Child Anxiety, Depression
Conditions
Keywords
mindfulness, children, adolescents, anxiety, depression
Brief summary
Rates of anxiety and depression in youth are substantial, causing a major unmet need for effective interventions. Participation in mindfulness interventions has been demonstrated to reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms among teenagers. Parents' participation in mindfulness interventions has also been shown to reduce their children's mental health symptoms. However, there is no available evidence regarding potential additional benefits for adolescents' mental health of having both the adolescent and their parent or caregiver learn and practice mindfulness simultaneously. This pilot intervention study aims to explore potential additive effects of parent/caregiver participation in a digitally-based, kindness-focused, coached mindfulness intervention program for adolescents that lasts 9 weeks. Participating parent/caregiver-child pairs (n = 30) will include one teenager between 12 and 17 years old with a current diagnosis of an anxiety or depressive disorder and one parent/caregiver. All adolescent participants will take part in the mindfulness intervention. Half of the parents/caregivers will be randomized to also take part in the mindfulness program. Outcomes will be compared between families in which only the teen participates in the mindfulness program and families in which the teen and parent/caregiver participate in the intervention. Adolescents and parents/caregivers will take part in evaluations before, in the middle of, and after the end of the mindfulness program, meaning that participation in the study will take a total of approximately 12 weeks. Pre, mid, and post evaluations will include online questionnaires. Pre and post evaluations will also include clinical interviews via phone or video conference. Evaluations will include measures of mental health diagnoses and symptoms, mood, interpersonal and family functioning, mindfulness, and perceptions of/satisfaction with the program. Participating adolescents and parents/caregivers will also fill out weekly brief questionnaires of anxiety and depressive symptoms. The primary outcome of interest is adolescent mental health, including anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALKind Minds Program
The KMP intervention uses an online mindfulness phone based program. During the 9-week program, Community Health Worker (CHW) Kindness Coaches will meet weekly for 30 minutes via Zoom with either a) the caregiver and adolescent (in separate meetings), or b) the adolescent only to review and complete a new "session" using the online mindfulness program. Participants will be prompted to complete mindfulness activities between sessions by notifications, conducive to their school and work schedules. Weekly content and meditations/activities focus on mindfulness skills of present moment awareness, nonjudgment, compassion, and gratitude.
Sponsors
University of California, Los Angeles
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
12 Years to 17 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Participants will include: 1. one adolescent (aged 12-17 years) with a current diagnosis of an anxiety or depressive disorder) 2. one of their parents/caregivers. 3. Both adolescent and caregiver must speak English to the degree necessary to participate in the intervention program, which is only available in English. 4. Parent and youth must have a smart phone and be willing to download the online mindfulness program.
Exclusion criteria
*
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Patient Health Questionnaire-9 | 12-14 weeks after baseline assessment | self report of depressive symptoms |
| Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 | 12-14 weeks after baseline assessment | self report of anxiety symptoms |
| SCARED -Screen for child anxiety and related emotional disorders | 12-14 weeks after baseline assessment | self report of anxiety symptoms |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia interview -anxiety and depressive disorder modules | 12-14 weeks after baseline assessment | remission on primary anxiety or primary depressive disorder diagnosis |
Countries
United States
Contacts
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORDenise A Chavira, PhD
University of California, Los Angeles
Outcome results
None listed