esTOCma, an App Used by Teachers: an RCT

University of Valencia

Status: Completed

Conditions: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Treatments: Device: Use of esTOCma

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06334887

PID2021-124409OB-I00_O3

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of the present study is to assess the efficacy of a mobile application called esTOCma in promoting mental health literacy, reducing stigmatizing attitudes related to the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and improving teachers' confidence in dealing with students that might have OCD. A parallel, randomized controlled trial with two conditions (experimental and control group) will be carried out in a sample of teachers that work in primary and secondary education. Pre-post changes will be assessed. Experimental group will use the app until they finish it (within a set period of 10 days), whereas control group will do nothing for 10 days. Primarily, it is expected that after the use of the app, participants will show an improvement in OCD-related literacy, stigmatizing attitudes, desired social distance and their comfort, confidence and perceived ability in teaching and handling students with OCD. Secondarily, the investigators hypothesize that experimental group might show a reduction in obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

Full description

Adolescence is a critical stage that is associated with a high vulnerability to developing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Schools are part of the natural developmental context of adolescents, and teachers are involved in their education and personal development. In this sense, teachers play an essential role in the early detection and referral of students with possible obsessional symptoms and will also have to deal with the management of this symptomatology in the classroom. Moreover, teachers often have low knowledge of mental health problems and lack strategies for handling mental symptomatology in the classroom.

esTOCma is a mobile health (mHealth) application that has been developed to promote mental health literacy and reduce stigmatizing attitudes associated with OCD. Previous studies have shown that it is a tool with great potential in terms of intervention on stigma and OCD literacy in the general population. Thus, it could be of great interest to use this app in the field of education, and especially in non-university education since adolescents, a highly vulnerable collective to the development of OCD, spend much of their time in the classroom, and often seek help from school staff.

Enrollment: 175 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 99 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Being a practising teacher in non-university education.
• Working in the education field as a guidance counsellor, language teacher or therapeutic pedagogue.

Exclusion criteria

• Working in a field other than those mentioned above.
• Having less than 18 years old.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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175 participants in 2 patient groups

Use of esTOCma

Experimental group

Description:

Experimental group will use esTOCma until they finish it (within a preestablished 10-days period).

Treatment:

Device: Use of esTOCma

Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

Control group will do nothing for 10 days.