School-based Universal Prevention for Anxiety and Depression in Sweden: A Cluster-randomized Trial

NCT02134730 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: AGJA-01
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 695
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Mental illness is a major health problem in children and young people, and there is evidence that mental illness is increasing among young people in the population. More than 80 % of the cost to society of mental illness in children in Sweden is the cost of treatment and care. Anxiety and depression are the most common psychiatric problems in children and adolescents. In comparison with the treatment of mental disorders, there is relatively limited knowledge about prevention. There are at least two very important reasons to investigate further preventive interventions for anxiety and depression. (1) Only about 20% of children and adolescents with anxiety or depression use health services. (2) Some children stop treatment and almost 40% do still fulfill criteria for the disorder after treatment. FRIENDS for life is one of the most evaluated prevention programs internationally. The program has shown promising results in research. The overall aim of the present study is to evaluate FRIENDS for Life in Sweden.

Conditions

Anxiety Disorders

Keywords

FRIENDS for life; universal prevention; school children; anxiety

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in SCAS (Spence Children's Anxiety Scale)

  Additional assessments using a short version of the SCAS (12 items out of 44) are made at two occasions during intervention (october and november 2013)

  Participants are assessed pre intervention, post intervention and up to 12-months

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents (MINI-KID)

  Assessed up to 12-months

• Change in Children's Depression Inventory (CDI)

  Assessed pre intervention, post intervention and up to 12 months

• Change in Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

  Assessed pre intervention, post intervention and up to 12 months follow-up

Study Arms (2)

Wait list

NO INTERVENTION

Schools in waitlist condition will be offered the intervention after the 12-months follow up. Waitlist means that the schools work as usual with issues of mental health.

FRIENDS for life

EXPERIMENTAL

The intervention is delivered for 10 consecutive weeks, 60 minutes per session.

Behavioral: FRIENDS for life

Interventions

FRIENDS for life BEHAVIORAL

Friends for life (FFL). The FFL is a prevention program created by professor Paula Barrett, Brisbane, Australia. It is based on cognitive behavioral treatment strategies, for example the link between thoughts and feelings, negative and positive thoughts, breathing and relaxing exercises, support from others, breaking challenging situation in smaller steps, and problem-solving techniques. The children's workbook comprises practice-sheets for use during class, and homework assignments. The group leader manual comprises detailed instructions to all exercises.

FRIENDS for life

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 8 Years - 12 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Written parental consent

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Uppsala University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Department of Psychology, Uppsala University

Uppsala, 75142, Sweden

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anxiety Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Ata Ghaderi, Dr.

  Karolinska Institutet

  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: April 15, 2014
• First Posted: May 9, 2014
• Study Start: September 1, 2013
• Primary Completion: January 1, 2015
• Last Updated: January 30, 2015

Record last verified: 2015-01

Locations

SE (1)