Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Stress Disorders in Health Workers Involved in the Care of Patients During the Covid-19 Epidemic (REST)

January 16, 2026 updated by: University Hospital, Strasbourg, France

Efficacy of an Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Programme Aiming at Reducing the Stress of Health Workers Involved in the Care of Patients During the Covid-19 Epidemic: a Randomized-controlled Trial

Some preliminary epidemiological research conduct in China in health workers involved in the care of Covid-19 patients has shown high rates of depression (>50%), generalized anxiety disorder (>44%), insomnia (>36%) and stress symptoms (>73%), which negatively impact their well-being as well as their ability to work effectively . These rates were observed during the epidemic peak, but they can also have a long-term mental health effect, both individually, but also in a systemic manner , similar to what has been reported relative to the SARS-CoV-1 . Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is recognized as an effective treatment for stress-reduction, as well as for the prevention of multiple mental health problems in at-risk individuals . Moreover, CBT has been found to be effective in brief online formats , which could make it feasible during the current Covid-19 epidemic. To our knowledge, there are no online CBT programmes targeting stress problems in health workers involved in the care of patients during the current epidemic context. The aim of our study is to evaluate the efficacy of the online CBT programme we have developped to specifically address immediate perceived stress in health workers, as well as the prevention of mental health problems at 3- and 6-months follow-up

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

156

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

  • France
      • Strasbourg, France, 67000
        • Weiner Luisa

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 to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Health worker
  • Male or Female
  • Aged 18-70
  • Able to understand the French language

Exclusion Criteria:

  • PSS < 16
  • Suicidal ideation assessed as < 3 on the item 9 of the PHQ-9
  • legally able to provide informed consent

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 7 sessions of the online CBT programme
Behavioral: Online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
7 sessions of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) online + possibility to contact the psychological hotline
Active Comparator: Bibliotherapy
Behavioral: Online bibliotherapy programme
online bibliotherapy programme on the Ma Santé website Also with explanatory sheets and tools to improve stress management and the possibility of contacting the Psychological Hotline

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Significant score reduction at the Perceived Stress Scale
Time Frame: T0 inclusion
T0 inclusion
Significant score reduction at the Perceived Stress Scale
Time Frame: T1 (3-month follow-up)
T1 (3-month follow-up)
Significant score reduction at the Perceived Stress Scale
Time Frame: T1 (up to 8 weeks treatment)
T1 (up to 8 weeks treatment)
Significant score reduction at the Perceived Stress Scale
Time Frame: T2 (6-month follow-up)
T2 (6-month follow-up)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University Hospital, Strasbourg, France

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Luisa Weiner, Les Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg

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 (Actual)

July 20, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 21, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 23, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

April 24, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 20, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 16, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 7799

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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