Indicated Prevention Transdiagnostic Intervention for Adolescents At High Risk of Emotional Problems

Summary

Emotional disorders (anxiety and/or depression) are severely undiagnosed and untreated despite being among the most common mental disorders, particularly at a young age. Half of all mental disorders begin by age 14; three-quarters by age 24, which makes adolescence a particularly crucial stage. In adolescence, prodromal signs of mental disorders and even full-blown clinical conditions often remain undetected, undiagnosed and untreated. However, there is an absence of evidence-based protocols to reach at high risk youth for developing emotional disorders. There is an urgent need for a paradigm shift by developing intervention protocols to early identify and treat vulnerable adolescents, thus preventing them from developing severe mental disorders later on in life. Mental health indicated prevention is key to helping at-high risk adolescents thrive before emotional disorder evolves. To cover this gap, PROCARE-I is conceptualized as a modularized indicated preventive programme for adolescents aged 12 to 18 years, adapting UP-A protocol with author's permission and supervision. Adolescents will be allocated to a 2-arm intervention trial, delivered as a group, as telehealth format as a result of Covid19 restrictions imposed by government. The PROCARE-I protocol aims to enhance protective factors that will eventually lead to lasting positive effects for adolescents. PROCARE-I will combine quantitative analysis, with special attention to vulnerable groups in a sex/gender disaggregated way. The PROCARE-I project is expected to have a far impact ultimately contributing to preventing and reducing the prevalence of emotional disorders in the young. The outcomes of PROCARE-I will contribute to identifying and treating vulnerable adolescents at high risk for emotional mental at an early stage, before they incur personal, societal and economic cost. PROCARE-I will be culturally-adapted and implemented as a multicenter Randomized-Controlled Trial (RCT). PROCARE-I will be designed to be an acceptable, scalable, and sustainable indicated prevention program.

Conditions

• Anxiety Disorders and Symptoms
• Depressive Symptoms

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

PROCARE-I (UP-A for indicated purposes)

This intervention is meant to respond to the heterogeneity inherent in emotional difficulties presentation by extinguishing distress associated with the presentation of heightened negative emotion in general and reduction or elimination of resultant emotionally-driven behaviours, including avoidance, escape, aggression, and controlling behaviours (e.g., reassurance seeking) that reinforce emotional distress intensity over time.

BEHAVIORAL

Active control condition

Psychoeducation about many different emotions, emphasis on discussing thoughts, feelings, and behavior as parts of emotion, and emphasis on providing support around generally distressing events.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche

  collaborator OTHER

• University Rovira i Virgili

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Miami

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Jaén

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Luis-Joaquin Garcia-Lopez, Ph.D. · University of Jaen

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

12 Years

Max Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-09-01

Primary Completion

2021-06-30

Completion

2022-06-30

Countries

• Spain

Study Locations