Effectiveness of a Self-guided Mobile Application in Improving Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Symptoms

Summary

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a significant mental health problem worldwide. OCD typically begins in young adulthood, and without adequate intervention, often takes a chronic course. Individuals with OCD may suffer impaired relationships, and ability to engage in leisure activities, study or work. Thus, prevention efforts are crucial to target OCD symptoms before they worsen.

The goal of this randomized-controlled trial (RCT) is to evaluate the effectiveness of a self-guided OCD program on a mobile phone application in young adults with subclinical OCD symptoms.

Hypothesis 1a: The intervention group will report significantly lower OCD symptoms (primary measure) at post-intervention and 1-month follow-up compared to the control group.

Hypothesis 1b. The intervention group will report significantly lower depression, anxiety and stress symptoms (secondary measure) at post-intervention and 1-month follow-up compared to the control group.

Hypothesis 2. Perfectionism will moderate the expected relationship between the OCD intervention and the reduction of scores on both primary and secondary measures, i.e. individuals with lower levels of perfectionism will benefit more from the OCD intervention than those with higher levels of perfectionism.

Conditions

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Interventions

DEVICE

Self-guided program on obsessive compulsive disorder

This is an 8-day program that provides psychoeducational on what obsessions and compulsions are, and how to identify them. Subsequently, through a series of content learning and daily exercises that increase in difficulty, participants are guided to conduct exposure exercises while tolerating distress and refraining from compulsions. Participants are also guided to set goals and type down the specific content of their intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviours to keep track of their progress. Each session of the program is estimated to be approximately 5 minutes.

DEVICE

Self-guided program on cooperation

This 8-day program on cooperation aims to improve participants' collaborative skills and interpersonal wellness through a series of content learning and practice exercises. The time and duration of this program is matched to the obsessive compulsive disorder program to ensure that participants spend a similar amount of time and effort across both the intervention and active control conditions.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Intellect Pte. Ltd.

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• National University of Singapore

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Stephanie Lee, Ph.D · National University of Singapore

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

30 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-01-01

Primary Completion

2024-03-01

Completion

2024-07-07

Countries

• Singapore

Study Locations