Super Skills for Life Effectiveness in Clinical Settings

Miguel Hernández University of Elche

Status: Completed

Conditions: Emotional Disorder; Depressive Symptoms; Anxiety Disorders and Symptoms; Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Mood Disorders; Anxiety Disorders; Depressive Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: Super Skills for Life

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05482724

2018/034

Details and patient eligibility

About

Super Skills for Life (SSL) is a transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral protocol developed for children aged 6 to 12 with anxiety and comorbid problems (e.g., depression, low self-esteem, and lack of social skills).

SSL consists of eight sessions targeting common risk factors for internalizing disorders such as cognitive distortions, avoidance, emotional management, low self-esteem, social skills deficits and coping strategies.

The aim of the study is to investigate the short- and long-term effects of SSL on internalizing and externalizing symptoms in Spanish children attending the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Full description

To validate eligibility children and their parents will complete several psychometrically robust and developmentally appropriate measures. Participants meeting inclusion criteria will be randomly allocated to the conditions of the intervention group and the wait-list control group.

Parents and children from both groups will complete the same measures at baseline and post-treatment.

Parents and children from SSL will also complete these measures at 3 months follow-up, 6 months follow-up and 12 months follow-up.

The investigators will assess the benefits from pre-test to post-test in children participating in SSL compared to those in a wait-list control group on DSM-5 diagnostic remission, anxiety symptoms, anxiety impairment, depressive symptoms, self-esteem, behavioral problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behavior.

The investigators will also assess these variables in the intervention group at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months follow-up.

Ultimately, the goal of the study is to explore whether SSL can be a cost-effective psychological intervention for emotional disorders in the Spanish National Health System.

Enrollment: 74 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 8 to 12 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Children aged 8 - 12.
• Primary diagnosis of an anxiety disorder, a depressive disorder, and/or trauma- or stress-related disorder with anxiety and/or depressive symptoms.
• Speaking, reading, writing and understanding Spanish.
• Caregivers agree to attend all sessions and to receive feedback and suggestions.

Exclusion criteria

• Intellectual disability, behavioral symptoms, or autism spectrum symptoms whose severity precluded continued treatment.
• The child is at the same time in psychological treatment.
• The child is not on a stable dose of medication for at least 1 month prior to baseline assessment.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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74 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention group

Experimental group

Description:

Super Skills for Life intervention group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Super Skills for Life

Wait-list group

No Intervention group

Description:

Group without any intervention. Participants in the wait-list group received no phycological (public or private) intervention during the eight-week duration of the SSL program. They were informed that children in this group will receive the intervention once the follow-up visit is completed.