The Effectiveness of the Mobile-based Youth COMPASS Program to Promote Adolescent Well-being and Life-control

NCT03274934 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 21000039071
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 249
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The aim of this randomized control trial is to examine effectiveness of individually tailored web- and mobile-based Acceptance- and Commitment Therapy interventions to promote adolescents' well-being and life-control and subsequently support their successful transition from basic education to upper secondary education. Our additional aim is to examine to what extent the effectiveness of the intervention varies according to intervention intensity and according to risk for school failure. The five-week structured intervention is delivered using the novel web-and mobile-based program Youth COMPASS following the principles of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). The Internet context is assumed to be particularly motivating for youth who enjoy spending time online using different social media. Internet-based interventions have several advantages; they can include more information and treatment components than traditionally delivered treatments and that intervention programs are accessible at any time and at any place. Another unique aspect of the Youth COMPASS is the fact that it is individually-tailored. Each participant have an individually assigned online coach who provides support and encouragement, reminds about Youth COMPASS, sends individualized feedback, and recommends different exercises. The study hypothetizes that the Youth COMPASS is more effective than school counseling as usual. More specifically, the Youth COMPASS is expected to be more effective when it is combined with face-to-face support than when support and feedback are provided only via the Internet. Also, the Youth COMPASS with no face-to-face support (online only) is expected to be more effective than receiving only regular school counseling. Finally, the Youth COMPASS is expected to be more effective for students at risk for school failure than for students without risk for school failure, especially when at risk-adolescents receive more intensive support (i.e., both online and face-to-face support).

Conditions

Well-being

Keywords

Adolescents; Web- and mobile-based intervention; Acceptance and Commitment therapy; Psychological well-being; Career preparation; Lifecontrol; Successful educational transitions; Learning difficulties; Psychological flexibility and mindfulness skills

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (8)

• Life satisfaction (Diener et al., 1985)

  Study has five timepoints when same questionnaires are administered to assess possible changes in the outcome measures.

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

• Self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965),

  Study has five timepoints when same questionnaires are administered to assess possible changes in the outcome measures.

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

• Depressive symptoms (Salokangas et al., 1995)

  Study has five timepoints when same questionnaires are administered to assess possible changes in the outcome measures.

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

• Stress (Elo et al., 2003)

  Study has five timepoints when same questionnaires are administered to assess possible changes in the outcome measures.

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

• Difficulties and Strenghts questionnaire (SDQ, Goodman et al. 1997) measuring emotional symptoms, hyperactivity, conduct problems and prosociality

  Study has five timepoints when same questionnaires are administered to assess possible changes in the outcome measures.

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

• Well-being in school (World Health Organization)

  Study has five timepoints when same questionnaires are administered to assess possible changes in the outcome measures.

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

• Career choice preparedness (Koivisto et al., 2011)

  Study has five timepoints when same questionnaires are administered to assess possible changes in the outcome measures.

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

• Educational expectations

  Study has five timepoints when same questionnaires are administered to assess possible changes in the outcome measures.

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

Secondary Outcomes (10)

• Psychological flexibility (Greco et al., 2008)

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

• Mindfulness skills (Ciarrochi et al., 2011)

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

• Identity formation (DIDS; Luyckx et al., 2008; see also Marttinen et al., 2016)

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention

• Truancy

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

• School grades

  Four years from the baseline.

Other Outcomes (12)

• Achievement strategies (Nurmi et al., 1995)

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

• Academic buoyancy (Martin & Marsh, 2008)

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

• Recovery from school work (see also Winwood et al., 2005)

  Change from baseline at 2, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

Study Arms (3)

Face-to-face and online support group

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Structured web- and mobile-based intervention with Youth COMPASS program to support adolescents' well-being, career preparation and life-control and subsequently support successful transition to upper secondary education. The Youth COMPASS is the five-week online program according to principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy aiming to enhance adolescents' psychological flexibility by guiding adolescents in exploring their values and setting goals and changing behaviors according to their goals (week 1), and learning acceptance defusion and mindfulness skills (weeks 2-3) and integrating these skills into their personal life (weeks 4-5). The participants in this condition receive weekly online support and feedback from their individually assigned coach. In addition, they meet their coach twice in the face-to-face meetings. The aim of the meetings is to increase adolescents' internal motivation and thereby participation in the program.

Behavioral: Experimental: face-to-face and online support group:

Only online support group

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: web- and mobile-based intervention with Youth COMPASS program to support adolescents' well-being, career preparation and life-control and subsequently support successful transition to upper secondary education. The Youth COMPASS is a five-week online program according to principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy aiming to enhance adolescents' psychological flexibility by guiding adolescents in exploring their values and setting goals and changing behaviors according to their goals (week 1), and learning acceptance defusion and mindfulness skills (weeks 2-3) and integrating these skills into their personal life (weeks 4-5). The participants in this condition receive weekly online support and feedback from their individually assigned coach.

Behavioral: Experimental: only online support group:

Control group

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: No intervention, school counseling as usual

Behavioral: Control

Interventions

Experimental: face-to-face and online support group: BEHAVIORAL

5-week intervention according to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy principles with the web-and mobile-based Youth COMPASS program, face-to-face support (2 meetings) and weekly online mobile support and feedback from the individually assigned coach (one third of the participants is randomly assigned to this group)

Face-to-face and online support group

Experimental: only online support group: BEHAVIORAL

5-week intervention according to ACT principles with the web-and mobile-based Youth COMPASS program, no face-to-face support, weekly mobile online support and feedback from the individually assigned coach (one third of the participants is randomly assigned to this group)

Only online support group

Control BEHAVIORAL

Control group, no intervention, school counseling as usual. (one third of the participants is randomly assigned to this group)

Control group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 14 Years - 16 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Adolescents (n = 120) who have risk for school failure (learning difficulties or low grade point average without learning difficulties)
• Randomly chosen adolescents (n=120) from the same classrooms who have no risk for school failure

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Jyvaskyla: lead
• the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Central Finland Regional Fund: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä

Jyväskylä, 40014, Finland

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Psychological Well-Being

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personal Satisfaction; Behavior

Study Officials

• Noona Kiuru, PhD

  Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

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

Model Details: Treatment, Parallel assessment, Randomized, Efficacy study

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 1, 2017
• First Posted: September 7, 2017
• Study Start: September 21, 2017
• Primary Completion: December 15, 2017
• Study Completion: December 31, 2019
• Last Updated: April 2, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share

Locations

FI (1)