Effectiveness of a Guided Mental Health Chatbot for Youth Living in Lithuania

Vilnius University

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety

Treatments: Behavioral: STARS (Scalable Technology for Adolescents and youth to Reduce Stress); Behavioral: Basic psychoeducation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07012876

(1.13E)250000-KT-56/ERC0004137

Details and patient eligibility

About

The study aims to assess the effectiveness of a guided mental health chatbot called "Scalable Technology for Adolescents and youth to Reduce Stress (STARS)", adapted for youth living in Lithuania.

Full description

The intervention is a guided mental health chatbot STARS developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). It consists of 10 sessions which include: Introduction (1), Psychoeducation (2), Emotion Regulation (3, 4), Behavior Activation (5, 6), Managing Problems (7), Supportive Self-talk (8, 9), and Relapse Prevention (10). Each session consists of psychoeducation and exercise parts. Trained and supervised non-specialists (called e-helpers) provide weekly calls (five calls lasting approximately 15 minutes) to support participants individually.

The effect of the intervention will be compared against a control group which receives enhanced usual care.

Enrollment: 262 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 25 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age of 18-25 years
• Understanding the Lithuanian language
• Having access to a device for intervention delivery
• Experiencing moderate levels of psychological distress (a cut-off score of 8 as measured with Kessler-6)

Exclusion criteria

• People at imminent risk of suicide
• People currently experiencing a psychotic episode
• People currently experiencing interpersonal violence
• Current dependency on alcohol/drugs

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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262 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention group

Experimental group

Description:

The intervention group will get a guided mental health chatbot STARS.

Treatment:

Behavioral: STARS (Scalable Technology for Adolescents and youth to Reduce Stress)

Control group

Other group

Description:

The control group will receive basic psychoeducation. The content of the psychoeducation is very similar to the content of session 2 of the STARS chatbot and includes psychoeducation about emotions, a personal story about a fictional character who talks about her emotions, and information about where to access mental health support. It also includes a list of organizations and clinics providing mental health care in Lithuania.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Basic psychoeducation