Mindfulness and Relaxation Interventions in Individual Psychotherapies for Children and Adolescents (MARS-CA)

Heidelberg University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Anxiety Disorder; Depressive Disorder; Hyperkinetic Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: Cognitive behavior therapy of trainee therapists

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04034576

MARSCA

Details and patient eligibility

About

The study 'Mindfulness and Relaxation interventions in Individual Training Psychotherapies for Children and Adolescents' (MARS-CA) aims to examine the effects of short session-introducing interventions with mindfulness elements (SIIME) on juvenile patients' psychopathological symptomatology and therapeutic alliance at the beginning of the first 24 therapy sessions.

Full description

Short session-introducing interventions with mindfulness elements (SIIME) shall be compared with session-introducing relaxation interventions (SIRI) and no session-introducing interventions (treatment as usual, (TAU)). Patients between 11 and 19 years and a primary diagnosis of hyperkinetic disorder, depressive disorder or anxiety disorder are invited to participate. Psychotherapy will be conducted by trainee therapists at a trainee outpatient clinic for children and adolescents. It is hypothesized that psychopathological symptomatology and therapeutic alliance improve more in the mindfulness condition than in the relaxation condition and TAU, and that mindfulness moderates the relationship between therapeutic alliance and psychopathological symptomatology stronger than the relaxation condition and TAU.

Enrollment: 90 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 11 to 19 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• A primary hyperkinetic disorder, depressive disorder or anxiety disorder diagnosis
• treatment at the Center for Psychological Psychotherapy, University of Heidelberg

Exclusion criteria

• age below 11 or above 19
• insufficient German language skills
• psychotic disorder
• acute suicidality

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

90 participants in 3 patient groups

TAU + mindfulness intervention

Experimental group

Description:

The mindfulness-based intervention consists of three five to ten minutes session-introducing interventions (mindful walking, body scan, breathing space). At the beginning of each of the 24 therapy sessions patients receive one of the three mindfulness interventions. Each intervention is instructed for four sessions consecutively and eight sessions in total. After completion of the mindfulness intervention, the regular therapy session begins.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Cognitive behavior therapy of trainee therapists

TAU + relaxation intervention

Active Comparator group

Description:

The relaxation interventions (progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), imagery journey, walking relaxation) are parallelized to the three mindfulness-based interventions. At the beginning of each of the 24 therapy sessions, patients receive one of the three relaxation interventions. Each intervention is instructed for four sessions consecutively and eight sessions in total. After completion of the relaxation intervention, the regular therapy session begins.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Cognitive behavior therapy of trainee therapists

Treatment as usual

Other group

Description:

Standard cognitive behavior therapy treatment, based on the individualized case conception of the trainee therapist, is conducted during the whole treatment sessions. No particular session-introductions are applied.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Cognitive behavior therapy of trainee therapists