Treatment Outcomes and Predictive Factors of the Effectiveness and Adherence of Moodpep: an Online Self-help Intervention for College Students With Depressive Symptoms

NCT07030244 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: Effects of Moodpep
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,050
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

Depressive symptoms are prevalent among college students and often remain untreated. E-health interventions may help overcome treatment barriers by offering accessible and flexible support. This study will evaluate the effects of Moodpep, a guided online intervention for college students with depressive symptoms, and will examine predictors of treatment success and adherence.

Conditions

Internet-based Intervention; Depression; Adherence; Predictors; Students; Effectiveness

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Depressive symptoms (PHQ-9)

  Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9; Kroenke et al., 2001). Total scores range from 0 to 27 with higher scores indicating more depressive symptoms.

  T0 (baseline), T1 (6 weeks post-baseline), T2 (6 months post-baseline)

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Adherence

  T1 (6 weeks post-baseline)

• Predictors

  T0 (baseline)

Study Arms (1)

Moodpep

EXPERIMENTAL

Moodpep is an online self-help intervention to reduce depressive symptoms in college students (Garnefski \& Kraaij, 2023). The intervention is based on CBT and consists of four main components in eight modules: behavioral activation, relaxation, changing negative cognitions and goal attainment. Students were advised to work on the intervention for one to two hours each week for about six to eight weeks. During the intervention, students received coaching via text messages on the platform. Coaches are trained Master's students in clinical psychology and they provided feedback on the assignments that students completed and motivated students to continue the intervention.

Behavioral: Moodpep

Interventions

Moodpep BEHAVIORAL

See arm description

Moodpep

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 16 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• age 16 or older;
• informed consent was provided;
• reading Dutch and/or English fluently;
• having access to a device with internet (e.g., computer, laptop);
• providing complete data at baseline; and
• no severe depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 total score \> 20) or risk of suicidal behavior (based on 3 questions).
• This last criterion was removed on May 9, 2023. After data collection, for statistical and content-related reasons, PhD students were removed from the analysis, just as students below 18 and above 30 years old, students who indicated their gender was other and students who completed less than 1 module of the intervention. This was done because the focus of the study was on students and not PhD students who are employees in the Netherlands, most students are between 18 and 30 years old, not enough students of another gender participated to include them separately in the analyses, and we were interested in the effects of Moodpep for students who started the intervention.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universiteit Leiden: lead
• VU University of Amsterdam: collaborator
• Maastricht University: collaborator
• Utrecht University: collaborator
• University of Amsterdam: collaborator
• Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences: collaborator
• Erasmus University Rotterdam: collaborator
• Avans University of applied sciences: collaborator
• InHolland University of Applied Sciences: collaborator

Study Sites (2)

VU Amsterdam

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Location

Leiden University

Leiden, Netherlands

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Depression

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal investigator

Model Details: All students will start with Moodpep: a guided online self-help intervention for college students with depressive symptoms.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 12, 2025
• First Posted: June 22, 2025
• Study Start: June 1, 2020
• Primary Completion: May 31, 2024
• Study Completion: May 31, 2024
• Last Updated: June 27, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-06

Locations

NL (2)