None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Long-term physical conditions (LTPC), including asthma and diabetes, lasting more than 3 months and impair functioning affect 10-12% of children and young people globally and are becoming increasingly prevalent. Psychological problems, especially anxiety occur more often in children and young people with LTPC and may be associated with school absence, poor academic performance and lower quality of life. Access to face-to-face mental health support is usually limited for this group due to competing medical demands and the limited number of available services. Delayed treatment can result in worse management of physical conditions and increase the risk of developing adult psychiatric disorders. Psychotherapies such as cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and pharmacotherapy (e.g. anxiolytic medication) are traditionally used for addressing psychological problems. However, there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of these therapies for young people with LTPC. Approximately 40% of children who receive CBT treatment for anxiety show inadequate response, suggesting room for improvement. In recent years, eHealth interventions have demonstrated similar effectiveness to face-to-face therapies. CBT-based eHealth interventions appear to have the largest benefit for reducing anxiety in all age groups. Biofeedback-based interventions also show some promise. Following systematic reviews of eHealth, non-eHealth and biofeedback interventions for addressing anxiety and depression in children and young people with LTPC, a hybrid CBT and biofeedback-based computer game called Starship Rescue was developed by our team. A recent open trial of the game demonstrated its acceptability, safety and preliminary evidence of effectiveness. In this randomised controlled trial, we aim to confirm the clinical effectiveness of Starship Rescue vs an active control eHealth intervention. 30 participants will be allocated to each group and use the intervention for 4-6 weeks.
Interventions
A randomised controlled trial testing the effectiveness of an electronic health game (Starship Rescue: The Vortex of Anxiety) designed to combat anxiety among children and adolescents with long-term physical illnesses. Starship Rescue is a 5-module based eHealth game developed to address anxiety symptoms and quality of life. The game in the controlled arm has been designed to improve nutrition and physical activity.
Both experimental and control games will be loaned for 4-6 weeks and if needed,
A randomised controlled trial testing the effectiveness of an electronic health game (Starship Rescue: The Vortex of Anxiety) designed to combat anxiety among children and adolescents with long-term physical illnesses. Starship Rescue is a 5-module based eHealth game developed to address anxiety symptoms and quality of life. The game in the controlled arm has been designed to improve nutrition and physical activity. Both experimental and control games will be loaned for 4-6 weeks and if needed, participants will be given more time. Participants will have the choice to play the game at a rate of their own choice. However, individuals can complete 1 module per week. Hence the time-frame given for each arm. Experimental game: 5 module-based game Module 1 - Rate anxiety, reflection on what makes them worry/anxious. Information on anxiety/emotions (what anxiety is, what it feels like and what anxious thoughts are) and how to help yourself. Module 2 - Rate anxiety. Quiz on types of emotions, origin of anxiety. Heart Rate Monitor will be used in this module. Breathing exercises will be practiced and participants will be asked to play a game wearing the HRM to help control breathing when the heart rate goes too high. Module 3 - Rate anxiety, reflect on signs of anxiety and relax body parts to help anxiety. Learning about helpful and unhelpful thoughts and a sub-game involving collecting helpful and unhelpful thought crystals. Module 4 - Learn two different methods of overcoming or combatting their listed worries/anxiety. Participants will be asked to choose one method and resume the game to apply it in their life. Module 5 - Rate anxiety and reflection quiz of everything taught in the game. Games will be installed on a Samsung tablet and loaned for the 4-6 week period. Approximate duration of each module is an hour. After the participant has completed the game, a member of the research team will select an option from the game to send player data which will be received via the trial email address. Information such as anxiety rating, how many days/attempts it took to complete the modules will be collected.
Sponsors
Dr Hiran Thabrew
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Subject, Caregiver)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
8 Years to 18 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Eligible participants will be aged between 8-18 years, have a long-term physical condition of over 3 months duration, be of any ethnicity, have anxiety symptoms that are above a designated threshold (GAD-7 score >5), not have any co-morbid mental health condition, be intellectually and physically use the eHealth intervention and able to provide informed consent or assent.
Exclusion criteria
Individuals will be excluded from participation if they have recently undertaken or are undertaking cognitive behaviour therapy, biofeedback therapy or pharmacotherapy with anxiolytic medication, with comorbid mental health conditions, those intellectually and physically unable to use the game and those unable or unwilling to provide individual or paired consent/assent.
Outcome results
None listed