Acceptance and Commitment Group Therapy for Unaccompanied Minors

January 19, 2022 updated by: Maria Karekla, University of Cyprus

Acceptance and Commitment Group Therapy for Unaccompanied Minors: A Pilot Study

Unaccompanied minors (UM) are considered to be a highly vulnerable refugee subgroup. Research has indicated that UM experience traumatic events and consequently develop high levels of psychopathology. Post-traumatic stress disorder is the most prevalent diagnosis, followed by depression, anxiety disorders as well as traumatic grief and conduct problems. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may be particularly suited to the treatment of survivors of trauma and with vulnerable refugee groups such as UM. A 5-week ACT group intervention will be carried out and its feasibility in UM will be explored along with its effect on mental health. The ACT group intervention will be based on a Self-Help Booklet by the World Health Organization "Doing What Matters in Times of Stress: An Illustrated Guide". Following the 5-week ACT group intervention, focus groups with participants will be carried out to examine its acceptability and will be analysed qualitatively, using thematic analysis.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The hypotheses of the study are as follows:

  1. The ACT group intervention will lead to increases in UM psychological well-being and quality of life compared to a waiting-list (WL) control group. This includes improvements in post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep difficulties. (Primary outcomes).
  2. The UM receiving the ACT group intervention will demonstrate improvements in their prosocial behaviour compared to the WL control group. (Primary outcomes).
  3. At post-intervention, UM receiving the ACT group intervention will have enhanced psychological flexibility compared to the WL control group. It is predicted that there will be decreased experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion, coupled with increases in values-driven committed action, present moment awareness and self-as-context. (Secondary outcomes).
  4. At the 1-month and 3-month follow-up time points, the UM receiving the ACT group intervention will have retained the improvements from the treatment (i.e., increased psychological wellbeing, enhanced psychological flexibility, augmented prosocial behaviour) compared to the WL control group. Additionally, it is predicted that UM who completed the ACT group intervention will not only have sustained the benefits observed directly post-intervention but will in fact keep making progress at follow-up time points compared to the WL control group.

From the qualitative analysis, the investigators presume to provide critical insights as to what is perceived acceptable and culturally appropriate treatment for this population.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
70

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

13 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Unaccompanied refugee minors living in sheltered accommodation in Cyprus.
  • No specific diagnosis required to take part in the study.
  • No specific cultural background required.
  • Minors who provide consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Presence of active psychosis.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: ACT Intervention
5-week ACT Group Intervention based on the Self-Help Booklet by the World Health Organization "Doing What Matters in Times of Stress: An Illustrated Guide".
Behavioral: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
A 90-120 minute 5-week group intervention for unaccompanied minors. Each week there will be a different focus. Week 1: Grounding, Week 2: Unhooking, Week 3: Values, Week 4: Self-compassion, Week 5: Making room for unwanted thoughts and feelings.
No Intervention: Control group
Waiting-list

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in 'Quality of Life': KIDSCREEN-27 (Ravens-Sieberer et al., 2007).
Time Frame: Pre-intervention, Post-intervention (at 5 weeks), 1-month follow-up, 3-months follow-up
This is a 27-item instrument that consists of five dimensions of quality of life: physical well-being (5 items), psychological well-being (7 items), autonomy and relationship with parents (7 items), peers and social support (4 items), and school environment (4 items). The questions concern the last seven days and answers are given on a five-point Likert scale ('Not at all, slightly, moderately, very, extremely' or 'never, seldom, quite often, very often, always'). Higher scores on the KIDSCREEN-27 reflect higher quality of life and wellbeing. Internal consistency of this scale was considered satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha= >.70).
Pre-intervention, Post-intervention (at 5 weeks), 1-month follow-up, 3-months follow-up
Change in 'The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale' (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995; Antony, Bieling, Cox, Enns, & Swinson., 1998).
Time Frame: Pre-intervention, Post-intervention (at 5 weeks), 1-month follow-up, 3-months follow-up
This scale includes 21 items and will be used to assess for symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress in our sample. The Depression scale assesses hopelessness, low self-esteem, and low positive affect. The Anxiety scale assesses autonomic arousal, physiological hyperarousal, and the subjective feeling of fear. The Stress scale items assess tension, agitation, and negative affect. There are seven items per scale and participants must rate their past week on a Likert-type scale (0-3). Higher scores indicate higher levels of depression, stress and anxiety. Cronbach's alphas indicating high internal consistency for Depression .94, Anxiety .84 and Stress .91.
Pre-intervention, Post-intervention (at 5 weeks), 1-month follow-up, 3-months follow-up
Change in 'The Child Revised Impact of Events Scale' (CRIES-8; Perrin, Meiser-Stedman, & Smith., 2005).
Time Frame: Pre-intervention, Post-intervention (at 5 weeks), 1-month follow-up, 3-months follow-up
This scale will be used to assess for any post-traumatic stress symptoms. The total number of items in the scale are 8 items. Four of the items assess intrusion (intrusive thoughts, feelings) and the remaining four items assess avoidance (avoidance of situations, feelings). The items are scored on a 4- point scale, where higher scores indicate higher levels of intrusion or avoidance. The CRIES-13 (Smith, Perrin, Dyregov, & Yule, 2003) was found to have high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha= 0.80). Sensitivity (i.e., the probability that someone with a diagnosis of PTSD will screen positive) was found to be .94-1.0. Specificity (i.e., the probability that someone without a diagnosis of PTSD will screen negative) was found to be .59-.71. The overall efficiency rate of the CRIES-8 is 75-82.7%.
Pre-intervention, Post-intervention (at 5 weeks), 1-month follow-up, 3-months follow-up
Change in 'Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire' (SDQ; Goodman, 1997; 2001).
Time Frame: Pre-intervention, Post-intervention (at 5 weeks), 1-month follow-up, 3-months follow-up
This questionnaire consists of 25 items divided into five subscales with 5 items each: Emotional difficulties, Conduct problems, Hyperactivity/inattention, Peer problems and Prosocial behaviour. Each item is scored on a 3-point scale (0= 'not true', 1='somewhat true', and 2= 'certainly true'). Subscale scores are calculated by summing scores on relevant items (after recoding reversed items). Higher scores on the prosocial behaviour subscale indicate strengths, whilst higher scores on the other four subscales indicate difficulties. A total difficulties score is computed by summing the scores on all five subscales (range 0-40). Reliability of this scale is satisfactory as assessed by internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.73), cross-informant correlation (mean= 0.34), and retest stability after 4 to 6 months (mean= 0.62).
Pre-intervention, Post-intervention (at 5 weeks), 1-month follow-up, 3-months follow-up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in the ACT Process Measure: PsyFlex (Gloster et al., 2021).
Time Frame: Pre-intervention, throughout study completion 5 weeks, 1-month follow-up, 3-months follow-up
This is an 8-item self-report questionnaire which assesses the process of psychological flexibility. Each item is rated on a five-point scale from 1 (very often) to 5 (very rarely).
Pre-intervention, throughout study completion 5 weeks, 1-month follow-up, 3-months follow-up

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Treatment Adherence Measure: ACT Fidelity Measure (ACT-FM; O'Neill et al., 2019).
Time Frame: up to 5 weeks
This questionnaire consists of 25 items which capture four key areas within ACT: Therapist Stance (7 items), Open Response Style (6 items), Aware Response Style (6 items) and Engaged Response Style (6 items). Within each area there are items to score the therapist's behaviour as ACT consistent and ACT inconsistent. Scoring is rated on a 4-point scale from 0-3 (0= 'This behaviour never occurred', 1= 'Therapist rarely enacts this behaviour', 2= 'Therapist sometimes enacts this behaviour', 3= 'Therapist consistently enacts this behaviour'). Within 'Engaged response style' for instance, "Therapist gives the client opportunities to clarify their own values" would be considered ACT consistent, "Therapist imposes their own, other's or society's values upon the client" would be considered ACT inconsistent. A total score can be calculated for each subscale as well as a total ACT consistent score and total ACT inconsistent score. Inter-rater reliability was deemed moderate to excellent.
up to 5 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Cyprus

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Maria Karekla, Ph.D., University of Cyprus

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Anticipated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 1, 2022

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 30, 2022

Study Completion (Anticipated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 30, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
December 10, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 19, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
February 1, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
February 1, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 19, 2022

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
January 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • K3_K1_1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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