transdiagnostic treatments that, to our knowledge, never been compared in research before. Internet-administered treatment presents a promising way to increase availability of psychotherapeutic interventions such as transdiagnostic treatments. However, questions regarding the optimal treatment length and level of support remain unanswered. The aim of this study is to examine two internet-administered transdiagnostic treatments and their effect on anxiety and depression, and to investigate the impact of treatment length and access to a moderated forum.

The study will investigate three factors: type of transdiagnostic treatment, length of treatment and whether patients have access to a moderated forum or not. 2400 participants with anxiety and/or depression will be randomly assigned to one of 12 subgroups and subsequently offered treatment based on differing combinations of the previously mentioned factors (200 participants/arm). The treatment conditions are internet-administered cognitive, behavioral treatment (CBT) Unified protocol and the psychodynamic Affect phobia treatment as well as a waitlist control group. Participants will also be randomized to either 8 or 16 weeks of treatment and access to a moderated forum or not.

Primary outcome measures will be the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale and the Brief Quality of Life scale. Negative effects of treatment will also be assessed. In addition to pre- and post-treatment measurements, the study includes one mid-treatment and three follow-up assessments (6, 12 and 24 months).

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
2400
Inclusion Criteria
  • Be able to read and write Swedish,
  • access to a mobile phone/computer,
  • 18 years or older,
  • GAD-7 ≥ 5 and/or
  • PHQ-9 ≥ 10.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Partaking in other psychological treatment,
  • has started or adjusted treatment with psychopharmacological drugs for anxiety, worry or depression within the nearest month,
  • severe depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 20) or suicidal (PHQ-9, item 9>2).

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
FACTORIAL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Psychodynamic therapy, 16 weeks and access to forum.Access to a moderated forum-
Psychodynamic therapy, 16 weeks and no access to forum.No access to a moderated forum-
CBT, 16 weeks and access to forum.No access to a moderated forum-
Waitlist, 16 weeks and access to forum.Access to a moderated forum-
Waitlist, 8 weeks and no access to forum.No access to a moderated forum-
CBT, 8 weeks and access to forum.Access to a moderated forum-
CBT, 8 weeks and no access to forum.No access to a moderated forum-
Psychodynamic therapy, 8 weeks and access to forum.Access to a moderated forum-
Waitlist, 8 weeks and access to forum.Access to a moderated forum-
CBT, 16 weeks and no access to forum.Access to a moderated forum-
Psychodynamic therapy, 8 weeks and no access to forum.No access to a moderated forum-
Waitlist, 16 weeks and no access to forum.No access to a moderated forum-
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item scale (PHQ-9)Through study completion, an average of 2 years.

The PHQ-9 features nine items for assessing depression in a clinical context and screening of depression in the general population.

Brunnsviken Brief Quality of Life Scale (BBQ)Through study completion, an average of 2 years.

The BBQ features 12 items concerning 6 areas of life rated on importance and satisfaction.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7- item scale (GAD-7)Through study completion, an average of 2 years.

The GAD-7 features seven items for assessing anxiety and screening for generalized anxiety disorder.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Negative Effects Questionnaire (NEQ)At post-treatment only (which is week 8 or 16 depending on treatment allocation).

The NEQ measures unwanted effects of treatments.

The Personality Inventory for DSM Short Form (PID-5)Baseline only.

The PID-5 is a self-rated measure of personality-related problems featuring 25 items.

Reflective Functioning Questionnaire 8 (RFQ-8)Through study completion, an average of 2 years.

RFQ features 8 items assessing the ability to understand mental states of the self and others.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Department of Psychology

🇸🇪

Stockholm, Sweden

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