DST in Reducing Depressive Symptoms, Enhancing Self-esteem, and Promoting Quality of Life Among CCSs

NCT07052110 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: DST intervention
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 248
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of Digital storytelling (DST) in reducing depressive symptoms, enhancing self-esteem, and promoting quality of life among Chinese survivors of childhood cancer. Participants in the experimental group will be divided into groups of 6 to 8 childhood cancer survivors to receive the intervention, which comprises four workshops. Each workshop will last 2.5 hours and will be conducted by a qualified interventionist. Parents are not required to attend the workshop. The investigators will provide a waiting room for them. Parents will also be provided with a leaflet developed by Hong Kong Department of Health which contains self-help material for depression. No intervention will be carried out among participants in the control group. However, customary care including medical follow-up, medication prescription, and nursing interventions will be provided, as usual. Parents will also be provided with a leaflet containing self-help materials for depression.

Conditions

Cancer

Keywords

childhood cancer survivors; digitial storytelling; depressive symptoms; self-esteem; quality of life

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Depressive symptoms: Chinese version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC)

  The CES-DC will be used to assess the number of depressive symptoms among participants. This instrument contains 20 items evaluated on a 4-point scale, from 0 (not at all) to 3 (a lot). The possible range of scores is between 0 and 60, with higher scores indicating more depressive symptoms. The cut-off score is 15. Participants with scores higher than 15 are considered to be experiencing significant levels of depressive symptoms. This scale has been widely applied in studies among Hong Kong Chinese children with cancer, and its psychometric properties have been well-established in this population.

  The CES-DC will be conducted immediately after the completion of the intervention, and at 1-, 3- and 6-month follow-up via telephone interview.

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Self-esteem: Chinese version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES)

  The RSES will be conducted immediately after the completion of the intervention, and at 1-, 3- and 6-month follow-up via telephone interview.

• Quality of life: Chinese version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 Generic Core Scale (PedsQL 4.0)

  The PedsQL 4.0 will be conducted immediately after the completion of the intervention, and at 1-, 3- and 6-month follow-up via telephone interview.

Study Arms (2)

Intervention: Digital storytelling

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in the experimental group will receive the DST intervention, which comprises four workshops. Each workshop will last 2.5 hours and will be conducted by a qualified interventionist. In the workshops, a group of 6-8 participants will first share their personal cancer experiences and offer feedback to other participants in the context of a story circle. A set of guiding questions will be used to facilitate participants in telling their own stories. Particularly, probing will be used to guide the child participants to share their own experiences. Open-ended questions such as 'How do you think about your cancer experience?' will be asked. Subsequent supplementary questions, such as 'What makes you feel in this way?' and 'can you give me some examples' will be asked to encourage more sharing. Afterwards, participants wil be encouraged to write their own script and storyboard, record their stories using a microphone, and choose photos and videos to illustrate their stories.

Other: Digital storytelling

No Intervention: Standard of care

NO INTERVENTION

No intervention will be carried out among participants in the control group. However, customary care including medical follow-up, medication prescription, and nursing interventions will be provided, as usual.

Interventions

Digital storytelling OTHER

DST is an intervention that can potentially mitigate the psychological impact of traumatic experiences. People can usually find positive meaning in a traumatic experience by communicating their experience using narratives like storytelling. In particular, by externalising the traumatic experience in the form of a narrative, the individual can become an objective agent, distancing themselves from negative meanings attached to the experience. This lowers people's resistance to and defence against the experience, assisting them to explore alternative perspectives regarding the experience and to identify its positive aspects, which boost self-esteem. Likewise, storytelling engages different areas of the brain, including those responsible for visual, language, and hearing functions, to reorganise the disorganised traumatic experience into a coherent story, facilitating integration of the experience into existing memories.

Intervention: Digital storytelling

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 13 Years - 18 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• (1) age between 13 and 18 years;
• (2) able to speak Cantonese and read Chinese; and
• (3) completed the active treatment of cancer.

You may not qualify if:

• survivors with mental and behavioural problems documented in their medical records.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hong Kong Children's Hospital: collaborator
• Research Grants Council, Hong Kong: collaborator
• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: lead

Study Sites (1)

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Neoplasms; Depression

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Ka Yan Ho, phd

  The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Ka Yan Ho, PhD

CONTACT

+8527666417; kyeva.ho@polyu.edu.hk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: associate professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 26, 2025
• First Posted: July 4, 2025
• Study Start: October 16, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 12, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 12, 2026
• Last Updated: March 12, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Locations

HK (1)