MedTrace Logo

Heart Voice: Starry Journey - A Digital ACT Intervention for ASD Caregivers

NCT07319455 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 52

Last updated 2026-01-06

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of the "Heart Voice: Starry Journey" program, a family-centric and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-based digital narrative intervention, in improving psychological flexibility and mental health among primary caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Does the "Heart Voice: Starry Journey" intervention lead to a greater improvement in psychological flexibility among caregivers of children with ASD, compared to a control group?
2. Does the "Heart Voice: Starry Journey" intervention lead to a greater reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression among caregivers of children with ASD, compared to a control group? Researchers will compare the intervention group (using the "Heart Voice: Starry Journey" program) with a wait-list control group (receiving usual care and access to the intervention after the trial) to see if the digital intervention is more effective.

Participants in the intervention group will:

* Use the "Heart Voice: Starry Journey" mobile application over a 6-week period, engaging with interactive stories and ACT-based exercises.
* Complete a series of online questionnaires about their psychological flexibility, anxiety, depression, and caregiver burden at the beginning of the study, immediately after the 6-week intervention, and at a follow-up time point (1 months later).

Participants in the wait-list control group will:

* Continue with their usual care routines during the study period.
* Complete the same series of online questionnaires at the same time points as the intervention group.

Conditions

Interventions

DEVICE

ACT-Based Mobile Application Intervention

This intervention is a culturally adapted, digitally delivered interactive narrative program based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for primary caregivers of children with autism. Distinguishing features include its family-centric design, which integrates ACT's core processes into scenarios simulating intergenerational decision-making and social stigma. Delivered via a mobile application over 6 weeks, it employs a branching narrative where user choices affect outcomes, a dynamic perspective-shifting mechanism between family members, and interactive metaphor-based modules (e.g., "Quicksand" for acceptance). Its development was validated through a Delphi expert consensus process, specifically tailoring content to the psychosocial stressors of caregivers in family-oriented cultural contexts.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Harbin Medical University

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-03-31
Primary Completion
2026-07-31
Completion
2026-09-30

Countries

  • China

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07319455 on ClinicalTrials.gov