Metacognitive Training in Depression (D-MKT) for the Target Group of Asylum Seekers (Refugees): Feasibility Study (Proof of Concept)

Metacognitive Training in Depression (D-MKT) for the Target Group of Asylum Seekers (Refugees): Feasibility Study (Proof of Concept) - KA-D-MKT

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

DRKS

Registry ID

DRKS00017754

Enrollment

Registered

2019-10-31

Start date

2019-12-02

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2026-03-02

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

Conditions

F32 F33

Interventions

Group 1: n = 20 Asylum seekers speaking Arabic or Farsi receive a metacognitive training for depression (D-MKT), which is translated into the native language of the patient with the help of an interpr

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 65 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Written consent to participate in the study, ages 18-65 years, criteria for depressive disorder (major depression, dysthymia, recurrent depressive disorder) according to clinical judgement and PHQ 9, language skills in German, Arabic or Farsi / Dari. The patients have applied for asylum within the last 5 years. A parallel psychopharmacological therapy is possible, is documented on the course of studies and controlled for possible effects on the outcome parameters.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Presence of bipolar disorder, acute psychotic symptoms, current substance dependence, dementia or acute suicidality (SBQ-R = 7), age under 18 years or over 65 years. Patients who have not applied for asylum.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Validation of the diagnoses is performed with the help of the clinical assessment and the assigned diagnosis(s) of the main practitioner (t0). The change of the depressive symptoms (primary outcome) to t0, t1 and t2 (3-month follow-up) will then be determined by means of the PHQ-9 in the respective language version. The 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9; Kroenke, Spitzer & Williams, 2001) is freely available in more than 30 languages and has been recommended by the DSM-5 Working Group of the American Psychiatric Association as a tool for measuring the severity of major depression according to the new DSM-5 criteria. The positive results from psychometric studies on the cultural equivalence of PHQ-9 in different ethnic groups suggest good cultural equivalence (Glaesmer, Brähler & von Lersner, 2012). The results are compared with a waiting control group of n = 20 Arabic or Farsi/Dari speaking patients who are also asked about t0, t1 and t2.	—

Measure

Time frame

Validation of the diagnoses is performed with the help of the clinical assessment and the assigned diagnosis(s) of the main practitioner (t0). The change of the depressive symptoms (primary outcome) to t0, t1 and t2 (3-month follow-up) will then be determined by means of the PHQ-9 in the respective language version. The 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9; Kroenke, Spitzer & Williams, 2001) is freely available in more than 30 languages and has been recommended by the DSM-5 Working Group of the American Psychiatric Association as a tool for measuring the severity of major depression according to the new DSM-5 criteria. The positive results from psychometric studies on the cultural equivalence of PHQ-9 in different ethnic groups suggest good cultural equivalence (Glaesmer, Brähler & von Lersner, 2012). The results are compared with a waiting control group of n = 20 Arabic or Farsi/Dari speaking patients who are also asked about t0, t1 and t2.

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Secondary

Measure	Time frame
A short version of the scale of dysfunctional settings (DAS), the DAS-18 consisting of 18 items (Rojas et al., 2014), at t0, t1 and t2 is used to measure the dysfunkational settings (secondary outcome). The quality of life (secondary outcome) will be measured as t0, t1 and t2 with the help of the question on general quality of life (item no. 1, "How would you assess your quality of life?") from the questionnaire WHOQOL BREF (Angermeyer et al., 2000), which was developed as part of an international project of the World Health Organization (WHO). The questionnaire on the objective and subjective integration of people with an escape or migration background, which consists of 6 items and was developed by Adedeji and Bullinger (2019) and used to interview people from African countries who had migrated to Germany, will be used to determine t0, t1 and t2 to determine whether therapeutic group training can improve the integration of patients into German society (secondary outcome). The PTSD symptoms of the patients as a possible predictor are recorded with the questionnaire PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5; Weathers et al., 2013) consisting of 20 items. After each of the 8 appointments of the KA-D-MKT, a short self-developed evaluation sheet with items on acceptance, satisfaction and suggestions for improvement will be distributed in German and Arabic, which the patients, practitioners and interpreters can evaluate the respective module. The evaluation questionnaire is based on the questionnaires D-MKT Short Evaluation Pre and Post Session (Jelinek, Moritz & Hauschildt, 2017), which have been developed and used for the evaluation of D-MKT modules in past and current studies. Patients who do not have sufficient reading and writing skills are supported by the interpreters in completing the evaluation forms.	—

Measure

Time frame

A short version of the scale of dysfunctional settings (DAS), the DAS-18 consisting of 18 items (Rojas et al., 2014), at t0, t1 and t2 is used to measure the dysfunkational settings (secondary outcome). The quality of life (secondary outcome) will be measured as t0, t1 and t2 with the help of the question on general quality of life (item no. 1, "How would you assess your quality of life?") from the questionnaire WHOQOL BREF (Angermeyer et al., 2000), which was developed as part of an international project of the World Health Organization (WHO). The questionnaire on the objective and subjective integration of people with an escape or migration background, which consists of 6 items and was developed by Adedeji and Bullinger (2019) and used to interview people from African countries who had migrated to Germany, will be used to determine t0, t1 and t2 to determine whether therapeutic group training can improve the integration of patients into German society (secondary outcome). The PTSD symptoms of the patients as a possible predictor are recorded with the questionnaire PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5; Weathers et al., 2013) consisting of 20 items. After each of the 8 appointments of the KA-D-MKT, a short self-developed evaluation sheet with items on acceptance, satisfaction and suggestions for improvement will be distributed in German and Arabic, which the patients, practitioners and interpreters can evaluate the respective module. The evaluation questionnaire is based on the questionnaires D-MKT Short Evaluation Pre and Post Session (Jelinek, Moritz & Hauschildt, 2017), which have been developed and used for the evaluation of D-MKT modules in past and current studies. Patients who do not have sufficient reading and writing skills are supported by the interpreters in completing the evaluation forms.

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Countries

Germany

Contacts

Public ContactCornelia Uhr

Asklepios Klinik Nord-Ochsenzoll

c.uhr@asklepios.com040 1818872160

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Mar 14, 2026