Examining the Efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Thera... | NCT04081662

ID	Type	Description
Biostat & Med	Other Identifier	UW, Madison
A538900	Other Identifier	UW Madison
SMPH/PSYCHIATRY/PSYCHIATRY	Other Identifier	UW Madison

Status Module

Description Module

Detailed Description

The transition to college is associated with a number of changes in health behaviors and mental health functioning, with 50% of college students meeting criteria for a psychiatric disorder. In particular, first-generation college students may be at particular risk for increased stress and mental health difficulties. The development of effective psychotherapeutic interventions is essential in providing adequate care to young adults during the transitional years of college. Delivery of these interventions via acceptable and feasible modalities for this population is also of utmost importance so that utilization and engagement are prioritized. Brief interventions have been a point of emphasis in recent years from the perspective of patient and provider efficiency, as well as many studies indicating effectiveness of brief interventions in creating and sustaining clinical levels of change.

The current study seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of brief interventions delivered via a smartphone app, or "microinterventions", based in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT is a cognitive-behavioral therapy that seeks to promote psychological flexibility. ACT is transdiagnostic, meaning that it is designed to target human suffering, rather than a particular psychological or physical disorder. ACT targets experiential avoidance, which is the inability or unwillingness to make contact with painful experiences (e.g., thoughts, emotions, memories. Avoidance provides short-term relief, but exacerbates the long-term experience of the avoided stimulus in terms of intensity and duration. The microintervention in this study will consist of one of 84 prompts that aim to target one of 6 processes targeted in ACT. For example, one prompt is "Do your current actions align with what matters most to you?" Delivery of these prompts (e.g., whether and when to deliver which prompt) is randomized to allow for secondary analyses of optimal delivery of the microintervention in addition to primary analyses of its effectiveness.

Arms/Interventions Module

Arm Groups

Label	Type	Description	Intervention Names
compACT Intervention	Experimental	At every time-point of the study, participants will complete self-reports of stress, (as measured by the PSS-4) distress (as measured by the PHQ-2), and activity through the mobile app Lorevimo. After completing these assessments, participants will be randomly assigned to either receive one additional ACT-based microintervention question or receive no additional question. The microintervention will consist of one of 84 prompts that aim to target one of 6 processes targeted in ACT (contacting the present moment, defusion, acceptance, self-as-context, values, and committed action). The ACT-based questions were developed by the research team as a unique intervention for the current study. They are based upon core themes of acceptance and commitment therapy: engagement, awareness, and openness.	Behavioral: compACT Intervention

Interventions

Name	Type	Description	Arm Group Labels	Other Names
compACT Intervention	Behavioral	The mobile intervention in this study consists of two components: 1) self-monitoring and 2) an ACT-based microintervention. Self-monitoring: twice daily, participants will complete self-reports of distress, depressive symptoms, and activity through the mobile app Lorevimo. Microintervention: The microintervention will consist of one of 84 prompts that aim to target one of 6 processes targeted in ACT (contacting the present moment, defusion, acceptance, self-as-context, values, and committed action). At each time-point, participants have a 50% chance of receiving a microintervention question along with the daily self-monitoring assessments.

Outcomes Module

Primary Outcomes

Measure	Description	Time Frame
Feasibility of the ACT micro-intervention: percentage adherence to PHQ-2, PSS-4, and activity prompts	The feasibility of the microintervention will be assessed by Adherence to prompts (defined as a response to at least 50% completion of prompt items per day). If subjects adhere to prompts over 60% of the days of the intervention period on average, the intervention will be considered feasible. The prompts considered will be the 2 questions from the PHQ-2, the 4 questions from the PSS-4, and the 4 questions from the activity assessment.	Day 1 - day 43
Safety of ACT micro-intervention: Change in Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9)	The analysis will look at the change in proportion of individuals who meet criteria for minor or major depression on the PHQ-9 between study start (measure taken at baseline assessment) to study end (measure taken at 6-month follow-up assessment). The Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) is a multipurpose scale for screening, diagnosing, monitoring and measuring the severity of depression. PHQ-9 will reflect the effect of intervention on the severity of depression. The PHQ-9 scores correlates with the depression severity as follows: 5 to 9- Minimal symptoms 10 to 14- Minor depression 15 to 19 Major depression, moderately severe >20 Major depression, severe	Baseline, 3 months and 6 months post intervention
Effectiveness of the ACT micro-intervention: proximal changes in mood outcomes as a result of intervention as indicated by self-reported activity of participant	The effectiveness of the ACT micro-intervention will be assessed by looking at the responses to the activity assessment in relation to whether or not a participant received a micro-intervention at the prior time-point. The activity questions of interest are as follows: Since you [woke this morning or last logged your symptoms], how much energy was consumed by trying to get rid of unwanted feelings, thoughts, or other internal experiences (example: suppressing, distracting, avoiding)? Since you [woke this morning or last logged your symptoms], how much energy was consumed by pursuing your values (example: making choices that align with who you want to be or who/what matters)? Both questions are answered using a scale of 0-6, where 0 = "none" and 6 = "all of my energy."

Secondary Outcomes

Measure	Description	Time Frame
Proximal changes in mood outcomes as a result of intervention: The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4) score	The effectiveness of the ACT micro-intervention will be assessed by looking at the PSS-4 score in relation to whether or not a participant received a micro-intervention at the prior time-point. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4) consists of four questions, each answered using a scale of 0-4. The total PSS-4 score ranges from 0-16. A higher score indicates a higher degree and/or longer duration of perceived stress.

Eligibility Module

Facility	Status	City	State	ZIP	Country	Contacts
University of Wisconsin		Madison	Wisconsin	53792	United States

References Module

Citations

PubMed Identifier	Type	Citation	Retractions
37184896	Derived	Thomas EBK, Sagorac Gruichich T, Maronge JM, Hoel S, Victory A, Stowe ZN, Cochran A. Mobile Acceptance and Commitment Therapy With Distressed First-Generation College Students: Microrandomized Trial. JMIR Ment Health. 2023 May 15;10:e43065. doi: 10.2196/43065.
32965227	Derived	Kroska EB, Hoel S, Victory A, Murphy SA, McInnis MG, Stowe ZN, Cochran A. Optimizing an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Microintervention Via a Mobile App With Two Cohorts: Protocol for Micro-Randomized Trials. JMIR Res Protoc. 2020 Sep 23;9(9):e17086. doi: 10.2196/17086.