None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The project tests the impact of an existing youth offender programme 'Mentoring Youth New Direction' (MYND), with and without the addition of SPARX- R. SPARX-R is a computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT)intervention. The MYND programme works to rehabilitate young offenders. MYND staff identify contributing causes for difficulties, mentor the young person and assist reintegrating the young person with their community. MYND is funded by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), and is reportedly one of MSD’s best performing youth rehabilitation programmes. MYND is treatment as usual in this study. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has been shown to be one of the most promising therapeutic approaches for enhancing outcomes among youth offenders. Currently MYND does not include a CBT component. SPARX- R is a computerised CBT intervention delivered in the format of a game in order to appeal to young people. The programme has been designed to assist youth with mild to moderate depression and emotional distress. Skills taught include: problem solving, dealing with anger and strong emotions, positive communication and how to change negative thinking. It consists of seven 30 minute sessions. SPARX has been shown to be effective for depression, anxiety and psychological functioning in a large randomised controlled trial (Merry et al., 2012). It has also been shown to be effective and appealing among young people excluded from mainstream education. Young people excluded from mainstream education also reported that after doing SPARX they felt less angry, less aggressive and got into fights or hurt others less often. In this study we propose to test whether SPARX-R (a slightly modified version of SPARX) enhances psychological functioning and reduces antisocial thinking for young people in the MYND programme. Volunteers would receive MYND, or MYND and SPARX-R.
Interventions
Intervention: Treatment as usual plus 'SPARX-R' computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (cCBT).
Treatment as usual is the Mentoring Youth New Directions programme (MYND). This is a rehabilitation programme for youth offenders provided by the Foundation for Youth Development in New Zealand.
SPARX-R is a seven module computer-administered cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) programme. It is a revised version of SPARX (a tested seven module computer-administered cCBT program for adolescent
Intervention: Treatment as usual plus 'SPARX-R' computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (cCBT). Treatment as usual is the Mentoring Youth New Directions programme (MYND). This is a rehabilitation programme for youth offenders provided by the Foundation for Youth Development in New Zealand. SPARX-R is a seven module computer-administered cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) programme. It is a revised version of SPARX (a tested seven module computer-administered cCBT program for adolescent depression), with minor wording modifications to minimise labelling of depression and to be more acceptable by the target population. Participants will complete SPARX-R during their usual MYND programme hours, at a rate of approx. one to two 30 minute modules a week for seven weeks, alongside or under the supervision of their MYND social worker.
Sponsors
The University of Auckland
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Other
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
Male
Age
14 Years to 17 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. Adolescents who are required to attend MYND for a minimum of 10 weeks as per court or Child Youth and Family instruction (These are 14-17 year old males who are identifed by the New Zealand Court or Child Youth and Family as recividist offenders). 2. They are able to provide written consent. 3. For those who are under the age of 16, their parents/ guardians have been informed about the study and have not advised MYND staff or the research team that they do not want their child involved. 4. They have sufficient English language ability to understand the programme.
Exclusion criteria
Adolescents will be ineligible for inclusion in the trial if: 1. They have severe depression, high suicide risk or other severe mental health issue which may mean that not safe in the study. Adolescents who may require additional interventions which would not be compromised by also participating in the trial are eligible to participate (the additional interventions received will be recorded). 2. They have a disability or physical limitations that would result in them not being able to use the computer programme.
Outcome results
None listed