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CompletedNCT05519748Updated May 24, 2024

Effectiveness of an Online Psychoeducation Program for Improving Coping in People With a High Level of Dissociative Symptoms: A Pilot Randomized Waitlist-controlled Trial

An interventional study of Online psychoeducational program in Dissociation, sponsored by Chinese University of Hong Kong. Completed at 1 site in Hong Kong. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 64 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-05-24.

Sponsored by Chinese University of Hong Kong · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
101
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 64 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Subject Population Our study's target population is people with pathological dissociation in the community.

Research Design A pilot randomized waitlist-controlled trial will investigate the effects of an online psychoeducation program on coping, symptom management, and self-efficacy of people with pathological dissociation immediately (posttest-1) and 2-month (posttest-2) post-intervention. Supplementary semi-structured interviews will be conducted for process evaluation. The analysis and reporting of the trial will strictly follow the CONSORT guidelines.

Instrument The primary outcome of our study is the coping ability of individuals with pathological dissociation, which will be assessed by the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (Brief-COPE). The secondary outcome measures are dissociative symptoms, emotional regulation, and self-efficacy, which would be assessed by the Dissociative Experiences Scale-Taxon (DES-T), the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) accordingly.

Procedure The online psychoeducation program is developed based on an integrative theoretical framework that integrates the Stress and Coping model, Cognitive-Behavioural Theory, Bandura's self-efficacy theory, and findings of our previous feasibility studies on this psychoeducational program. Participants will be recruited via posting on social media and online forums. A 16-session online psychoeducation program will be delivered to the participants in eight weeks.

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Conditions studied

  • Dissociation

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03

In context

Dissociative Disorders

41 studies on the registry are indexed under Dissociative Disorders; 13 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 101 is above the median of 50 across 34 interventional studies indexed under Dissociative Disorders.

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Lead sponsor

Chinese University of Hong Kong is the lead sponsor of 1,454 studies on the registry; 474 are open to participants now.

Of its 6 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 0 (0%) have results posted.

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

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 64 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • agree to give and participate
  • aged 18 or above
  • self-reported symptoms or experiences of pathological dissociation
  • screened positive on the Chinese version of the DES-T (i.e., DES-T score 20 or above) at a baseline screening
  • able to understand and communicate in Chinese-Cantonese
  • have access to the internet.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Individuals who have a reading disorder, cognitive impairment, dementia, or intellectual disabilities
  • Individuals who are participating in any research studies
  • Individuals who had participated in our previous feasibility study of the same intervention
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
101 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Online psychoeducational program

    The intervention group will receive an online psychoeducational program for 8 weeks. The psychoeducation package consists of 16 different sets of reading materials and post-session writing/reflection exercises, which will be delivered to the participants twice a week. The program is designed to be a brief, trauma-informed, dissociation-focused education package that aims to enable users to better understand and cope with their post-traumatic and dissociative reactions and related life challenges. There are specific psychoeducation elements in each session, such as: (1) safety issues planning, (2) understanding the impacts of trauma and stress, (3) understanding the concept of dissociation and integration of the personality, (4) identifying and coping with the post-traumatic and dissociative symptoms, (5) identifying trauma-related cognitive distortions.

    Behavioral: Online psychoeducational program

  • Other
    Waitlist control

    The waitlist control group will receive an online psychoeducational program for 8 weeks a week after the completion of the two-month follow-up in the intervention group. The psychoeducation package is identical to the program in the intervention group.

    Behavioral: Online psychoeducational program

Interventions

  • BehavioralOnline psychoeducational program

    The intervention group will receive an online psychoeducational program for 8 weeks. The psychoeducation package consists of 16 different sets of reading materials and post-session writing/reflection exercises, which will be delivered to the participants twice a week.

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (Brief-COPE)

    Change in participants' coping strategies, as assessed using the Brief-COPE. This measure has 28 items and is a commonly used self-report measure of coping strategies. The Chinese version of the Brief-COPE had excellent internal consistency, test-retest reliability and content validity. Higher scores indicate more significant use of that specific coping strategy.

    Time frame: Immediately and two months after completion of the intervention in the experimental group

Secondary outcomes

  1. Dissociative Experiences Scale-Taxon (DES-T)

    Change in participants' pathological dissociative experiences, as assessed using the DES-T. This measure has 8 items and can be used to screen for pathological dissociative experiences. The Chinese version of the DES-T demonstrated good construct validity and good discriminant validity between participants with and without clinically diagnosed dissociative disorders, with a cut-off score of 20. Higher scores indicate more frequent dissociative symptoms.

    Time frame: Immediately and two months after completion of the intervention in the experimental group

Other outcomes

  1. Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ)

    Change in participants' emotion regulation, as assessed using the ERQ. This measure has 10 items and is a self-report measure of emotion regulation. It has good internal consistency and established construct validity. The Chinese version of the ERQ also demonstrates good internal consistency and construct validity. Higher scores indicate greater use of that particular emotion regulation strategy.

    Time frame: Immediately and two months after completion of the intervention in the experimental group

  2. General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES)

    Change in participants' self-efficacy, as assessed using the GSES. This measure has 10 items and is to assess respondents' level of self-efficacy by using a 4-point Likert scale to rate their self-beliefs to cope with adversities in different life situations. The total score ranges from 10 to 40, with the higher the score indicating the higher their perceived competence in managing difficult demands in life. The Chinese version of the GSES also demonstrated excellent internal consistency and good construct validity.

    Time frame: Immediately and two months after completion of the intervention in the experimental group

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Study locations

1 site
  • The Chinese University of Hong Kong
    Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 24, 2024, 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
NCT05519748
Collaborators
Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing
Responsible party
Lam Kam Ki Stanley (Research Assistant Professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 29, 2022
Start date
Sep 1, 2022
Primary completion
Nov 30, 2023
Completion
Nov 30, 2023
Last update
May 24, 2024

Oversight

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

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