Effectiveness of an Online Psychoeducation Program for Improving Coping in People With a High Level of Dissociative Symptoms: A Pilot Randomized Waitlist-controlled Trial

NCT05519748 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: 6906334
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 101
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Subject Population Our study's target population is people with pathological dissociation in the community. Research Design A pilot randomized waitlist-controlled trial will investigate the effects of an online psychoeducation program on coping, symptom management, and self-efficacy of people with pathological dissociation immediately (posttest-1) and 2-month (posttest-2) post-intervention. Supplementary semi-structured interviews will be conducted for process evaluation. The analysis and reporting of the trial will strictly follow the CONSORT guidelines. Instrument The primary outcome of our study is the coping ability of individuals with pathological dissociation, which will be assessed by the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (Brief-COPE). The secondary outcome measures are dissociative symptoms, emotional regulation, and self-efficacy, which would be assessed by the Dissociative Experiences Scale-Taxon (DES-T), the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) accordingly. Procedure The online psychoeducation program is developed based on an integrative theoretical framework that integrates the Stress and Coping model, Cognitive-Behavioural Theory, Bandura's self-efficacy theory, and findings of our previous feasibility studies on this psychoeducational program. Participants will be recruited via posting on social media and online forums. A 16-session online psychoeducation program will be delivered to the participants in eight weeks.

Conditions

Dissociation

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (Brief-COPE)

  Change in participants' coping strategies, as assessed using the Brief-COPE. This measure has 28 items and is a commonly used self-report measure of coping strategies. The Chinese version of the Brief-COPE had excellent internal consistency, test-retest reliability and content validity. Higher scores indicate more significant use of that specific coping strategy.

  Immediately and two months after completion of the intervention in the experimental group

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Dissociative Experiences Scale-Taxon (DES-T)

  Immediately and two months after completion of the intervention in the experimental group

Other Outcomes (2)

• Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ)

  Immediately and two months after completion of the intervention in the experimental group

• General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES)

  Immediately and two months after completion of the intervention in the experimental group

Study Arms (2)

Online psychoeducational program

EXPERIMENTAL

The intervention group will receive an online psychoeducational program for 8 weeks. The psychoeducation package consists of 16 different sets of reading materials and post-session writing/reflection exercises, which will be delivered to the participants twice a week. The program is designed to be a brief, trauma-informed, dissociation-focused education package that aims to enable users to better understand and cope with their post-traumatic and dissociative reactions and related life challenges. There are specific psychoeducation elements in each session, such as: (1) safety issues planning, (2) understanding the impacts of trauma and stress, (3) understanding the concept of dissociation and integration of the personality, (4) identifying and coping with the post-traumatic and dissociative symptoms, (5) identifying trauma-related cognitive distortions.

Behavioral: Online psychoeducational program

Waitlist control

OTHER

The waitlist control group will receive an online psychoeducational program for 8 weeks a week after the completion of the two-month follow-up in the intervention group. The psychoeducation package is identical to the program in the intervention group.

Behavioral: Online psychoeducational program

Interventions

Online psychoeducational program BEHAVIORAL

The intervention group will receive an online psychoeducational program for 8 weeks. The psychoeducation package consists of 16 different sets of reading materials and post-session writing/reflection exercises, which will be delivered to the participants twice a week.

Online psychoeducational program; Waitlist control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 64 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• agree to give informed consent and participate
• aged 18 or above
• self-reported symptoms or experiences of pathological dissociation
• screened positive on the Chinese version of the DES-T (i.e., DES-T score 20 or above) at a baseline screening
• able to understand and communicate in Chinese-Cantonese
• have access to the internet.

You may not qualify if:

• Individuals who have a reading disorder, cognitive impairment, dementia, or intellectual disabilities
• Individuals who are participating in any research studies
• Individuals who had participated in our previous feasibility study of the same intervention

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Chinese University of Hong Kong: lead
• Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Lam SKK, Fung HW. Can dissociative symptoms be explained by coping and emotion regulation? A longitudinal investigation. Psychol Trauma. 2025 Nov;17(8):1691-1698. doi: 10.1037/tra0001713. Epub 2024 Jun 20.

  PMID: 38900513 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Dissociative Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Research Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 22, 2022
• First Posted: August 29, 2022
• Study Start: September 1, 2022
• Primary Completion: November 30, 2023
• Study Completion: November 30, 2023
• Last Updated: May 24, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

HK (1)