None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
This trial evaluates a transsdiagnostic program that helps people to cope with stress in times of crisis. The program, titled Positive Mood Program (PMP), trains people to engage in positive activities, mood enhancement, social connections, and stress management. This program has been shown to reduce stress and depression, particularly at times of stress. This project aims to conduct a rapid trial of a brief psychological intervention, the Positive Mood Program (PMP), to reduce distress and improved mood associated with concerns about COVID-19. There is an urgent need for publicly available strategies to reduce COVID-19 related distress. This brief program will be offered via videoconferencing in to allow for social distancing on a group basis. We hypothesise that PMP will result in greater reductions in distress and worry relative to provision of the same strategies provided to participants who can work on them in a self-guided manner. Adults who screen positive for psychological distress will be randomized to PMP or a control condition. PMP will comprise 7 x 60-minute sessions delivered by a clinical psychologist via videoconferencing to groups of 4 people at a time. The control arm will provide people with handouts to work through the strategies in a self-guided manner. All participants will be assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and 3 months follow-up. Participants will be reimbursed $50 for completing all assessments.
Interventions
There are two arms to this trial. Arm 1: Positive Mood Training. Arm 2: Enhanced Treatment as Usual. Therapy is administered once-weekly 60 minute sessions by clinical psychologists over 7 weeks delivered via video-conferencing to groups of 4 people at a time. Across sessions the clinical psychologist will teach the following mood coping strategies: arousal reduction, mood improvement strategies, positive events boosting, and accessing social support. This will occur will via educational session
There are two arms to this trial. Arm 1: Positive Mood Training. Arm 2: Enhanced Treatment as Usual. Therapy is administered once-weekly 60 minute sessions by clinical psychologists over 7 weeks delivered via video-conferencing to groups of 4 people at a time. Across sessions the clinical psychologist will teach the following mood coping strategies: arousal reduction, mood improvement strategies, positive events boosting, and accessing social support. This will occur will via educational sessions, group discussions via teleconference, and homework assignments. Homework will include mood monitoring, prompts to engage in positive activities, and prompts to engage in social interaction. Adherence to session strategies and homework assignments will be monitored by completing session attendance checklists and weekly checks of assigned homework tasks. Clinical psychologists will be trained by the lead investigator (Bryant), and will be supplemented by completion of conducting practice groups under supervision. Participants who complete all assessments will be reimbursed $50 for their time. The duration of the study for any participant will conclude after a 3-month follow-up assessment, resulting in participation duration of 20 weeks.
Sponsors
UNSW Sydney
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria: • Score of greater than or equal to 16 on K10 • Aged at least 18 years • Sufficient English language comprehension • Access to teleconferencing platform
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion Criteria: • Current psychosis • Imminent suicidal risk • Current substance dependence (but not abuse) No access to internet-based access to teleconferencing facility
Outcome results
None listed