Efficacy of a Brief Intervention to Improve Sexual and Gender Minorities' Mental Health: Randomized Controlled Trial. (ESCREVA-SE)

Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Self Esteem; Discrimination, Social; Behavior, Risk; Social Phobia; Suicidal Ideation; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; Depression; Anxiety; Sex, Unsafe; Psychological Distress

Treatments: Behavioral: Expressive writing; Behavioral: Placebo; Behavioral: Self-affirmation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05349877

39059120.0.0000.5336 (Other Identifier)

PUCRSBR-10098

Details and patient eligibility

About

Experiences of violence, from micro to physical aggressions, have a deleterious impact on mental health. According to the Minority Stress Theory, unfavorable social conditions (such as anticipated and experienced discrimination and internalized homophobia), mediated by resilience strategies, can lead to mental health or illness. Sexual and gender minorities (SGM) face stigma and discrimination aggravating multiple aspects of their lives: from school drop-out to halting health care access. SGM reveal avoiding medical assistance for fear of discrimination while health professionals disclose feeling unprepared to handle SGM health needs. There are two main challenges: 1) developing specific psychological interventions to reduce the impact of stigma and discrimination on SGM' mental health; and 2) training public health professionals to properly address SGM needs. Therefore, the present trial aims to assess the efficacy of a brief, self-guided, on-line, asynchronous and unsupervised psychological intervention in improving SGM' mental health.

Enrollment: 306 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 16 to 100 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Self-identity as sexual and gender minority.
• Being older than 16 years old.
• Have a stable on-line connection for, at least, 20 minutes in a place where won't be disturbed.
• Reports, in the baseline survey, previous experiences of discrimination, having depression or anxiety symptoms.
• Currently living in Rio Grande do Sul.

Exclusion criteria

• Disagrees with the consent form.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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306 participants in 3 patient groups, including a placebo group

Expressive writing

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will be invited to join three writing activities, lasting 20 minutes daily in D1, D3, and D5 of the same week. For example, to write about a difficult or painful experience related discrimination and their feelings about it.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Expressive writing

Self-affirmation

Experimental group

Description:

Aiming to build self-efficacy, participants will be invite to writing, during 20 minutes daily in D1, D3, and D5 of the same week, a letter to a sexual and gender minority peer suffering from stigma and discrimination.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Self-affirmation

Placebo

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Participants will be instruct to write about their daily routine, during 20 minutes daily in D1, D3, and D5 of the same week.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Placebo