An interventional study of HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy) in Depression Mild and Depression Moderate, sponsored by University of Bern. Completed at 1 site in Switzerland. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-05-03.
Sponsored by University of Bern · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
A vast amount of studies show that online interventions are suitable to reduce symptoms of mental illness as for instance depression or anxiety. However, participants who use online interventions are more likely to drop out of treatment compared to face-to-face interventions. It is important to enhance adherence to online interventions so that participants engage longer in the programs. Also, as online interventions are useful to reduce the burden of mental illness, it is of interest to further improve outcomes of such interventions. Therefore, it will be investigated in this study whether or not four different factors have an impact in fostering adherence to and improving outcome of an internet-based self-help intervention based on problem-solving therapy. A multifactorial design will be used for this study to screen simultaneously whether or not i) a diagnostic telephone interview and, ii) an educational module based on motivational interviewing prior to the intervention and iii) guidance by the study team, and iv) automated e-mail reminders during the study are active factors in enhancing adherence to and outcome of online interventions.
8,057 studies on the registry are indexed under Depression; 1,641 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 316 is above the median of 84 across 6,720 interventional studies indexed under Depression.
Browse Depression studies →University of Bern is the lead sponsor of 207 studies on the registry; 47 are open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
In this "arm" all four factors are set to "active" (i.e. yes): * diagnostic interview * motivational module * guidance * e-mail reminders
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" three factors are set to "active" (i.e. yes): * diagnostic interview * motivational module * guidance
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" three factors are set to "active" (i.e. yes): * diagnostic interview * motivational module * e-mail reminders
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" two factors are set to "active" (i.e. yes): * diagnostic interview * motivational module
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" three factors are set to "active" (i.e. yes): * diagnostic interview * guidance * e-mail reminders
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" two factors are set to "active" (i.e. yes): * diagnostic interview * guidance
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" two factors are set to "active" (i.e. yes): * diagnostic interview * e-mail reminders
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" one factor is set to "active" (i.e. yes): - diagnostic interview
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" three factors are set to "active" (i.e. yes): * motivational module * guidance * e-mail reminders
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" two factors are set to "active" (i.e. yes): * motivational module * guidance
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" two factors are set to "active" (i.e. yes): * motivational module * e-mail reminders
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" one factor is set to "active" (i.e. yes): - motivational module
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" two factors are set to "active" (i.e. yes): * guidance * e-mail reminders
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" one factor is set to "active" (i.e. yes): - guidance
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" one factor is set to "active" (i.e. yes): - e-mail reminders
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
In this "arm" no factor is set to "active" (i.e. yes):
Behavioral: HERMES (Online Self-Help Intervention based on problem-solving therapy)
The Online Self-Help Intervention is an online program based on the problem-solving therapy (an evidence based approach of psychotherapy). All participants will receive the exact same intervention. However, what will be experimentally varied are the four listed interventions.
Also known as: diagnostic telephone interview (yes/no) (prior to the access to HERMES), motivational module (yes/no) (prior to the access to HERMES), guidance (yes/no) (during the usage of HERMES), e-mail reminders (yes/no) (during the usage of HERMES)
Change in Depressive Symptoms
Assessed with Patient Health Questionnaire - Depression (PHQ-9; Kroenke, Spitzer \& Williams, 2001)
Time frame: Baseline
Change in Depressive Symptoms
Assessed with Patient Health Questionnaire - Depression (PHQ-9; Kroenke, Spitzer \& Williams, 2001)
Time frame: 2 weeks
Change in Depressive Symptoms
Assessed with Patient Health Questionnaire - Depression (PHQ-9; Kroenke, Spitzer \& Williams, 2001)
Time frame: 4 weeks
Change in Depressive Symptoms
Assessed with Patient Health Questionnaire - Depression (PHQ-9; Kroenke, Spitzer \& Williams, 2001)
Time frame: 10 weeks
Change in Depressive Symptoms
Assessed with Patient Health Questionnaire - Depression (PHQ-9; Kroenke, Spitzer \& Williams, 2001)
Time frame: 16 weeks
Adherence to Intervention (1)
Assessed with the online Program. Indicator of adherence: time spent in program
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 16 weeks
Adherence to Intervention (2)
Assessed with the online Program. Indicator of adherence: clicks
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 16 weeks
Adherence to Intervention (3)
Assessed with the online Program. Indicator of adherence: number of exercises completed
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 16 weeks
Anxiety Symptoms
Assessed with Patient Health Questionnaire - Anxiety (GAD-7; Löwe et al., 2002)
Time frame: Baseline, 10 weeks, 16 weeks
Stress Symptoms
Assessed with Patient Health Questionnaire - Stress (PHQ-Stress; Löwe et al., 2002)
Time frame: Baseline, 10 weeks, 16 weeks
Health
Assessed with Short Form Health Survey (SF-12; Gandek et al., 1998)
Time frame: Baseline, 10 weeks, 16 weeks
Suicidal Tendency
Assessed with Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire - Revised (SBQ-R; Glaesmer et al., 2017)
Time frame: Baseline, 10 weeks, 16 weeks
Social Problem Solving
Assessed with Social Problem Solving Inventory Revised (SPSI-R; D'Zurilla et al., 1999)
Time frame: Baseline, 10 weeks, 16 weeks
Satisfaction with treatment
Assessed with the german version of Client Satisfaction Questionnaire CSQ-8 (Attkisson \& Zwick, 1982)
Time frame: 10 weeks
Negative Effects of Psychotherapy
Assessed with "Inventory for the Assessment of Negative Effects of Psychotherapy (INEP; Ladwig, Rief, \& Nestoriuc, 2014)
Time frame: 10 weeks, 16 weeks
Usability of Intervention
Assessed with System Usability Scale (SAS; Brooke, 1996)
Time frame: 10 weeks
Credibility and Expectancy
Assessed with Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaires (CEQ; Devilly \& Borkovec, 2000)
Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks
Working Alliance
Assessed with Working Alliance Inventory - for Internet Interventions (WAI-I; Gomez Penedo et al., 2019)
Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks
Plan to share: Yes — Data will be made available, after all planned analysis have been made by the Investigators.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf
This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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