Improving Access to the Treatment of Anxiety and Depression Among Young Adults

Summary

Anxiety and depression represent the most common mental health problems. Unfortunately, only a minority of people in need will seek or access traditional mental health services. Access to traditional psychological care is even more challenging for linguistic minorities as well as for people living in rural areas and for young adults - a group that has the highest rate of anxiety and depression but the lowest rate of consulting traditional services.Telepsychotherapy can facilitate access to effective psychological care as done in Australia where the government has been offering an evidence-based 8-week online therapy program called the Wellbeing Course. This online course helps people manage worry, stress, anxiety and depression. It has been evaluated in several clinical trials and successfully implemented as an Australian national treatment service. Its transdiagnostic nature, and the fact that the guidance of a clinician is not required for an efficient and safe administration and maintenance of therapeutic gains make it not only a viable option, but also an easily accessible fist line intervention. More recently, findings from a feasibility study conducted by our research laboratory have supported the efficacy of a French-Canadian translation among French-speaking minorities in New-Brunswick. A version of the Wellbeing Course for young adults has been developed called the Mood Mechanic Course. Empirical support has been obtained.

This study is a feasibility open trial, the first phase of a 3-phase research program designed to implement a French-Canadian translation of the Mood Mechanic Course in New Brunswick targeting groups for which access to traditional services has been most problematic: youth (18 to 25 years old), people living in rural areas and linguistic minorities. The course is an 8-week week program based on principles of cognitive behaviour therapy. It includes five online lessons, do-it-yourself exercises, case stories, and additional resources on different topic such as sleep hygiene. Twenty young adults will be recruited across New Brunswick among French-Canadian minority communities. Self-report measures assessing anxiety and depression will be administered pre/post treatment and at a 3-month follow-up. It is expected that the course will help overcome barriers in help seeking to improve the mental health of our communities.

Conditions

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Major Depressive Disorder
• Social Anxiety Disorder
• Panic Disorder
• Agoraphobia

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Mood Mechanic Course

French-Canadian version of the Mood Mechanic Course. Performed by a professional translator (Bourret Translation Inc.) and reviewed by the research supervisor, Professor France Talbot, clinical psychologist as well with expertise in CBT.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Royal Bank of Canada

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• MindCare Inc.

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Macquarie University, Australia

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Regina

  collaborator OTHER

• Horizon Health Network

  collaborator OTHER

• Universite de Moncton

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Josée LeBlanc, B.A. · Université de Moncton

• France Talbot, Ph.D. · Université de Moncton

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

25 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-05-15

Primary Completion

2018-01-31

Completion

2018-01-31

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations