ComBAT for Depression Randomised Controlled Trial
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Community-Based Behavioural Activation Training (ComBAT) for Depression in Adolescents: Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) with Economic and Process Evaluations
IRAS ID
310085
Contact name
Lina Gega
Contact email
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN57377955
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
Depression is a major cause of poor health and social disability, affecting children of all ages but peaking in adolescence. Many young people experiencing mental health problems do not have timely access to effective psychological interventions. Whilst Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) offer interventions for depression; increased demand and limited resources mean that waiting lists are long and entry thresholds are high. This creates gaps between treatment provision and need, with many young people with mild-to-moderate depression not meeting the CAMHS entry threshold criteria. Furthermore, professionals working with adolescents in the community (e.g. within schools, charities) are limited in numbers, often do not have the specialist skills to deliver therapy and are likely to deliver therapies that are non-specific and not evidence-based.
Behavioural Activation (BA), a brief psychological intervention, is recommended for adults with depression. BA's premise is that engaging in meaningful, purposeful and rewarding activities can lift people's mood, energise them and restore their interest and pleasure in day-to-day life. BA can be successfully delivered by non-specialists in the community, requires shorter training than other types of psychological therapies, (e.g. cognitive therapy) and has shown promising results for young people in small research projects when delivered in specialist clinics. However, larger scale, community-based research is needed to establish the acceptability, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of BA for young people with mild-to-moderate depression.
This project seeks to explore BA for young people beyond specialist clinical services. We have developed a standardised community-based behavioural activation training programme (ComBAT) for use within community-based organisations for young people experiencing mild-to-moderate depression and have evaluated its delivery in a small feasibility study. Building on our feasibility work, the current project will evaluate the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and acceptability of our BA in comparison to usual care in a parallel two-groups randomised controlled trial.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/NE/0100
Date of REC Opinion
26 Jun 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion