Testing Psychosocial Treatment Planning Methods for Youth Anxiety and Depression
Condition: Anxiety Disorders; Depressive Disorder
MeSH terms: Anxiety Disorders; Depressive Disorder
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Youth depression and anxiety represent a serious public health concern, with affected youth
      often experiencing social, familial, and academic impairment. Research evidence supports a
      growing array of effective treatments for youth depression and anxiety, yet as the collection
      of evidence-based treatments expands, so do the challenges of utilizing the evidence:
      clinicians must be able to (1) access, integrate, and apply the available evidence, and (2)
      engage in a collaborative process with each family to develop a plan that is responsive to
      each family's unique characteristics, preferences, and goals. Engaging caregivers and youths
      as active collaborators in the treatment planning process is a patient-centered approach with
      the potential to improve the process and outcome of youth mental health care by facilitating
      the personalization of established evidence-based treatment approaches. Such collaboration,
      frequently referred to as shared decision-making (SDM), is a hallmark of evidence-based
      practice and a key feature of federal guidelines for health care delivery. However, despite
      growing rhetorical support for SDM, empirical support is lacking, particularly in the area of
      youth mental health treatment. The absence of such research is unfortunate, given the
      potential for SDM to facilitate the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based
      treatments, and to personalize the use of established treatments to increase acceptability,
      retention, satisfaction, and overall effectiveness.

      The present project tests the feasibility and acceptability of SDM through a pilot randomized
      controlled trial of 40 youths (ages 7-15) meeting diagnostic criteria for an anxiety or
      depressive disorder. The trial will compare an evidence-based treatment that is planned
      collaboratively with youths and caregivers using the SDM protocol, to an evidence-based
      treatment that is planned by the clinician and supervisor using pretreatment assessment data.
      Eligible youths will received up to 26 treatment sessions at no cost and complete assessments
      prior to the start of treatment, at the end of treatment, and six months following the end of
      treatment.
    


Intervention name(s): Modular Approach to Therapy for Children (MATCH)
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): MATCH is a collection of 31 modules that correspond to the treatment procedures included in standard evidence-based treatments for youth depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Participants are randomly assigned to receive a treatment planned primarily by the clinician (clinician guided) or planned collaboratively by the clinician, parent, and child (shared decision-making).
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Health Services Research
Keywords: anxiety; depression; childhood; therapy; treatment; medical decision making