Clinical trial NCT02674932: Character Strengths Intervention Among Psychiatrically Hospitalized Youth
Official title: Assessment of a Character Strengths Intervention in Improving Treatment Outcomes Among Psychiatrically Hospitalized Youth
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Psychiatric Hospitalization
Mental Disorders
Child/Adolescent Problems
Lead sponsor: University of Michigan
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2016-02-05
Enrollment: 153
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 12
Maximum age (years): 17
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: Research has shown that identifying and using one's character strengths in new ways decreases depressive symptoms and increases happiness in adults in the general population. Recently, we found that a similar intervention increases the self-esteem and self-efficacy of children and adolescents being treated in an inpatient psychiatric unit. The purpose of this study is to better understand the effects that discovering one's character strengths and incorporating them into coping skills will have on treatment outcomes in patients admitted to a child and adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit.

Detailed description: The primary aim of this study is to investigate whether a character strengths-based intervention results in significant improvements in measures of depression, anxiety, resiliency, optimism, self-perception, and life-satisfaction of psychiatrically hospitalized youth up to three months following admission. Secondary aims are to: (1) examine participants' strengths profile to identify potential correlates between character strengths, psychiatric diagnoses and intervention effectiveness; and (2) determine whether patients who continue to incorporate their strengths into coping skills at follow-up assessments exhibit greater improvement over-time.

Participants will be 210 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years admitted to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatient Program and will be randomized into one of the three groups. All participants will complete the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth (VIA-Youth) Survey on their second hospital day and subsequently receive the signature strengths intervention (experimental group), coping skills with memory aids comparison exercise (positive control group), or coping skills without memory aids (treatment-as-usual control group). Outcome measures will be completed by all participants at baseline (day 1 on unit), post-treatment (day 4 on unit), and 1- and 3-months following admission. The proposed research represents a change in paradigm, as we aim to specifically examine the therapeutic benefit of the positive psychology element of our intervention conducted in the pilot study among youth with severe mental illness.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Patient on Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit

Exclusion Criteria:

* Cognitive disability or severe psychosis preventing understanding of survey measures
* Prior use of VIA-Youth Survey
* Absence of legal guardian to consent

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in depression symptoms over time compared to baseline
timeFrame: baseline, 3 days, 1 month, 3 months
measure: Change in anxiety symptoms over time compared to baseline
timeFrame: baseline, 3 days, 1 month, 3 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in self-esteem over time compared to baseline
timeFrame: baseline, 3 days, 1 month, 3 months
measure: Change in self-efficacy over time compared to baseline
timeFrame: baseline, 3 days, 1 month, 3 months
measure: Change in resiliency over time compared to baseline
timeFrame: baseline, 3 days, 1 month, 3 months
measure: Change in life-satisfaction over time compared to baseline
timeFrame: baseline, 3 days, 1 month, 3 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan
name: Paresh D Patel, MD, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: