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the goal of this cluster randomized controlled trial is to assess the effectiveness of smartphone application in reducing the symptoms of Anxiety and depression among adolescents. The main objectives of this trial are:
Primary Objective To develop a smart phone application for reduction in depressive and anxiety symptoms in Pakistani adolescents aged 12-18 years
Secondary Objectives
the randomization will occur at the school level for the intervention group and control group.
Students in the intervention group will receive the access to a smartphone application designed to improve the mental health of adolescents, they will be briefed on how to use the application and its advantages. while the students in the control group will receive self-reading pictorial educational leaflets related to mental health improvement.
the researcher will conduct the assessment of depression, anxiety and mental wellbeing using PHQ-A, GAD-7 and WHO-5 at baseline, 1 month and at 3 months to compare if the smartphone application is effective in reducing the symptoms of depression and anxiety of adolescents and overall improvement in the mental wellbeing.
As per World Health Organization (WHO), 13% of adolescents worldwide experience a mental disorder. Also, depression, anxiety, and other behavioral disorders are leading causes of mortality and disability in this age bracket. The advent of the pandemic has further worsened the mental health situation in adolescents. If the increasing burden of mental health issues is not addressed in adolescence, they can culminate into established mental disorders extending to adulthood, impairing overall wellbeing and limiting opportunities. In order to cater to mental health issues in adolescents at an early stage, we aim to develop a smartphone application for the reduction of depression and anxiety symptoms in school-going adolescents aged 12-18 years.
Also, we plan to assess the effectiveness of the smartphone application via a cluster randomized controlled trial. The curated smartphone application will have two modules: Chill zone and sleep; Chill zone will comprise of 9 sub-modules and sleep 5 sub-modules. The 9 sub-modules of the Chill zone will be as follows; meditation, breathing techniques, family time, art time, funny sayings, reframe stress and relax, diet and cooking tips, mini-courses, and how to become better. The sub-modules of sleep will be winding down, sleep music, storytelling, nature sounds, and beautiful nature. Each module will be designed to be completed on separate days with daily push notifications.
Once the application is designed, the trial will be conducted in schools of Karachi. The intervention and control arm will have two schools with 50 students/school from grades 6-10. The total sample size will be 200 students. A two-stage cluster sampling with stratification on school type (government or private) will be employed to select schools and recruit students. Participants allocated to the intervention arm will be given mental health intervention, and the students in the control arm will be given educational leaflets. PHQ-A, GAD-7, and WHO depression wellbeing scale for assessing depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and wellbeing will be used at baseline, 1 month, and three months. Generalized estimating equation, will be used to compare mean scores of depression, anxiety and wellbeing scores between both arms.
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| Label | Type | Description | Intervention Names |
|---|---|---|---|
| intervention arm | Experimental | One public and one private school will be randomly placed into intervention arm. Students from grade 6th - grade 10th will be recruited on their willingness to participant. A smartphone application will be installed on the personal gadgets of the students in the interventional arm at baseline. For assessing the effectiveness of this app, the first follow-up will be done at one month after the intervention and the second follow up after 3 months to evaluate whether the application had an impact on their depressive and anxiety symptom using PHQ-A, GAD-7 and WHO-5 scales. |
|
| control arm | Active Comparator | one public and one private school will be randomly allocated to control arm. Students from grade 6th - grade 10th will be recruited on their willingness to participant. the control group will receive self-reading educational leaflets. the first follow-up will be done at one month after the intervention and the second follow up after 3 months to evaluated whether the application had an impact on their depressive and anxiety symptom using PHQ-A, GAD-7 and WHO-5 scales. |
|
| Name | Type | Description | Arm Group Labels | Other Names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A smartphone application | Other | app will have 2 modules: Chill zone and sleep; Chill zone has 9 sub-modules which are meditation, breathing techniques, family time, art time, funny sayings, reframe stress and relax, diet and cooking tips, mini courses and how to become better. The sub-modules of sleep are: wind down, sleep music, storytelling, nature sounds and beautiful nature. These modules will be approved by a clinical psychologist to help people with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Skills learned include emotion recognition, emotional management, behavioral activation (being active), recognizing and challenging unhelpful thoughts and cognitive restructuring to plan for their future. |
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Anxiety | change in the level of anxiety symptoms using the Generalized anxiety scale (GAD-7) | 6 months |
| Depression | Change in the level of depressive symptoms assessed using Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-A) adapted for adolescents | 6 months |
| Mental well-being | change in the mental well-being scores assessed using WHO-5 scale | 6 months |
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Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
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| Name | Role | Phone | Extension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shafquat Rozi, Ph.D. | Contact | +92 300 2278976 | 4893 | shafquat.rozi@aku.edu |
| Sana Qamar, Master | Contact | +923423727054 | sana.qamar@aku.edu |
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Shafquat Rozi, Ph D. | Aga Khan Hospital -Karachi | Principal Investigator |
| Facility | Status | City | State | ZIP | Country | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aga Khan University- Hospital | Karachi | Sindh | 75070 | Pakistan |
| PubMed Identifier | Type | Citation | Retractions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21501803 | Background | Balaji M, Andrews T, Andrew G, Patel V. The acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of a population-based intervention to promote youth health: an exploratory study in Goa, India. J Adolesc Health. 2011 May;48(5):453-60. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.07.029. Epub 2010 Oct 2. | |
| 30600639 | Background | Dawson KS, Watts S, Carswell K, Shehadeh MH, Jordans MJD, Bryant RA, Miller KE, Malik A, Brown FL, Servili C, van Ommeren M. Improving access to evidence-based interventions for young adolescents: Early Adolescent Skills for Emotions (EASE). World Psychiatry. 2019 Feb;18(1):105-107. doi: 10.1002/wps.20594. No abstract available. |
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| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D001008 | Anxiety Disorders |
| D000092862 | Psychological Well-Being |
| D003863 | Depression |
| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D001523 | Mental Disorders |
| D010549 | Personal Satisfaction |
| D001519 | Behavior |
| D001526 | Behavioral Symptoms |
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A two-stage cluster sampling will be employed. Randomization will occur at school level for 2 arms i.e. interventional and control groups. Students will be selected randomly from each group
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| Pictorial educational leaflets | Other | the control group will receive self-reading educational leaflets, the majority of which are pictorial. These leaflets will be approved by a clinical psychologist to help people with symptoms of depression and anxiety. |
|
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