Depressed Mothers in Rural Areas: Web-Facilitated Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (Mom-NetRCT)

August 26, 2019 updated by: Oregon Research Institute
Low income mothers of young children represent a disadvantaged group who are at exceptional risk for depressive syndromes and who have increasingly limited access to mental health services. The proposed project is designed to evaluate Mom-Net, an internet-facilitated cognitive-behavioral(CBT) intervention for depression, adapted from Lewinsohn's Coping with Depression Course, and tailored to mothers of young children. Mom-Net, which was developed and piloted in an recently completed NIMH-funded investigation (MH070426), was designed to overcome the substantial barriers to treatment participation that exist for mothers experiencing economic hardship and those in rural communities. Though the pilot trial demonstrated that the program was very effective in reducing depressive symptoms and related difficulties, it was conducted under the 'idealized' conditions typical of initial intervention tests (e.g., computers and internet connections were supplied to all participants; access to the internet was provided by a single browser; coaches who provided weekly phone support were research staff, and initial recruitment and motivational interviews sessions were conducted via home visits to participants). These conditions likely facilitated recruitment and retention of participants, as well as ease and fidelity of treatment delivery. Thus one goal of the current project is to evaluate the intervention under conditions that are closer to those of real-world service providers and recipients. The current project is also intended to provide a more rigorous test of the intervention than did the pilot in a number of ways. Participants in the pilot trial will be 300 mothers of 3-5 year old children recruited through Head Start classrooms and prescreened for the presence of elevated depressive symptoms.Subsequent to the pre-intervention assessment, participants will be randomized to either the intervention or facilitated usual care (FUC) condition. The evaluation of the intervention will focus on maternal depressive symptoms, parenting behavior, and child adjustment. Two follow-up assessments (at 12-month and 24-month intervals) will enable us to examine maintenance of effects. Overall, the investigation will contribute to the evidentiary base regarding the dissemination potential of this empirically-supported intervention, adaptations to which have the potential to enable a greater proportion of the population to access and benefit from it.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The project is designed to evaluate Mom-Net, an internet-facilitated cognitive-behavioral (CBT) intervention for depression, adapted from Lewinsohn's Coping with Depression Course, and tailored to mothers of young children. Mom-Net, which was developed and piloted in a recently completed NIMH-funded investigation (MH070426), was designed to overcome the substantial barriers to treatment participation that exist for mothers experiencing economic hardship and those in rural communities. Though the pilot trial demonstrated that the program was very effective in reducing depressive symptoms and related difficulties, it was conducted under the 'idealized' conditions typical of initial intervention tests (e.g., computers and internet connections were supplied to all participants; access to the internet was provided by a single browser; coaches who provided weekly phone support were research staff, and initial recruitment and motivational interviews sessions were conducted via home visits to participants). These conditions likely facilitated recruitment and retention of participants, as well as ease and fidelity of treatment delivery. Thus one goal of the current project is to evaluate the intervention under conditions that are closer to those of real-world service providers and recipients. The current project is also intended to provide a more rigorous test of the intervention than did the pilot in a number of ways. Participants in this project will be 300 mothers of 3-5 year old children recruited through Head Start classrooms and prescreened for the presence of elevated depressive symptoms. Subsequent to the pre-intervention assessment, participants will be randomized to either the intervention or facilitated usual care (FUC) condition. The evaluation of the intervention will focus on maternal depressive symptoms, parenting behavior, and child adjustment. Two follow-up assessments (at 12-month and 24-month intervals) will enable us to examine maintenance of effects. Overall, the investigation will contribute to the evidentiary base regarding the dissemination potential of this empirically-supported intervention, adaptations to which have the potential to enable a greater proportion of the population to access and benefit from it.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

266

Phase

  • 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 Locations

  • United States
    • Oregon
      • Eugene, Oregon, United States, 97403
        • Oregon Research Institute
      • Eugene, Oregon, United States, 97401
        • Options Counseling Services of Oregon

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

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Mother of 3-5 year old child(ren)
  • Reside in rural community, as defined by RUCA
  • Meet DSM IV criteria for major or minor depression based on PHQ-9

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cannot comprehend spoken English
  • Being treated for depression at intake

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Internet-facilitated CBT
Participants in the randomized trial will be 300 mothers of 3-5 year old children recruited through Head Start (HS) classrooms and screened for the presence of major or minor depression. Subsequent to the pre-intervention assessment, participants will be randomized, with an allocation ratio of 1:1, to either the Mom-Net (MN) intervention or facilitated usual care (FUC) condition. Participants in the MN condition will receive the Mom-Net intervention. The Mom-Net program is an internet-facilitated cognitive-behavioral intervention for depression, adapted from the CWDC, and tailored to mothers of young children. Participants in both conditions will receive Booster calls during the follow-up period.
Behavioral: Mom-Net
The Mom-Net intervention is an internet-facilitated cognitive-behavioral intervention for depression, adapted from the CWDC, and tailored to mothers of young children. Mom-Net has several core components: 1. A guided course for self-regulated learning of CBT skills. 2. A system of professional support in which coaches provide weekly 15-20 min phone check-ins (coach calls) in order to encourage and facilitate progress through the intervention and respond rapidly to participant queries and emergencies. In this regard, coaches benefited from: a) a 'behind the scenes" administration page on the website that enabled them to track participants' progress through the intervention and use this information to tailor coaching sessions; and b) an automated system for alerting coaches/supervisors when participants were in crisis. 3. A coach-moderated bulletin board that approximated the social support provided by group administration.
Active Comparator: Coach-facilitated Treatment as Usual
Participants in the FUC condition will receive assistance in accessing mental health interventions through community providers that serve low-income individuals. In order to control for the supportive attention provided to mothers in the MN condition by the weekly coach calls, mothers in the FUC condition will receive weekly check-in calls from research staff during the intervention period. Participants in both conditions will receive Booster calls during the follow-up period.
Behavioral: Coach-facilitated Treatment as Usual
Participants in the facilitated usual care (FUC) condition will receive assistance in accessing mental health interventions through community providers that serve low-income individuals. In order to control for the supportive attention provided to mothers in the MN condition by the weekly coach calls, mothers in the FUC condition will receive weekly check-in calls from research staff during the intervention period. Participants in both conditions will receive Booster calls during the follow-up period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
PHQ-9
Time Frame: 4 months, 16 months, 28 months
Severity of depression
4 months, 16 months, 28 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Oregon Research Institute

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

September 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 14, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 16, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

February 17, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 28, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 26, 2019

Last Verified

August 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R01MH091199-02 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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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