Supported Online Self-Help for Veterans With Depression in Primary Care (SOS-Depression)

August 19, 2026 updated by: Lucinda B. Leung, MD, PhD, MPH, University of California, Los Angeles

Supported Online Self-Help for Veterans With Depression in Primary Care (SOS-Depression)

Depression is disabling and affects one in five Veterans. VA's Primary Care-Mental health Integration (PCMHI) enables specialists to support medication treatment in primary care, but timely and sufficient access to psychotherapy is unattainable despite Veteran preference for psychotherapy. This study aims to close the gap in psychotherapy access for VA primary care patients with depression by adapting PCMHI collaborative care models to improve uptake of peer-supported computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (cCBT).

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Background: VA's Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) is rooted in evidence-based collaborative care models, where care managers, mental health specialists, and primary care providers jointly treat depression in primary care. While PCMHI enabled specialists to support medication treatment in primary care, access to psychotherapy is not timely and sufficient. Alternative therapy modalities are needed. Peer-supported cCBT for depression has been shown to be effective but is not yet widely used within VA.

Significance/Impact: Depression is disabling and affects one in five Veterans. Psychotherapy is preferred by Veterans, but fraught with multilevel barriers (e.g., staff availability, patient travel to clinic, limited clinic hours). Without enhancing existing PCMHI models to enable better primary care patient access to effective psychotherapies, Veteran engagement in depression treatment is unlikely to improve.

Innovation: This study aims to close the gap in psychotherapy access for VA primary care patients with depression by adapting PCMHI collaborative care models to improve uptake of peer-supported computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (cCBT). cCBT is accessible 24/7 via the internet and has effectively treated depression in more than 30 trials. With peer specialist support, it is comparable to face-to-face psychotherapy. Peer support specialists and PCMHI teams can facilitate Veteran uptake of cCBT, using an evidence-based collaborative care model to provide the follow-up care management and mental health specialist back-up that characterizes the most effective cCBT trials.

Specific Aims/Methodology: This study involves 400 recent military service members and Veterans in VA Greater Los Angeles and San Diego. VA providers help service members undergoing discharge at military treatment facilities transition to the VA for care. Once at the VA, providers screen patients every year for depression. This randomized clinical trial will study the implementation and effectiveness of online therapy for depression. First, to help providers deliver and monitor online treatment, we will use three tested strategies for implementation: facilitators/coaches, quality improvement, and data monitoring/dashboards. Second, we will randomly assign patients who are newly diagnosed with depression to receive either: 1) online therapy supported by Veterans peers and VA PCMHI clinical teams (SOS-D intervention), or 2) online therapy supported by VA PCMHI clinical teams alone (enhanced usual care). Our research team will measure and compare depressive symptoms at the study start then at 3 months and 6 months across both groups. We will measure how much online therapy is used by each group. Third, through interviews we will compare the experiences of women Veterans and patients with TBI using online therapy to men Veterans and those without TBI.

Next Steps/Implementation: This research will demonstrate how online depression treatment can be given to military service members, Veterans, and civilians on a larger scale. Bringing Veteran peers onto VA clinical teams can enhance use of online therapy for depression and support Veteran recovery. Ensuring depression treatment is available immediately when needs are identified is important in preventing suicide.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

400

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

  • United States
    • California
      • San Diego, California, United States, 92161
        • VA San Diego Healthcare System
      • West Los Angeles, California, United States, 90073-1003
        • VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System

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:

  • Must be enrolled in the VHA and currently receiving primary care services at VA Los Angeles or San Diego
  • Have access to computer (mobile or desktop), internet, telephone, and email
  • Able to read English text on a computer screen
  • Score 10 or higher on the PHQ-9

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Have moderate-high suicide risk (e.g. suicide flag) or active suicidality
  • Have other serious mental illness (e.g. bipolar disorder, psychosis)
  • Have medical disorder that would prevent/ interfere with participation (e.g. dementia/cognitive impairment, terminal illness)

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: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Enhanced Usual Care (EUC)
Participants in the enhanced usual care arm will receive access to computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (cCBT) supported by a care manager in addition to the usual care provided.
Behavioral: Enhanced Usual Care (EUC)
Enhanced usual care includes all the usual depression care at the VA and access to an online therapy program with no peer support sessions. The online therapy program offered consists of several modules for depression care, specifically tailored for Veterans.
Experimental: Supported Online Self-help for Depression (SOS-Depression)
Participants in the intervention arm will receive computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (cCBT) supported by a care manager and a designated Peer support specialist in addition to the usual care provided.
Behavioral: Supported Online Self-help for Depression (SOS-Depression)
Supported Online Self-help for Depression (SOS-Depression) includes all the usual depression care at the VA and access to an online therapy program with support sessions with a peer. The online therapy program consists of several modules for depression care, specifically tailored for Veterans.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)
Time Frame: 3- and 6-month follow up
The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) is a scale commonly used to measure and categorize depression symptoms. It is already administered as part of routine primary care at our study site. The minimum score is 0, the maximum is 27. A higher score indicates a worse outcome (i.e. more severe depression symptoms).
3- and 6-month follow up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS-SF)
Time Frame: 3- and 6-month follow up
The 9-item Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS-SF) will also be used to examine behavioral activation as an intermediary to depression symptomatology outcomes. The minimum score is 0, the maximum is 54. Higher scores indicate a better outcome (i.e., higher activation).
3- and 6-month follow up
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7)
Time Frame: 3- and 6-month follow up
The 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) is among the most commonly used and best validated anxiety measures in primary care settings. The minimum score is 0, the maximum is 21. Higher scores indicate a worse outcome (i.e., more severe anxiety). For reference: scores of 0-4=minimal anxiety, 5-9=mild anxiety, 10-14=moderate anxiety, and 15-21=severe anxiety.
3- and 6-month follow up
World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0)
Time Frame: 3- and 6-month follow up
The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) 12-item version is a brief self-report measure that will be used to assess functioning and disability across multiple domains of daily life. The minimum score is 0, and the maximum score is 48. Higher scores indicate greater disability.
3- and 6-month follow up

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Treatment Engagement
Time Frame: 6-months
Treatment engagement will be conceptualized as the number of cCBT sessions completed. A higher number indicates more cCBT sessions completed, but isn't indicative of a better or worse outcome.
6-months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Collaborators

Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
San Diego Veterans Healthcare System
VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System

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 (Estimated)

September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 19, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 19, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 24, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 24, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 19, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB-25-0799
  • HT9425-25-1-0831 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP))

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

The data collected during this clinical trial will be made available to the research community by depositing de-identified data into the NIMH Data Archive (NDA). All of the NIMH Common Data Elements (CDEs) will be collected for this study, following the NIMH expectations. In addition to the CDEs required by the NDA, we will also submit data elements covering demographics and health outcomes, healthcare services use, and satisfaction. We will use NIH-endorsed CDEs when possible.

  • Sex
  • Marital status
  • Ethnicity
  • Race
  • Level of education
  • Work status
  • Housing status
  • Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS-SF)
  • Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C)
  • Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS)
  • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist for DSM-5
  • Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-I)
  • System Usability Scale (SUS)

IPD Sharing Time Frame

In accordance with NDA guidelines, we will complete the Collections' Data Expected section within six months of the grant award. Thereafter we will submit data every 6 months in accordance with the NDA Data Sharing Terms and Conditions Post-Award Milestones.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

UCLA is committed to the ideals of collaborative research, and as such, will adhere to the sponsors Grant Policy on Sharing of Unique Research Resources. The data collected for this research represent a valuable resource to the scientific community, and we will undertake all reasonable procedures to make them accessible to others, while respecting the special needs for confidentiality. The data collected during this clinical trial will be made available to the research community by depositing de-identified data into the NIMH Data Archive (NDA).

The NDA houses, harmonizes, and shares all human-subjects data collected as part of NIMH-funded projects with the goal of accelerating progress in the research of mental health. NDA is one database infrastructure that supports efforts to make data collected by different laboratories as consistent as possible and allow other researchers to access those data for secondary use. NDA stores and shares clinical/phenotypic, imaging, genomic, and othe

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP

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.

Subscribe