Mobile App for Eating Disorders in Adolescents

University of Valencia

Status: Completed

Conditions: Eating Disorders in Adolescence

Treatments: Device: GGTCA-AD mobile app; Device: GGNeutra mobile app

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06039514

PID2021-124409OB-I00

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of GGTCA-AD to decrease the maladaptive beliefs associated with eating disorders (ED) in non-clinical adolescent population. Specifically, a randomized controlled trial with parallel design and two groups (experimental and control) will be carried out in adolescents aged 13-15 years to assess the changes pre and post use of the app. It is expected that after the use of the GGTCA-AD app for 14 days, at the primary level, a: decrease in the degree of ascription to dysfunctional beliefs associated with ED; and at the secondary level: increase in body satisfaction and self-esteem; decrease in eating symptomatology; and no changes in emotional symptomatology. These results are also expected to be maintained in subsequent follow-up at 1 month.

Full description

There is a digital platform called GGtude, which is composed of different modules, each of them aimed at working with different mental health problems. The goal is to provide an easy-to-use tool as a CBT complement to work on the self-dialogue that relates to the core beliefs associated with the psychological problem in particular. To achieve this target, a cognitive training exercise is performed: different sentences appear in the form of beliefs, and the person must identify and accept those beliefs that are functional, adaptive and positive, dragging them to the lower part of the screen; and reject those that are dysfunctional, maladaptive and negative dragging them to the upper part of the screen.

The GGTCA app is a module of GGtude that was developed to work on dysfunctional beliefs associated with eating disorders. Previous research showed that the app produced a statistically significant decrease of mean scores in maladaptive beliefs associated with ED and a statistically significant increase in self-esteem in adult population.

Furthermore, adolescence is a developmental stage vulnerable to the development of these disorders, so it's relevant to adapt the GGTCA application to the adolescent population (GGTCA-AD) and to evaluate its effectiveness.

Enrollment: 93 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 13 to 15 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

(1) ages between 13 and 16; (2) that the parents or guardians of the adolescents and the participants have signed the informed consent form; (3) have a dispositive with Internet access.

Exclusion criteria

(1) have inadequately answered control questions, for example "please check the option every day in this sentence".

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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93 participants in 2 patient groups

GGTCA-AD mobile app

Experimental group

Description:

The experimental group uses the GGTCA-AD module for 14 days after the first assessment.

Treatment:

Device: GGTCA-AD mobile app

GGNeutra mobile app

Active Comparator group

Description:

The control group uses GGNeutra for 14 days after the first assessment.

Treatment:

Device: GGNeutra mobile app