Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Depressed Individuals Living With Spinal Cord Injury Sustained Within 5 Years

The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Status: Completed

Conditions: Spinal Cord Injuries; Depression

Treatments: Behavioral: Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT); Behavioral: Wait-list control group with psychoeducation materials provided

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05725161

3191

Details and patient eligibility

About

This randomized controlled trial aims to assess effects of videoconferencing acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on mental health outcomes in individuals living with spinal cord injuries (SCI). A total of 34 individuals living with SCI sustained within 5 years and experiencing depressive symptoms will be recruited and randomly assigned to either the ACT group or the wait-list control group. The ACT group will receive 8 weekly individual ACT sessions guided by a coach through videoconferencing. The wait-list group will receive ACT sessions after the study period ends. We will provide psychoeducation materials related to SCI as supplemental resources to both groups. Mental health outcomes using self-reported questionnaires will be collected at pretest, posttest, and 2-month follow-up. Exploratory hypotheses are that the group undergoing the ACT intervention supplemented with psychoeducation will show improvements in mental health outcomes (e.g., depression) and ACT processes (e.g., psychological flexibility) at posttest and 2-month follow-up, compared to the wait-list control group provided with psychoeducation materials alone. Interviews will be conducted at posttest to explore the participants' experiences in ACT.

Full description

This randomized controlled trial aims to assess effects of videoconferencing acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on mental health outcomes in individuals living with spinal cord injuries (SCI). A total of 34 individuals living with SCI sustained within 5 years and experiencing depressive symptoms will be recruited and randomly assigned to either the ACT group or the wait-list control group. The ACT group will receive 8 weekly individual ACT sessions guided by a coach through videoconferencing. The wait-list group will receive ACT sessions after the study period ends. We will provide psychoeducation materials related to SCI as supplemental resources to both groups. Mental health outcomes using self-reported questionnaires will be collected at pretest, posttest, and 2-month follow-up. Exploratory hypotheses are that the group undergoing the ACT intervention supplemented with psychoeducation will show improvements in depression (primary outcome), secondary mental health outcomes (e.g., anxiety, stress, and grief), and ACT processes (e.g., psychological flexibility) at posttest and 2-month follow-up, compared to the wait-list control group provided with psychoeducation materials alone. Interviews will be conducted at posttest to explore the participants' experiences in ACT.

Enrollment: 34 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• community-dwelling adults (aged 18 years or older) living with spinal cord injuries sustained within 5 years
• having at least mild depression measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9
• having a computer or a smartphone and internet access at home

Exclusion criteria

• having cognitive deficits or language barriers that might impede study participation
• having suicidal attempts within 6 months;
• having a prior experience with acceptance and commitment therapy

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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34 participants in 2 patient groups

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) group

Experimental group

Description:

8 weekly ACT sessions individually guided by a trained coach through Zoom videoconferencing with psychoeducation materials provided

Treatment:

Behavioral: Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)

Wait-list control group with psychoeducation materials provided

Other group

Description:

Care as usual with psychoeducation materials provided during the study period and ACT sessions provided after the study period ends

Treatment:

Behavioral: Wait-list control group with psychoeducation materials provided