Increasing Treatment Response Rates in Depressed Adolescents Via Feedback-Informed IPDT

Summary

The overarching research project aims to evaluate of an internet-delivered affect-focused psychodynamic treatment (IPDT) for adolescents aged 15-19 with depression. The previous study was a non-inferiority randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing IPDT with internet-delivered cognitive behavior therapy (ICBT). The results showed that IPDT and ICBT had similar effects. Adolescents in both treatments showed large improvements in both depression and other outcome measures. Online psychological treatment is also known as guided self-help, where the participant reads texts and performs exercises on their own, with the support of an online therapist.

The planned study is an RCT to investigate the effect of therapist feedback and customized treatment for adolescents at risk of not being helped by IPDT. The study builds on analyses of predicted treatment trajectories in the project's previous study. Based on these analyses, algorithms have been developed that identify which young people who, after three weeks of treatment, are at risk of not getting a good outcome from the treatment. In the present study, 240 young people aged 15-19 with major depression will begin IPDT. After three weeks of treatment, the course of the treatment is analyzed using the algorithm and the young people who are at risk of not having a good outcome are identified. These adolescents are randomized to either continue unchanged treatment or to receive detailed therapist feedback on the adolescent's treatment prognosis and instructions to adapt the treatment in consultation with the individual adolescent. The IPDT treatment consists of eight modules and treatment duration is ten weeks. The study evaluates the effect of the treatment on depression and other variables such as anxiety symptoms, emotion regulation and self-image.

The project's previous studies have shown that IPDT is an effective treatment that can be offered to adolescents with depression. The planned study can show whether the outcome of IPDT can be further improved by paying attention to adolescents with poorer treatment progress and adapting the treatment more to their needs.

Conditions

• Depression in Adolescence

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Internet-delivered psychodynamic therapy (IPDT)

IPDT consists of 8 therapist-supported self-help modules delivered over 10 weeks on a secure online platform. Modules consist of texts and video followed by assignments which they send to their therapist and receive feedback within a few days. The intervention "IPDT adapted" starts with therapist feedback about the patient's predicted progress and continues with adapting the treatment to the individual adolescent, for example adding text chat sessions.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Kavli Trust

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Linkoeping University

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Björn Philips

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Björn Philips, Ph.D. · Stockholm University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SEQUENTIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

15 Years

Max Age

19 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-01-26

Primary Completion

2024-12-31

Completion

2024-12-31

Countries

• Sweden

Study Locations