Unified Protocol for Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial for the Portuguese Population
Condition: Anxiety Disorders; Mood Disorders; Emotional Disorder; Emotional; Disorder, Childhood, With Anxiety and Fearfulness; Child Mental Disorder; Parenting
MeSH terms: Anxiety Disorders; Mental Disorders; Mood Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children (UP-C)
      is a transdiagnostic and emotion-focused cognitive-behavioral group intervention for children
      aged 6-12 years old with emotion disorders (i.e., anxious and/or mood disorders) and their
      parents.

      UP-C consists of 15 weekly group sessions and unifies cognitive-behavioral, contextual (e.g.,
      mindfulness) and parental training techniques, for parents and children, aimed at reducing
      the intensity and frequency of strong and aversive emotional experiences in children and
      their clinical symptomatology.

      The present study aims to assess the feasibility, acceptability and efficacy of the UP-C in
      the Portuguese population in reducing children's anxiety/depression symptoms. It also aims to
      investigate which mechanisms explain the therapeutic change.

      Participants will be recruited at child mental health services and schools from Central
      Portugal and also through online dissemination of the study.

      A randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted in a sample of children aged 6-13 years
      old with emotional disorders and their parents in order to answer the critical question of
      whether the UP-C is more efficacious in reducing children's symptomatology than a
      psychoeducational group intervention (active control group).

      Once the eligibility criteria are met (assessed by the project researchers) parents and
      children will be randomly assigned to one of two study conditions:

        1. experimental group (i.e., children and parents who benefit from the UP-C program).

        2. control group (i.e., children who benefit from a psychoeducational intervention program,
           named "ABC of Emotions").

      Parents and children from both groups will complete several psychometrically robust and
      developmentally appropriate measures at baseline (T0), mid-treatment (only at week 7 of the
      UP-C; T1), post treatment (T2) and at 3 months follow-up (T3).
    


Intervention name(s): Emotion Detectives: Unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders in children (UP-C); ABC of Emotions
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Other
Intervention description(s): UP-C is a transdiagnostic and emotion-focused cognitive-behavioral group intervention for children aged 6-13 years old with emotions disorders (i.e., anxious and/or mood disorders) and their parents. UP-C unifies cognitive-behavioral, contextual (eg. mindfulness) and parental training techniques aiming to reduce the intensity and frequency of children's clinical symptomatology.
The intervention consists of 15 weekly group sessions (90 minutes per session; 5-8 children and parents per group) conducted by at least two clinical psychologists trained in the UP-C. The sessions start with the parents and children together (15 minutes); then, one psychologist conduct the session with the group of children while the other psychologist conduct the session with the group of parents, simultaneously (60 minutes); finally, the session ends with the group together (15 minutes). This is a structured and manualized intervention with a manual for the therapist and a workbook for the child and parents.; ABC of Emotions is a psychoeducational group intervention for children with anxiety and/or mood disorders, aged between 6 to 13 years. ABC of Emotions consists of 5 group psychoeducation sessions (about 90 minutes per session; 5-8 children per group). This is a structured and manualized intervention, with a manual for the therapist and a workbook for the child.
The contents of the sessions were developed by the researchers of this study and are based on classic psychoeducational cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT) strategies. Since anxiety disorders are more frequent in childhood than mood disorders (e.g., Merikangas et al., 2009), this program is essentially based on psychoeducation materials focused on emotions such as anxiety and fear. However, the same materials are available in an attachment, adapted for use with children to whom the main emotion is not fear/anxiety, but sadness (as in mood disorders).
Other intervention name(s): UP-C
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: experimental group (i.e., children and parents who benefit from the UP-C program).
control group (i.e., children who benefit from a psychoeducational intervention program, named "ABC of Emotions").
Masking: Single (Investigator)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: emotional disorders; anxiety and mood disorders; children; parenting; transdiagnostic; unified protocol; randomized controlled trial