Anxiety
Conditions
Keywords
Adolescents, Anxiety, Chatbot intervention, Technology-delivered intervention
Brief summary
The goal of this feasibility and pilot study is to investigate the feasibility and preliminary clinical effects of a new rule-based chatbot intervention for adolescents with anxiety symptoms. The main questions are: * Is the intervention feasible for adolescents who are experiencing anxiety symptoms? * How do the adolescents experience the use of the intervention? * Does the intervention lead to a reduction in anxiety symptoms? * Does the intervention lead to a clinically significant reliable improvement at functional level?
Detailed description
Anxiety is one of the most common psychiatric disorders and the anxiety symptoms typically onsets in adolescence. The anxiety symptoms may be persistent into adulthood, leading to a poorer life quality and function impairments. The goal is to prevent the development of anxiety and comorbid disorders, as well as function impairment due to anxiety symptoms. This study wishes to investigate the feasibility and preliminary clinical effects of a digital intervention in an open pre-post and 3 months follow up study. The intervention consists of a rule-based click-chatbot, combined with therapist-guidance. This study will recruit N = 30 adolescents from Norway from age 13 up to 16 years old to investigate the feasibility and preliminary clinical effects of a rule-based click chatbot-intervention, and whether it causes a reduction in anxiety symptoms and increases of life functioning. If the intervention is feasible with promising results, the study will serve as a first step to a future randomized controlled trial.
Interventions
OTHERRule-based chatbot intervention with therapist-guidance
The intervention is a mobile application designed as a rule-based chatbot. The chatbot will present psychoeducational text, videos and ask questions based on cognitive behavioral techniques. The adolescents will receive weekly therapist support within the mobile application, in addition to weekly contact by phone. The intervention has a duration of six weeks, with a total of six modules.
Sponsors
The Research Council of Norway
Haukeland University Hospital
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
13 Years to 16 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* reporting anxiety symptoms that hinders them in participating in daily activities * spending time trying to avoid these anxiety symptoms * aged 13 and up to 16 years * can read Norwegian
Exclusion criteria
* clinical cut-off on OCD subscale on RCADS-47\> 10, * clinical cut-off on Depression subscale on RCADS-47 \> 16, * ongoing treatment * extensive reading/writing difficulties * extensive concentration problems
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale - 25 - Self-report | assessing change from week 2, and week 4 | short version of RCADS-47, measuring anxiety and depressive symptoms, with a higher score indicating worse symptoms |
| Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale -47 - Self-report | assessing change from screening, pre, immediately after the intervention, follow-up 1 month, and at follow-up 3 months | anxiety and depressive symptoms, higher score indicates worse outcomes |
| Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale -47 - Parent version | assessing change from pre, immediately after the intervention, follow-up 1 month, and at follow-up 3 months | parent-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms, higher score indicates worse outcomes |
| Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale - 25 - Parent version | assessing change from week 2, and week 4 | parent-reported, short version of RCADS-47, measuring anxiety and depressive symptoms, with a higher score indicating worse symptoms |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire - Parent version | assessing change from pre, immediately after the intervention, follow up 1 month, and at follow-up 3 months | The scale measure parent-reported adolescent's general mental health, with a higher score indicating worse symptoms. The study intends to use all three components of the measurement, including 1) the basis of SDQ, which includes 25 items on psychological attributes, 2) impact supplement, measuring the adolescents' functional level. The last component is used at follow up which also includes two additional follow-up questions |
| Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire - Youth version | assessing change from pre, immediately after the intervention, follow up 1 month, and at follow-up 3 months | The scale measure adolescent's general mental health, with a higher score indicating worse symptoms. The study intends to use all three components of the measurement, including 1) the basis of SDQ, which includes 25 items on psychological attributes, 2) impact supplement, measuring functional level. The follow-up version also includes two additional follow-up questions |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Motivation Questionnaire | week 2 | assessments of their motivation to participate in the intervention, developed specifically for this study |
| Demographics | pre-intervention | gender, age |
| Evaluation Questionnaire | immediately after the intervention | evaluation assessments of the intervention, developed specifically for this study. |
Countries
Norway
Outcome results
None listed