Web-based Self-help Intervention Promoting Mental Health in Adolescents
Condition: Mental Health; Positive Thinking; Stress; Depressive Symptoms
MeSH terms: Depression
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a web-based self-help
      intervention promoting mental health in adolescents. We will examine whether this
      intervention improves positive affect, reduces stress and alleviates negative affect and
      depressive symptoms in adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. We will also investigate the rates of
      adherence among the adolescents who use this web-based intervention and the acceptability of
      the intervention with adolescents.
    

Detailed description: 
      The prevalence of mental health problems including depression rises during adolescence.
      Nevertheless, young people often have little knowledge about mental health problems and
      conditions, such as depression, and how they can be prevented. Besides limited knowledge,
      concerns about social stigma, confidentiality and limited access to mental health services
      are some of the main barriers to seek help. Therefore, highly acceptable and easily
      accessible services promoting mental health, such as knowledge about mental health conditions
      and effective self-help strategies to prevent them, are urgently needed for adolescents.

      We developed a website, which provides evidence-based information about depressive disorders
      in youth (e.g., identification, etiology, treatment, and prevention of depression) and will
      be launched in autumn 2021. Furthermore, the website provides information about self-help
      strategies (e.g., reducing stress, doing exercise, undertaking positive activities), which
      are meant to serve as an addition to professional treatments of depression or to promote
      mental health in adolescents. Target groups of the website are adolescents aged 12 to 18
      years seeking help for depression, as well as healthy adolescents seeking information about
      mental health promotion or prevention of depression.

      To increase the acceptability of the website and the engagement of young people, the website
      will integrate continuously updating content consisting of short exercises based on
      principles of positive psychology. This web-based self-help intervention is thought to
      provide a mode of delivery (the combination: "online" & "positive psychology"), which is
      acceptable and engaging to youth, and might effectively promote mental health in adolescents.

      Since the website targets two different groups, we will evaluate the web-based self-help
      intervention accordingly:

      Target group 1: Adolescents with a major depressive disorder (acute or remitted) Target group
      2: Healthy Adolescents (no mental health condition)

      The current study will focus on target group 2. A study focusing on target group 1 can be
      found in a separately registered clinical trial on clinicaltrials.gov.

      The primary aim of the study is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of this
      web-based self-help intervention to improve positive affect, reduce stress, alleviate
      negative affect and depressive symptoms in adolescents.

      Participating young people will be randomized to either the web-based intervention group or a
      web-based control group (i.e. sham intervention / comparator). All participants will be
      evaluated at pre-, post-intervention, and at a two-week follow-up.

      Hypothesis: Participants in the web-based intervention group will report a significant
      decrease of negative affect, depressive symptoms and perceived stress compared to
      participants in the web-based control group. Participants in the web-based intervention group
      will report a significant increase of positive affect compared to participants in the
      web-based control group
    

Intervention name(s): Two-week web-based self-help intervention based on principles of positive psychology; Two-week web-based text messages containing fun facts
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The web-based self-help intervention consists of 14 exercises based on the following positive psychology domains: personal strengths, pleasure, gratitude, engagement (flow, mindfulness) and positive relationships.
The (partly interactive) exercises are created to be implemented by the participants themselves without support of a therapist.
Before starting the intervention, the participants are told that they will receive a daily email with an instruction for a short exercise over the period of two weeks. The participants are instructed to complete the exercises every day and are told that they will be asked to evaluate these exercises at the next appointment (post-test, week 2); The web-based sham intervention consists of 14 text messages containing random interesting facts ("fun facts").
Before starting the sham intervention, the participants are told that they will receive a daily email with a text message to read every over the period of two weeks. The participants are instructed to read these text messages every day and are told that they will be asked to evaluate these exercises at the next appointment (post-test, week 2)
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Participants are assigned to two groups in parallel for the duration of the study
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Mental Health; Adolescence; Youth; Prevention; Positive Psychology; Self-help; Web-based Intervention