The impact of two workplace-based health risk appraisal interventions on employee lifestyle parameters, mental health and work ability: results of a randomized controlled trial

Background: 75% of all mental health problems have their onset before the end of adolescence. Therefore, adolescence may be a particularly sensitive time period for preventing mental health problems. Affective control, the capacity to engage with goal relevant and inhibit distracting information in affective contexts, has been proposed as a potential target for prevention. In this study, we will explore the impact of improving adolescents’ affective control capacity on their mental health. Methods: The proof-of-principle double-blind randomized controlled trial will compare the effectiveness of an app-based affective control training (AC-Training) to a placebo training (P-Training) app. In total, 200 (~50% females) adolescents (11-19 years) will train for 14 days on their training app. The AC-Training will include three different n-back tasks: visuospatial, auditory and dual (i.e., including both modalities). These tasks require participants to flexibly engage and disengage with affective and neutral stimuli (i.e., faces and words). The P-Training will present participants with a perceptual matching task. The three versions of the P-Training tasks vary in the stimuli included (i.e., shapes, words and faces). The two training groups will be compared on gains in affective control, mental health, emotion regulation and self-regulation, immediately after training, one month and one year after training. Discussion: If, as predicted, the proposed study finds that AC-Training successfully improves affective control in adolescents, there would be significant potential benefits to adolescent mental health. As a free app, the training would also be scalable and easy to disseminate across a wide range of settings. Trial registration: The trial was registered on December 10th 2018 with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (Registration number: ISRCTN17213032).

Download Full-text

Protocol for an app-based affective control training for adolescents: proof-of-principle double-blind randomized controlled trial

Wellcome Open Research ◽

10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15229.2 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

pp. 91 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Susanne Schweizer ◽

Jovita T. Leung ◽

Rogier Kievit ◽

Maarten Speekenbrink ◽

William Trender ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Health Problems ◽

Matching Task ◽

Double Blind ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

The Impact ◽

Proof Of Principle

Background: 75% of all mental health problems have their onset before the end of adolescence. Therefore, adolescence may be a particularly sensitive time period for preventing mental health problems. Affective control, the capacity to engage with goal relevant and inhibit distracting information in affective contexts, has been proposed as a potential target for prevention. In this study, we will explore the impact of improving adolescents’ affective control capacity on their mental health. Methods: The proof-of-principle double-blind randomized controlled trial will compare the effectiveness of an app-based affective control training (AffeCT) to a placebo training (P-Training) app. In total, 200 (~50% females) adolescents (11-19 years) will train for 14 days on their training app. The AffeCT will include three different n-back tasks: visuospatial, auditory and dual (i.e., including both modalities). These tasks require participants to flexibly engage and disengage with affective and neutral stimuli (i.e., faces and words). The P-Training will present participants with a perceptual matching task. The three versions of the P-Training tasks vary in the stimuli included (i.e., shapes, words and faces). The two training groups will be compared on gains in affective control, mental health, emotion regulation and self-regulation, immediately after training, one month and one year after training. Discussion: If, as predicted, the proposed study finds that AffeCT successfully improves affective control in adolescents, there would be significant potential benefits to adolescent mental health. As a free app, the training would also be scalable and easy to disseminate across a wide range of settings. Trial registration: The trial was registered on December 10th 2018 with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (Registration number: ISRCTN17213032).

Download Full-text

Group intervention for siblings and parents of children with chronic disorders (SIBS-RCT): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Trials ◽

10.1186/s13063-020-04781-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Krister W. Fjermestad ◽

Wendy K. Silverman ◽

Torun M. Vatne

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Family Communication ◽

Neurodevelopmental Disorders ◽

Group Intervention ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Siblings and parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders are at risk of mental health problems and poorer family communication. Some group interventions for siblings exist, but few have clearly described parent components and none are considered evidence-based. Methods We are conducting a randomized controlled trial comparing a five-session manual-based group intervention for siblings (aged 8 to 16 years) and parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders to a 12-week waitlist, called SIBS-RCT. The intervention comprises three separate sibling and parent group sessions and two joint sessions in which each sibling talks to their parent alone. The intervention aims at improving parent-child communication and covers themes such as siblings’ understanding of the neurodevelopmental disorder, siblings’ emotions, and perceived family challenges. Participants are recruited through municipal and specialist health centers across Norway. The primary outcome is sibling mental health. Quality of life and family communication are secondary outcomes. Participants are block-randomized to the intervention or 12-week waitlist in groups of six. Measures are collected electronically at pre- and post-intervention/waitlist, as well as 3, 6, and 12 months post-intervention. The main effect to be examined is the difference between the intervention and waitlist at 12 weeks post. All outcomes will also be examined using growth curve analyses. We plan to include 288 siblings and their parents by the end of 2022. Discussion SIBS-RCT represents a major contribution to the research and practice field towards establishing an evidence-based intervention for siblings. In the event that intervention and waitlist are no different, the impact of SIBS-RCT is still substantial in that we will aim to identify participant subgroups that show positive response and effective components of the SIBS manual by examining group leader adherence as an outcome predictor. This will allow us to continue to re-engineer the SIBS manual iteratively to improve outcomes, and avoid the promotion of a less-than-optimal intervention. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04056884. Registered in August 2019

Download Full-text

The Effect of Providing Free Eyeglasses on Children’s Mental Health Outcomes in China: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph15122749 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (12) ◽

pp. 2749 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hongyu Guan ◽

Huan Wang ◽

Kang Du ◽

Jin Zhao ◽

Matthew Boswell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Rural China ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Poor Mental Health ◽

School Students ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Learning Anxiety ◽

Cluster Randomized ◽

The Impact

If children with common vision problems receive and use eyeglasses, their educational performance rises. Without proper treatment, visually impaired children may not achieve educational gains and could suffer from poor mental health. We use a randomized controlled trial to study the impact of an eyeglasses promotion program in rural China on the mental health of myopic primary school students. Three measures of mental health are used: learning anxiety, physical anxiety, and scores on the Mental Health Test (MHT). Our empirical analysis showed that on average, the treatment has small and insignificant for learning anxiety and MHT, and a small but significant reduction in physical anxiety. However, subgroup analysis reveals that myopic students who study more intensively see their learning anxiety and physical anxiety reduced after being provided with eyeglasses. In contrast, students with the lower study intensity suffer a rise in learning anxiety after receiving eyeglasses. A potential mechanism for the differing impacts is the increase in teasing reported among low study-intensity students that does not occur for high study-intensity students. Care should be taken to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs of in-school vision programs.

Download Full-text

Effects of an Eight Week Online intervention for Depression, Anxiety and Stress in a university sample; randomized controlled trial (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.23491 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Paul Ritvo ◽

Farah Ahmad ◽

Christo El Morr ◽

Meysam Pirbaglou ◽

Rahim Moineddin

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Psychological Characteristics ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

Group Differences ◽

Web Based ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

The Impact ◽

Labor Strike

BACKGROUND University students are experiencing higher levels of distress and mental health disorder. In addressing mental health needs, web-based interventions have shown increasing promise to overcome geographic distances and high student-to-counselor ratios, with a potential for widespread implementation. The Mindfulness Virtual Community (MVC) program, a web based program, guided by mindfulness and cognitive behavioural therapy principles, is among such efforts to effectively and efficiently reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in students. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of an 8-week MVC program in a 2 arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) in reducing depression, anxiety, and stress (primary outcomes), and improving mindfulness (secondary outcome) in undergraduate students at a Canadian university. Guided by two prior RCTs that each demonstrated efficacy when administered during regular university operations, the current study coincided with a university-wide labor strike. Given widespread closures as a result of COVID-19, student response to online mental health programming on a disrupted campus can provide useful information for anticipating the impact of COVID-19 related disruptions METHODS In this parallel arm RCT, 154 students were randomly allocated to the 8-week MVC intervention (n= 76) or a waitlist control (WLC) condition (n= 78). The intervention included (1) educational and mindfulness video modules, (2) anonymous peer-peer discussions, and (3) anonymous, group-based, professionally guided, videoconferences. Study outcomes were evaluated at baseline and at 8-week follow-up using: Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire Short Form (FFMQ-SF). Generalized estimation equations with an AR(1) covariance structure were used to evaluate the impact of intervention, with outcome evaluations performed on both an intention to treat (ITT) and per protocol (PP) basis. RESULTS Participants (n= 154) were 35 males and 117 females with a mean age of 23.1 years. There were no statistically significant differences at baseline between MVC and WLC on demographics and psychological characteristics, indicating similar demographic-psychological characteristics across the MVC-WLC groups. Results under both ITT and PP approaches indicated significant between group differences for PSS (ITT: β= -2.31, P= .03; PP: β= -2.38, P= .03), but no significant between group differences in PHQ-9 (ITT: β= -0.44, P= 0.64; PP: β= -0.62, P= .053), BAI (ITT: β= -2.06, P= .31; PP: β= -2.32, P= .27), and FFMQ-SF (ITT: β= 1.33, P= .43; PP: β= 1.44, P= .41) (compared to WLC). CONCLUSIONS Under university labor strike conditions, the MVC program led to statistically significant reductions in PSS compared to WLC, but no other significant between group differences. Comparisons are made with previous study waves, undertaken during non-disrupted university conditions, where efficacy was demonstrated across depression, anxiety and mindfulness outcomes, are discussed. CLINICALTRIAL International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number ISRCTN92827275; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN92827275

Download Full-text