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WithdrawnNCT03769350Updated Jun 4, 2025

Waitlist-Control Trial of Smartphone CBT for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Withdrawn

An interventional study of Smartphone-delivered CBT for MDD in Major Depressive Disorder, sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital. Withdrawn at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-06-04.

Sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Why this study was withdrawn
Study must be registered under the sponsor instead of the site, so we have created a new posting in the sponsor's account.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
0
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
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Study summary

The investigators are testing the efficacy of Smartphone-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). The investigators hypothesize that participants receiving app-CBT will have greater improvement in QIDS-C scores than those in the waitlist condition at treatment endpoint (week 8).

Read the detailed description

The primary aims of this study are to test the efficacy of a Smartphone-based CBT treatment for adults with MDD recruited nationally. Eligible subjects (N=112) will be randomly assigned to 8 weeks of Smartphone-delivered CBT for MDD either immediately, or after a 8-week long waiting period (50-50 chance). The investigators hypothesize that Smartphone-delivered CBT for MDD will be feasible and acceptable to individuals with MDD, and that it will lead to greater reductions in MDD symptom severity compared to the passage of time (waitlist control).

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Conditions studied

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In context

Depressive Disorder

4,845 studies on the registry are indexed under Depressive Disorder; 514 are open to participants now.

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Lead sponsor

Massachusetts General Hospital is the lead sponsor of 2,536 studies on the registry; 446 are open to participants now.

Of its 214 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 161 (75%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • At least 18 years of age
  • Current diagnosis of primary DSM-5 MDD, based on MINI
  • Currently living in the United States

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Psychotropic medication changes within 2 months prior to enrollment (Participants taking psychotropic medication must have been on a stable dose for at least 2 months prior to enrollment and not change medication during study period)
  • Past participation in ≥ 4 sessions of CBT for depression
  • Current severe substance use disorder
  • Lifetime bipolar disorder or psychosis
  • Acute, active suicidal ideation as indicated by clinical judgment and/or a score ≥ 2 on the suicidal ideation subscale of the C-SSRS
  • Concurrent psychological treatment
  • Does not own a supported mobile Smartphone with a data plan
  • Lack of technology literacy that would interfere with ability to engage with smartphone treatment
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
0 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Smartphone-delivered CBT for MDD

    8-week Smartphone delivered CBT for MDD.

    Device: Smartphone-delivered CBT for MDD

  • Other
    8 Week Waitlist Control

    8-week waitlist control. (Note: participants will be crossed over to 8-week Smartphone-delivered CBT for MDD following the 8-week waitlist control).

    Device: Smartphone-delivered CBT for MDD

Interventions

  • DeviceSmartphone-delivered CBT for MDD

    8-week Smartphone-delivered CBT for MDD. In-person cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an empirically supported treatment for MDD. The app-delivered CBT in this project includes modules such as cognitive skills (e.g., cognitive restructuring, core belief work), behavioral activation, and perceptual retraining/mindfulness skills.

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Difference in MDD severity (QIDS-C) at the end of treatment/waitlist period.

    The Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology- Clinician version (QIDS-C) is a clinician-administered interview that assesses depressive symptom severity in the past seven days. It contains 16 items ranging from 0-3, which are summed to generate a total score of depressive symptom severity (range=0-27).

    Time frame: Endpoint (week 8)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Difference in functional impairment at the end of treatment/waitlist period

    Participants who receive app-CBT will have greater improvement on functional impairment (SDS). The SDS uses a Likert scale from 0 (not at all) to 10 (extremely) to assess impairment in occupational, social, and family domains. Higher scores indicate greater impairment.

    Time frame: Endpoint (week 8)

  2. Difference in quality of life at the end of treatment/waitlist period

    Participants who receive app-CBT will have greater improvement on quality of life, assessed using The Quality of Life, Enjoyment, and Satisfaction Questionnaire - Short Form (Q-LES-Q). The Q-LES-Q-SF is a self-report measure of subjective quality of life, containing Likert items ranging from 1 (Very Poor) to 5 (Very Good). Total scores are presented as a percentage of the maximum value (i.e., ranging from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater quality of life).

    Time frame: Endpoint (week 8)

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Study locations

1 site
  • Massachusetts General Hospital
    Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 4, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03769350
Lead sponsor
Massachusetts General Hospital
Collaborators
Telefónica S.A.
Responsible party
Sabine Wilhelm, PhD (Chief of Psychology, Massachusetts General Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Dec 7, 2018
Start date
Jul 1, 2019 (estimated)
Primary completion
Jun 1, 2022 (estimated)
Completion
Jun 1, 2022 (estimated)
Last update
Jun 4, 2025

Study contacts

Sabine Wilhelm, PhD
principal investigator · Massachusetts General Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is withdrawn, as verified in May 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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