Internet-based education for generalized anxiety disorder (the Worry Program): A randomized controlled trial.

A randomized controlled trial comparing clinician-assisted Internet based education for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) vs. a waitlist control condition on severity of symptoms of GAD.

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12609000136202

Enrollment

Registered

2009-03-02

Start date

2009-03-16

Completion date

2009-05-16

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

This project is part of a research program examining the efficacy of Internet based education and treatment programs for people with common mental disorders. This project compares the effectiveness of clinician-assisted Internet-based education for GAD vs. waitlist control at reducing the severity of symptoms of GAD. We expect that people who participate in the education program will report more benefit than participants in the waitlist control group.

Interventions

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: 1) Clinician-assisted Internet based education for GAD, or; 2) Wait-list control. All participants will meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for GAD. All education group participants will complete 6 lessons of Internet based education about management of symptoms of GAD. One lesson will be completed every 7 to 10 days. Each lesson will take about 15 minutes to complete. Education group participants will also have access to summaries of each lesson, will contribute to an online forum moderated by a clinical psychologist, and will receive weekly emails from the clinical psychologist. The duration of the program is 8 weeks, but participants will be contacted 3 months post program and asked to complete follow-up questionnaires. Study questionnaires will be administered at application, pre-education, post-education, and at 3-months post-education. These will take about 20 minutes to complete. The educational materials are based on cognitive behavioural techniques.

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Educational / counselling / training

Masking

Blinded (masking used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 64 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association-4th Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for GAD - Internet access + printer access. - Australian citizen- Males and females

Exclusion criteria

Current substance abuse/dependence- Psychotic disorder- Current or planned psychological treatment during study duration- Change in medications during last 1 month or intended change during study duration

Outcome results