Internet-delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (ICBT) for Post-secondary Students

Examining Motivational Interviewing and Booster Sessions in Internet-delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Post-secondary Students: An Implementation Trial

Post-secondary students are at an elevated risk for anxiety and depression, with approximately one in three students experiencing clinical levels of symptoms at some point during their academic career. Despite the high prevalence of these mental health concerns, many students do not receive adequate treatment. Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) is an alternative to face-to-face service that is effective for improving symptoms of anxiety and depression in general adult populations. Recently, there has been increasing interest in the use of ICBT in post-secondary populations, however high drop-out rates and small effect sizes suggest that current ICBT programs are not fully meeting students' specific needs. Additional research is necessary to ensure that ICBT is delivered to students in a manner that is both acceptable and effective.

The proposed study will be an implementation trial to examine whether the efficacy of an ICBT course for post-secondary students is improved by offering a motivational interviewing component at pre-treatment and a booster session 1-month after completing treatment. Follow-up assessment will be conducted as 3-month post-treatment. Primary outcomes are anxiety, depression, and academic functioning. Implementation outcomes will include measures of the acceptability, adoption, and fidelity (assessed by number of modules completed) of the ICBT course.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Depression; Anxiety
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy; Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing; Behavioral: Booster Session

Detailed Description

The aims of the study will be to: assess the efficacy of the UniWellbeing Course in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression and increasing adjustment to academic and social responsibilities; to assess the impact of a pre-treatment motivational interviewing component on attrition, engagement, and outcomes (depression, anxiety, and academic functioning); to assess the impact of a booster session on anxiety, depression, and academic and social adjustment at three-month follow-up; and to assess the combined effect of including both a motivational interviewing component and booster session on outcomes.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 308
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Saskatchewan
    • Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, S4S 0A2
      • Online Therapy Unit University of Regina

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• registered as a student at a post-secondary institution in Saskatchewan; over the age of 18;endorse symptoms of depression and/or anxiety; be able to access computers and the Internet and be comfortable using them; and willing to provide a physician as an emergency contact

Exclusion Criteria:

• high risk of suicide or hospitalization for mental health in previous 12 months
• unmanaged alcohol or drug use problems
• severe psychiatric illness that is not managed (e.g. psychosis or mania)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Standard ICBT; Clients assigned to the Standard ICBT condition will receive the standard version of the ICBT course, which consists of four lessons spread across the span of five weeks. Clients will receive five weeks of therapist support.	Behavioral: Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy; All clients will receive the same materials, namely the UniWellbeing Course, which was developed at Macquarie University, Australia. The UniWellbeing Course is a transdiagnostic intervention targeting symptoms of depression and anxiety, that has been tailored for use in post-secondary students. It comprises 4 online lessons that provide psychoeducation about: symptom identification and the cognitive behavioural model; thought monitoring and challenging; de-arousal strategies and pleasant activity scheduling; graduated exposure; and relapse prevention. Seven supplementary lessons can also be accessed at any time (e.g., sleep, communication). Materials are presented in a didactic (i.e., text-based with visual images) and case-enhanced learning format (i.e., educational stories demonstrate the application of skills) with 4 lesson summaries and homework assignments that facilitate skill acquisition. Therapists will spend ~15 mins. per week/per client.
Experimental: ICBT with Motivational Interviewing; Clients assigned to the ICBT with Motivational Interviewing condition will receive the Planning for Change lesson before Lesson 1 of the UniWellbeing Course.	Behavioral: Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy; All clients will receive the same materials, namely the UniWellbeing Course, which was developed at Macquarie University, Australia. The UniWellbeing Course is a transdiagnostic intervention targeting symptoms of depression and anxiety, that has been tailored for use in post-secondary students. It comprises 4 online lessons that provide psychoeducation about: symptom identification and the cognitive behavioural model; thought monitoring and challenging; de-arousal strategies and pleasant activity scheduling; graduated exposure; and relapse prevention. Seven supplementary lessons can also be accessed at any time (e.g., sleep, communication). Materials are presented in a didactic (i.e., text-based with visual images) and case-enhanced learning format (i.e., educational stories demonstrate the application of skills) with 4 lesson summaries and homework assignments that facilitate skill acquisition. Therapists will spend ~15 mins. per week/per client.; Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing; Clients assigned to the ICBT with Motivational Interviewing condition will receive access to the Planning for Change lesson before accessing Lesson 1. They will be presented with five interactive online exercises based on motivational interviewing principles (i.e. values clarification, importance ruler, looking back, confidence ruler, and looking forward). As clients complete the exercises, they are prompted to answer open-ended questions and are provided with written feedback.
Experimental: ICBT with Booster; Clients assigned to the ICBT with Booster condition will receive access to a booster session one month after the end of the ICBT course.	Behavioral: Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy; All clients will receive the same materials, namely the UniWellbeing Course, which was developed at Macquarie University, Australia. The UniWellbeing Course is a transdiagnostic intervention targeting symptoms of depression and anxiety, that has been tailored for use in post-secondary students. It comprises 4 online lessons that provide psychoeducation about: symptom identification and the cognitive behavioural model; thought monitoring and challenging; de-arousal strategies and pleasant activity scheduling; graduated exposure; and relapse prevention. Seven supplementary lessons can also be accessed at any time (e.g., sleep, communication). Materials are presented in a didactic (i.e., text-based with visual images) and case-enhanced learning format (i.e., educational stories demonstrate the application of skills) with 4 lesson summaries and homework assignments that facilitate skill acquisition. Therapists will spend ~15 mins. per week/per client.; Behavioral: Booster Session; Clients assigned to the ICBT with Booster condition will receive access to a booster session one month after the end of the ICBT course. The booster session will include information about maintaining motivation, a review of the ICBT course content and skills, and information about structured problem solving. Clients will also have access to a Do-It-Yourself guide that summarizes the information in the booster session and includes worksheets for clients to practice the problem-solving skills described in the booster. This booster session will be self-guided (ie. no therapist support is offered).
Experimental: ICBT with Motivational Interviewing and Booster; Clients assigned to the ICBT with Motivational Interviewing and Booster condition will receive access to both the Motivational Interviewing content (before Lesson 1 of the UniWellbeing Course) and the booster session (one month after ICBT course).	Behavioral: Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy; All clients will receive the same materials, namely the UniWellbeing Course, which was developed at Macquarie University, Australia. The UniWellbeing Course is a transdiagnostic intervention targeting symptoms of depression and anxiety, that has been tailored for use in post-secondary students. It comprises 4 online lessons that provide psychoeducation about: symptom identification and the cognitive behavioural model; thought monitoring and challenging; de-arousal strategies and pleasant activity scheduling; graduated exposure; and relapse prevention. Seven supplementary lessons can also be accessed at any time (e.g., sleep, communication). Materials are presented in a didactic (i.e., text-based with visual images) and case-enhanced learning format (i.e., educational stories demonstrate the application of skills) with 4 lesson summaries and homework assignments that facilitate skill acquisition. Therapists will spend ~15 mins. per week/per client.; Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing; Clients assigned to the ICBT with Motivational Interviewing condition will receive access to the Planning for Change lesson before accessing Lesson 1. They will be presented with five interactive online exercises based on motivational interviewing principles (i.e. values clarification, importance ruler, looking back, confidence ruler, and looking forward). As clients complete the exercises, they are prompted to answer open-ended questions and are provided with written feedback.; Behavioral: Booster Session; Clients assigned to the ICBT with Booster condition will receive access to a booster session one month after the end of the ICBT course. The booster session will include information about maintaining motivation, a review of the ICBT course content and skills, and information about structured problem solving. Clients will also have access to a Do-It-Yourself guide that summarizes the information in the booster session and includes worksheets for clients to practice the problem-solving skills described in the booster. This booster session will be self-guided (ie. no therapist support is offered).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item (PHQ-9)	Change in depression symptoms. 9 items are summed into a total score, with scores ranging from 0 to 27. Higher scores are associated with higher depression severity.	Baseline (screening), weeks 1-6, 9, and 17
Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7)	Change in anxiety symptoms. 7 items are summed into a total score ranging from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating more severe self-reported levels of anxiety.	Baseline (screening), weeks 1-6, 9, and 17

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS)	Change in disability. Three items are summed into a total score ranging from 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating higher levels of disability.	Baseline (screening), week 6, 9, and 17
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)	A 10-item screening tool to assess alcohol consumption. Items 1 to 8 are scored on a scale ranging from 0 to 4. Items 9 and 10 are scored on a three-point scale (0, 2, or 4). Scores from 10 items are summed with possible scores ranging from 0 to 40 and higher scores indicating a higher likelihood of problematic alcohol consumption.	Baseline (screening), week 6, and week 9
Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT)	An 11-item screening tool to assess problematic drug use. Items 1 to 9 are scored on a scale ranging from 0 to 4. Items 10 and 11 are scored as a 0, 2, or 4. Total scores for the DUDIT range from 0 to 44 with higher scores suggesting problematic drug use.	Baseline (screening), week 6, and week 9
Academic functioning	Self-report measure of self-efficacy for academic functioning/skills. Items are scored from 0-10, with higher scores indicating higher levels of perceived self-efficacy.	Baseline (screening), weeks 1-6, 9, and 17
Treatment credibility.	Measured by Treatment Credibility Questionnaire (TCQ) which contains 4 items. The first three items range from 0-9 with higher scores indicating better outcome, and the fourth item ranges from 0-100%, with higher scores indicating greater improvement in functioning.	Baseline (screening), week 6
Treatment satisfaction	Measured by Internet-CBT Treatment Satisfaction Measure. Measure includes 19 questions assessing satisfaction with various aspects of Internet-CBT and also negative effects of treatment	Week 6
Change Questionnaire	The CQ is a self-report measure that focuses on three factors of change: importance, ability, and commitment. For the purpose of this study, the desired change will be to "reduce the anxiety and/or depression I experience". For each of the three factors, participants are asked to rate on a scale of 0 ("Definitely not") to 10 ("Definitely") how motivated they are to make the change. Total scores on the questionnaire can range from 0 to 30.	Pre-treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Regina
• Collaborators: Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Vanessa Peynenburg, MA, University of Regina

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Peynenburg V, Hadjistavropoulos H, Thiessen D, Titov N, Dear B. Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Postsecondary Students: Randomized Factorial Trial for Examining Motivational Interviewing and Booster Lessons. J Med Internet Res. 2022 Sep 7;24(9):e40637. doi: 10.2196/40637.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 28, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 26, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): June 26, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 7, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 7, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): February 11, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 18, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 17, 2021
• Last Verified: November 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: randomized controlled trial; depression; anxiety; post-secondary students; internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy; therapist-assistance; patient-centred
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Depression
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2019-205

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No