Telehealth CBT for Adolescents and Young Adults With Childhood-onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

A Remotely Delivered CBT Intervention for Youth With cSLE: A Multi-site Patient-engaged Investigation

This study aims to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of a remotely delivered psychological intervention for youth with cSLE. This intervention aims to teach participants skills in order to cope with fatigue, pain, and depressive symptoms--symptoms that commonly affect adolescents and young adults with lupus.

This project is investigating whether a remotely delivered psychological intervention is acceptable and beneficial to teens and young adults coping with cSLE. This study uses a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention called the Treatment and Education Approach for Childhood-onset Lupus (TEACH) to address symptoms of fatigue, depression, and pain that commonly occur in individuals with cSLE. The TEACH program includes six-weekly, one hour sessions, conducted over HIPAA-compliant video conferencing.

Participation in this study will take approximately 8-15 weeks, with a follow-up survey occurring 3-months after post-assessment, and a long-term follow-up survey occurring between 12-27 months after post-assessment. After qualifying for the study, participants will be randomly selected, like flipping a coin, to the TEACH program plus medical treatment as usual (TAU) OR medical TAU alone for six weeks. After this six-week time period, a post-assessment will be completed. Participants that only continued medical TAU will then be eligible to receive TEACH after completing the post-assessment. If these participants choose to undergo the TEACH treatment, they will be asked to complete a short interview about the program and answer questions about how their mood, pain, and fatigue.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants must be diagnosed with cSLE, meeting the revised American College of Rheumatology Classification Criteria for SLE by age 18 years
• Participants must have at least one elevation (based off of screening measures) in fatigue, or depressive symptoms, or pain
• Patient participants must have English language proficiency
• For participants under age 18, must have a primary caregiver willing to participate.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with other chronic medical conditions (e.g., juvenile arthritis),
• Patients with a documented developmental delay, severe cognitive impairment, or thought disorder
• Patients with an untreated major psychiatric illness (e.g., bipolar disorder, psychosis, severe depression, or active suicidal ideation)
• Patients currently receiving psychological treatment for depression, fatigue or pain will be excluded to prevent overlapping treatments that may confound outcomes.