Online Support Groups for Depression and Anxiety

July 20, 2010 updated by: University College, London

Randomised Controlled Trial of an Existing Online Support Group for Depression and Anxiety

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of online support groups for anxiety and depression.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

In recent years the number of online support groups for conditions like depression and anxiety has grown rapidly. Millions of people are thought to be using them around the world. This research aims to help find out whether the use of online support groups is beneficial and to learn more about what happens in these groups.

This research will compare online support groups with expressive writing. Expressive writing involves people writing about their thoughts and feelings, often upsetting ones, for a short period of time. In online support groups giving and receiving support from others can be helpful while expressive writing about emotional issues can be cathartic.

1,000 participants will be recruited online from the UK, USA and Canada and randomly assigned to either an existing online support group or to an expressive writing condition.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

1000

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Locations

  • United Kingdom
      • London, United Kingdom, WC1E 6BT
        • University College London

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Self-defined depression & anxiety
  • Resident in the UK, US or Canada
  • Access to the internet

Exclusion Criteria:

-

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
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Online support group
Behavioral: Online support group
Expressive writing involves people writing about their thoughts and feelings, often upsetting ones, for a short period of time.
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Expressive writing
Behavioral: Expressive writing
Online support groups are internet forums where like-minded people give and receive both informational and emotional support.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale
Time Frame: Zero, three and six months
Zero, three and six months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Satisfaction with Life Scale
Time Frame: Zero, three and six months
Zero, three and six months
The Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey
Time Frame: Zero, three and six months
Zero, three and six months
Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment
Time Frame: Zero, three and six months
Zero, three and six months
The Illness perception questionnaire
Time Frame: Zero, three and six months
Zero, three and six months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University College, London

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Chris Barker, University College, London

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.

General Publications

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

May 1, 2010

Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED)

February 1, 2011

Study Completion (ANTICIPATED)

February 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 22, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 22, 2010

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

June 23, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

July 21, 2010

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 20, 2010

Last Verified

July 1, 2010

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • UCL1376/001

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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