Morning Activation to Improve Mood After Stroke

July 17, 2026 updated by: Prof. LAU Chun Lun Stephen, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

This pilot randomized controlled trial will evaluate the feasibility and preliminary effects of a six-week behavioral intervention designed to improve mood and daily functioning in adults who have experienced a stroke and report depressive symptoms and difficulty becoming engaged in activities after waking.

Participants will be randomly assigned to either the behavioral intervention or a health education program. Assessments will be completed before and immediately after the six-week program and will include questionnaires and seven-day monitoring of sleep, activity, and mood. The study will also examine feasibility indices such as participant retention, intervention attendance, acceptability, and preliminary changes in mood.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

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 Contact

Study Locations

  • Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
        • Recruiting
        • The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Stephen Lau, PhD

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18 years or older.
  • History of stroke at least 6 months before enrollment.
  • Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score of 10 or higher.
  • Difficulty getting started or engaging in activities in the morning.
  • Able to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Conditions that would interfere with study participation.
  • Neurological condition other than stroke.
  • Currently receiving psychological therapy for depression.
  • Significant cognitive impairment or dementia.
  • Current or past diagnosis of psychosis, bipolar disorder, or mania.
  • Hospitalization that would interfere with study participation.
  • Acute or significant suicidal ideation
  • Alcohol or substance use problems within the past month.
  • Use of antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication unless the dosage has been stable for at least 4 weeks and no changes are planned during the study.

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: Morning Activation Program
Participants will receive a six-week individualized behavioral program delivered in weekly sessions of approximately 60 minutes. The program is designed to support engagement in daily activities after waking, establish consistent daily routines, and improve mood and functioning after stroke.
Behavioral: Morning Activation Program
A six-week individualized behavioral program delivered in weekly sessions of approximately 60 minutes. The program is designed to support engagement in daily activities after waking, establish consistent daily routines, and improve mood and functioning after stroke. Sessions will be tailored to participants' needs and abilities.
Active Comparator: Health Education Program
Participants will receive a six-week health education program delivered in weekly sessions of approximately 60 minutes. The program will provide general information relevant to health and recovery after stroke and will be matched to the experimental program in session frequency and duration. It will not include the individualized behavioral strategies provided in the experimental arm.
Behavioral: Health Education Program
A six-week health education program delivered in weekly sessions of approximately 60 minutes. The program will provide general information relevant to health and recovery after stroke and will be matched to the experimental program in session frequency and duration. It will not include the individualized behavioral strategies provided in the experimental arm.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Recruitment Rate
Time Frame: From the start of recruitment until enrollment of the final participant.
Number of participants enrolled divided by the number of months of active recruitment.
From the start of recruitment until enrollment of the final participant.
Retention Rate
Time Frame: Immediately after completion of the 6-week intervention
Number of randomized participants who complete the immediate post-intervention assessment divided by the total number randomized, expressed as a percentage.
Immediately after completion of the 6-week intervention
Intervention Attendance
Time Frame: Throughout the 6-week intervention period
Number and percentage of scheduled intervention or health education sessions attended by each participant during the 6-week program.
Throughout the 6-week intervention period
Intervention Acceptability
Time Frame: Immediately after completion of the 6-week intervention
Acceptability of the assigned program assessed using the 4-item Acceptability of Intervention Measure. Each item is rated from 1 to 5, producing a total score ranging from 4 to 20. Higher scores indicate greater intervention acceptability.
Immediately after completion of the 6-week intervention
Participants Experiencing Adverse Events
Time Frame: From enrollment through completion of the immediate post-intervention assessment.
Number of adverse events considered related or possibly related to study participation.
From enrollment through completion of the immediate post-intervention assessment.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Depressive Symptoms
Time Frame: Baseline and immediately after completion of the 6-week intervention
Depressive symptom severity assessed using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Total scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating more severe depressive symptoms.
Baseline and immediately after completion of the 6-week intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

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)

May 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 17, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 17, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 17, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HSEARS20260321001

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.

Clinical Trials on Stroke

Clinical Trials on Morning Activation Program

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Canada

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe