TOUCHminds: Help-seeking in Adolescents With Anxiety

Summary

Adolescents frequently experience clinical and subclinical anxiety symptoms, yet many avoid seeking professional help. While universal interventions exist to promote help-seeking, targeted programs for adolescents with elevated anxiety symptoms remain scarce. Therefore, accessible and tailored strategies are needed to effectively promote help-seeking among this group.

TOUCHminds is a web-based intervention designed to enhance help-seeking among adolescents with clinical or subclinical anxiety. The program consists of six self-guided modules featuring interactive activities (e.g., images, videos, simulation activities, and audio recordings), combined with three synchronous sessions led by a psychologist via videoconference. The intervention explicitly targets precursors of help-seeking, including mental health literacy, mental health stigma, self-compassion, readiness to change, and stage of change.

This research project comprises two studies. Study I, a feasibility study involving 10 adolescents aged 15 to 17, will assess recruitment procedures, dropout rates, usage patterns, therapist fidelity, acceptability, usability, satisfaction, and preliminary effects. Study II, a randomized controlled trial (RCT), intends to include 96 adolescents randomly assigned to four groups: clinical intervention, clinical control, subclinical intervention, and subclinical control. Clinical participants are those who meet diagnostic criteria for one or more anxiety disorders, whereas subclinical participants present high self-reported anxiety but no mental disorder diagnosis. Intervention effects will based on self-report assessments conducted at pre-intervention, post-intervention (9 weeks later), and at 3-month follow-up.

This research will provide evidence regarding the suitability and effectiveness of TOUCHminds in promoting help-seeking among adolescents experiencing different levels of anxiety symptoms. Findings will contribute to the field of empirically validated web-based interventions tailored specifically for adolescents.

Conditions

• Anxiety Symptoms
• Anxiety Disorders

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

TOUCHminds - Web-Based Intervention

A web-based intervention designed to promote help-seeking in adolescents with clinical or subclinical anxiety symptoms. The program combines six self-guided online modules with three individual videoconference sessions with a trained psychologist. It integrates core components from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), Motivational Interviewing, and the Transtheoretical Model of Change. The intervention is tailored to the developmental stage of adolescents and is delivered remotely to participants meeting the inclusion criteria.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Foundation for Science and Technology

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Aveiro University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Catarina Monteiro, M.Sc. · William James Center for Research, Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro.

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

15 Years

Max Age

17 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-09-15

Primary Completion

2028-06-15

Completion

2028-09-30

Countries

• Portugal

Study Locations