Adapted and Translated, Adolescent Depression, Internet Intervention

NCT01783652 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: catch_it_2013
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 138
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Objectives : The key objective of this study is to develop new interventions that addresses the diverse needs and circumstances of Hong Kong adolescents with depressive symptoms in community settings. Collaboration between medical professionals and social workers may prevent the occurrence of depression and misguided attempts to self-treat with alcohol and / or drugs in our adolescents. Methods : To address this intervention gap in the United States, Dr. Van Voorhees, a research collaborator of Dr. Chim and Dr. Ip, developed and conducted a phase 2 clinical trial of a primary care internet-based depression prevention intervention (CATCH-IT, Competent Adulthood Transition with Cognitive Behavioral Humanistic and Interpersonal training). It has been observed clinically that the strategy could reduce depressed mood, increased social support and reduced depressive episodes at 12 month follow-up. The investigators now propose to study if an adaptation of the CATCH-IT website for Hong Kong Chinese adolescents may lead to significant reductions in depressed mood. In this pilot trial, the investigators propose to test the efficacy of the Adapted and Translated version of CATCH-IT (AT-CATCH) against the placebo approach in preventing the onset of depressive episodes in a group of adolescents (aged 13-17) who have depressive symptoms, but have not developed depression yet.The case group will have access to the AT-CATCH website while the control group will only be allow to use the anti-smoking website. The investigators hypothesize that compared to youth in the control group, youth assigned to the AT-CATCH group will have a lower hazard ratio of major depressive episodes and decreased alcohol / drug use frequency over 2 years. Moreover, compared to youth in the control group, youth in the AT-CATCH program will demonstrate a steeper slope of improved symptoms through growth curve analysis and fewer depressed days over the study period.

Conditions

Adolescent - Emotional Problem

Keywords

Adolescent depression; internet intervention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Depression symptoms

  Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) : at baseline, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months

  12 months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Depression measurement

  12 months

• alcohol abuse

  12 months

Study Arms (2)

Intervention group

EXPERIMENTAL

Study participants in the intervention group will be given access to an anti-depression website and have four telephone follow-up within the 1-year study period.

Behavioral: Intervention group

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

Study participants in the control group will not received any depression-related service other than an interactive anti-smoking website provided by the University of Hong Kong.

Interventions

Intervention group BEHAVIORAL

Participants in the intervention group will have access to the anti-depression website modified and translated by the University of Hong Kong. 10 chapters on understanding depression, identifying depression symptoms and techniques tackling depression will be covered. Exercises and built-in questionnaires on measuring emotions will be provided in the website. Additional telephone follow-up counseling at the third, sixth and twelfth months will be conducted.

Intervention group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 13 Years - 21 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• age 13 to 21
• experience a moderately elevated level of depressive symptoms on the CES-D scale (score 16-34)
• may or may not have had a past history of depression, anxiety and/or substance abuse

You may not qualify if:

• currently diagnosed with depression, schizophrenia, or bipolar affective disorder ;
• currently taking antidepressants or psychotropic medication ;
• CES-D score equal or higher than 35, or a proved serious medical illness that causes significant disability or dysfunction ;
• exhibit significant reading impairment, mental retardation, developmental disabilities
• serious imminent suicidal risk or other conditions that may require immediate psychiatric hospitalization
• have extreme, current drug / alcohol abuse (greater than or equal to 2 on the CRAFFT)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The University of Hong Kong: lead

Study Sites (1)

The University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Location

Study Officials

• David Chim, Dr.

  The University of Hong Kong

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 31, 2013
• First Posted: February 5, 2013
• Study Start: January 1, 2013
• Primary Completion: July 1, 2015
• Study Completion: July 1, 2015
• Last Updated: July 11, 2014

Record last verified: 2014-07

Locations

CN (1)