Behavioural Activation Therapy for Young People with Depression: V1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Feasibility and Acceptability of a Behavioural Activation intervention for young people with depression in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: a Randomised Controlled Trial
IRAS ID
156336
Contact name
Charlotte E W Kitchen
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
Title: The Feasibility and Acceptability of a Behavioural Activation (BA) Intervention for young people with depression in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS): a Randomised Controlled Trial.
Background: Depression in young people is common and can often lead to educational underachievement and/or suicidality. Recent research has suggested BA therapy may be useful as a treatment for depression in this population but there have been no published studies in a UK setting.
Aims: This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of BA therapy for depression in young people attending UK CAMHS.
Method: Forty young people, aged 12 to 17 years old, with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder according to the Kiddie-SADS-Present and Lifetime Version- Affective Disorders Supplement (K-SADS-PL) will be recruited from CAMHS. Participants will be randomised to an eight week manualised BA treatment or Treatment As Usual. Clinicians will collect routine outcome measures. At baseline and at three-month follow-up, a researcher will administer the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) Child and Parent Version, the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale- Short Form (BADS-SF), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Questionnaire and the K-SADS-PL. In addition, clinicians and participants in the BA treatment group will be offered a qualitative interview to explore their experiences of administering and receiving the intervention. At six months following study entry the Child MFQ, BADS-SF and the Rosenberg will be repeated via a telephone interview.
Outcomes: The flow of patients throughout the study, outcome measures, quantitative and qualitative feedback will be used to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the study design and BA intervention. These findings will be fed into the design of a larger definitive trial in the future.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NE/0002
Date of REC Opinion
27 Jan 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion