Durability of the Effects of Low-Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

April 8, 2026 updated by: New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association

Durability of the Therapeutic Effects of Low-Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Common Mental Disorders: a Long Term Follow-up on Relapse

This exploratory study investigates the relapse condition in Hong Kong adults after low-intensity cognitive behavioural therapy (LICBT) treatment for 18 to 48 months with a 6-month interval. Individuals who received LICBT treatment between 2017 and 2020 will be recruited to assess their current mental health status. It is hypothesised that the improvements in depression and anxiety scores will be maintained at 18-to-48-month follow-up.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The most prevalent common mental disorders worldwide are depression and anxiety. A local morbidity study illustrated that the prevalence rate for any common mental disorders is 13.3% in Hong Kong. Due to the huge demand for mental health services in Hong Kong, the waiting time for a new referral is around 1 year. Psychotherapies are suggested as first-line treatment for mood disorders, and while the effectiveness of traditional cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is consistently replicated, it is comparatively expensive and time-consuming. As a result, the delivery of traditional CBT alone cannot handle the huge demands for mental health service usage. To tackle this challenge, low-intensity cognitive behavioural therapy (LICBT) was developed in the United Kingdom (UK) to help individuals with lower severity of common mental disorders.

Local effectiveness of LICBT was supported by a pilot study in a Hong Kong community centre. In accordance with the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, service users were offered a brief treatment comprising six to eight structured sessions, in which they were assessed to identify the presenting problems and taught psychological tools to cope with their distress. Large effect sizes were reported for clinical improvements in depression and anxiety and satisfactory outcomes were also achieved. Despite the strong support for the short-term benefits of LICBT, depression and anxiety disorders are prone to relapse. Therefore, it is of great interest to investigate the long-term effects of LICBT.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

806

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

  • Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
        • New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants were service users of a community mental health project in Hong Kong.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Aged 18 years old or above,
  • Capable of understanding Cantonese,
  • Received at least 2 sessions of LICBT since September 2017.

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

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
Time Frame: Follow-up at 18-48 months after treatment
The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 is a 9-item self-report questionnaire used to assess the severity of depressive symptoms. Total scores on the PHQ-9 range from 0 to 27. Scores of 5, 10, 15, and 20 represent mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe depression, respectively.
Follow-up at 18-48 months after treatment
Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)
Time Frame: Follow-up at 18-48 months after treatment
The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 is a 7-item self-report questionnaire used to assess the severity of anxiety symptoms. Total scores on the GAD-7 range from 0 to 21. Scores of 5, 10, and 15 represent mild, moderate, and severe anxiety, respectively.
Follow-up at 18-48 months after treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association

Collaborators

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Patrick Wing Leung Leung, Ph.D. in Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong

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)

October 2, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 9, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

April 9, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 2, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 8, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 8, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CREC 2021.421

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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