Evaluation of an Asynchronous Remote Communities Approach to Behavioral Activation for Depressed Adolescents

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a digital health intervention, called "ActivaTeen," improves depression treatment for teenagers with depression. The investigators also want to know if ActivaTeen is easy to use for both teenagers and mental health clinicians who help deliver treatment through ActivaTeen. All teenagers in the study will receive an individual depression therapy called Behavioral Activation or "BA" and about half will also use ActivaTeen.

The main questions this trial aims to answer are:

* Does ActivaTeen improve depression treatment for teenagers?
* Do teenagers and clinicians find ActivaTeen to be acceptable?

Researchers will compare teenagers using ActivaTeen along with BA to teenagers who are only doing BA to see the effects of ActivaTeen.

Participants in the study will:

* Fill out surveys online several times during the study, which lasts about 6 months
* Receive individual BA therapy

Conditions

• Depression
• Adolescent Behavior

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

ActivaTeen

The ActivaTeen app is built on HIPAA-compliant instance of a popular messaging software. Participants in the treatment group can access the app at any time via desktop or mobile, where they can find features designed to enhance their receipt of BA therapy. These features include: weekly BA skills and homework completion support, in-app messaging with their BA therapist, mood and activity tracking and data visualizations, chatbot check-ins on progress and guided problem-solving around barriers, and moderated peer support using the ActivaTeen app. The app will have a moderator, who is part of the study team, to manage peer-to-peer interactions within ActivaTeen.

BEHAVIORAL

Behavioral Activation

Behavioral activation therapy involves individual weekly sessions with a trained therapist for 12 weeks. The sessions are completed either in-person or via telehealth. The treatment focuses on behavioral manifestations of depression such as isolating, and how these behaviors are interconnected with low mood and depressive emotions. BA helps patients find ways to engage in behaviors that are meaningful to them based on their values, priorities, and goals, with the aim of creating positive loops between doing meaningful activities and improved mood. The therapist provides structure and problem-solving for activating these behaviors and keeping track of changes over time.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Washington

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jessica Jenness, PhD · University of Washington

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

13 Years

Max Age

19 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-04-30

Primary Completion

2026-03-01

Completion

2026-03-01