Super Skills for Life Effectiveness in the Online Modality

Anxiety Disorders Clinical Trial

Official title:

Adaptación y evaluación Del Programa transdiagnóstico Super Skills for Life Aplicado Online Para niños Con Problemas Interiorizados

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05589090
• Other study ID #: DPS.MO.01.17
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 1, 2017
• Est. completion date: December 1, 2022

Study information

• Verified date: May 2023
• Source: Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the transdiagnostic program Super Skills for Life (SSL). This protocol targets children aged 8 to 12 with emotional problems (anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and lack of social skills). SSL consists of eight sessions targeting common risk factors for internalizing disorders such as cognitive distortions, avoidance, emotional management, low self-esteem, social skills deficits, and coping strategies. The present research focuses on assessing the effectiveness of SSL applied online (through a virtual platform).

Description:

After selecting the children based on the online questionnaires completed by the parents (preintervention assessment) and inclusion/exclusion criteria, they were randomly allocated to the conditions of the intervention group and the wait-list control group. Parents and children from both groups completed the same measures at baseline, post-treatment, and 12 months follow-up. Children in the experimental group received the SSL program by the virtual platform.

The objective of the study is to evaluate the benefits of the Super Skills for Life protocol applied online. For this purpose, the researchers will test to what extent the experimental group decreases its anxiety symptoms, anxiety impairment, depressive symptoms, behavioral problems, hyperactivity/inattention, and peer relationship problems, and increase its self-esteem and prosocial behaviors, compared to the control group.

In conclusion, the purpose of the study is to explore whether SSL implemented online can be a cost-effective psychological intervention to prevent emotional problems in Spanish children.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 30
• Est. completion date: December 1, 2022
• Est. primary completion date: December 1, 2022
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 8 Years to 12 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children aged 8-12

• Presenting subclinical symptoms of emotional problems (anxiety, depression)

• Speaking, reading, writing, and understanding Spanish.

• Not receiving psychological or pharmacological treatment for emotional and/or behavioral problems

Exclusion Criteria:

• Had a psychiatric diagnosis already established

• Presenting a severe developmental disorder (intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, etc).

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Anxiety Disorders
• Anxiety Disorders and Symptoms
• Child Mental Disorder
• Depression
• Depressive Disorder
• Depressive Symptoms
• Disease
• Emotional Disorder
• Mental Disorders
• Mood Disorders
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Super Skills for Life program
Children in the experimental group received eight sessions of the Super Skills for Life protocol. The intervention was implemented using a structured manual for the therapist and a workbook for the children [Orgilés, M., Espada, J.P., Ollendick, T.H. & Essau, C. (2022). Programa Super Skills. Manual del aplicador. Elche, ES: Universidad Miguel Hernández]. The intervention was administered via an online virtual platform for eight weeks, with each session lasting approximately one hour.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Spain	Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche	Elche	Alicante

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Spain, 

References & Publications (18)

Diego-Castaño, S., Prieto-Moya, J., Hermosín, N., & Orgilés, M. (2019). Eficacia del programa Super Skills en población clínica: un estudio piloto. 5 Congreso International de Psicología Clinica y Salud con Niños y Adolescentes, Oviedo, Spain. ISSN: 2695-4664

Essau CA, Olaya B, Sasagawa S, Pithia J, Bray D, Ollendick TH. Integrating video-feedback and cognitive preparation, social skills training and behavioural activation in a cognitive behavioural therapy in the treatment of childhood anxiety. J Affect Disord. 2014;167:261-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2014.05.056. Epub 2014 Jun 4. — View Citation

Essau CA, Sasagawa S, Jones G, Fernandes B, Ollendick TH. Evaluating the real-world effectiveness of a cognitive behavior therapy-based transdiagnostic program for emotional problems in children in a regular school setting. J Affect Disord. 2019 Jun 15;253:357-365. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.04.036. Epub 2019 Apr 16. — View Citation

Essau, C. A., & Ollendick, T. H. (2013). The Super Skills for Life Programme. London, Reino Unido: University of Roehampton

Fernandez-Martinez I, Morales A, Espada JP, Essau CA, Orgiles M. Effectiveness of the program Super Skills For Life in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression in young Spanish children. Psicothema. 2019 Aug;31(3):298-304. doi: 10.7334/psicothema2018.336. — View Citation

Fernandez-Martinez I, Morales A, Espada JP, Orgiles M. Effects of Super Skills for Life on the social skills of anxious children through video analysis. Psicothema. 2020 May;32(2):229-236. doi: 10.7334/psicothema2019.240. — View Citation

Fernandez-Martinez I, Orgiles M, Espada JP, Essau CA, Morales A. Effects as a function of implementation fidelity of a transdiagnostic prevention program in young school-aged children. Eval Program Plann. 2021 Dec;89:102011. doi: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2021.102011. Epub 2021 Sep 16. — View Citation

Fernandez-Martinez I, Orgiles M, Morales A, Espada JP, Essau CA. One-Year follow-up effects of a cognitive behavior therapy-based transdiagnostic program for emotional problems in young children: A school-based cluster-randomized controlled trial. J Affect Disord. 2020 Feb 1;262:258-266. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.11.002. Epub 2019 Nov 4. — View Citation

Fernández-Martínez, I., Espada, J. P., & Orgilés, M. (2019). Super Skills for Life: Eficacia de un programa transdiagnóstico de prevención indicada para los problemas emocionales infantiles. Revista de Psicología Clínica con Niños y Adolescentes, 6(3), 24-31. https://doi.org/10.21134/rpcna.2019.06.3.3

Melero S, Morales A, Espada JP, Mendez X, Orgiles M. Effectiveness of Group vs. Individual Therapy to Decrease Peer Problems and Increase Prosociality in Children. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Apr 9;18(8):3950. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18083950. — View Citation

Melero S, Morales A, Espada JP, Orgiles M. Improving Social Performance Through Video-feedback with Cognitive Preparation in Children with Emotional Problems. Behav Modif. 2022 Jul;46(4):755-781. doi: 10.1177/0145445521991098. Epub 2021 Jan 29. — View Citation

Melero S, Orgiles M, Espada JP, Morales A. Spanish version of Super Skills for Life in individual modality: Improvement of children's emotional well-being from a transdiagnostic approach. J Clin Psychol. 2021 Oct;77(10):2187-2202. doi: 10.1002/jclp.23148. Epub 2021 Apr 21. — View Citation

Melero, S., Morales, A., & Orgilés, M. (2019, noviembre). Eficacia de la aplicación individual del programa Super Skills for Life para reducir síntomas emocionales en menores. 5 Congreso International de Psicología Clinica y Salud con Niños y Adolescentes, Oviedo, Spain. ISSN: 2695-4664

Melero, S., Orgilés, M., Fernández-Martínez, I., Espada, J. P., & Morales, A. (2021). Influence of implementation fidelity on the effectiveness of a CBT programme targeted emotional problems in childhood. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 68, 100975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2021.100975

Orgiles M, Fernandez-Martinez I, Espada JP, Morales A. Spanish version of Super Skills for Life: short- and long-term impact of a transdiagnostic prevention protocol targeting childhood anxiety and depression. Anxiety Stress Coping. 2019 Nov;32(6):694-710. doi: 10.1080/10615806.2019.1645836. Epub 2019 Jul 23. — View Citation

Orgiles M, Melero S, Fernandez-Martinez I, Espada JP, Morales A. Effectiveness of Video-Feedback with Cognitive Preparation in Improving Social Performance and Anxiety through Super Skills for Life Programme Implemented in a School Setting. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Apr 18;17(8):2805. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17082805. — View Citation

Orgilés, M., Espada, J. P, & Morales, A. (2020). How Super Skills for Life may help children to cope with the COVID-19: Psychological impact and coping styles after the program. Revista de Psicología Clínica con Niños y Adolescentes, 7(3), 88-93. https://doi.org/10.21134/rpcna.2020.mon.2048

Orgilés, M., Garrigós, E., Espada, J. P., & Morales, A. (2020). How does a CBT-based transdiagnostic program for separation anxiety symptoms work in children?: Effects of Super Skills for Life. Revista de Psicología Clínica con Niños y Adolescentes, 7(2), 9-15. https://doi.org/10.21134/rpcna.2020.07.2.1

* Note: There are 18 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change from baseline depression symptoms to immediately after the intervention	Measured by the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ-C; short version), a screening tool for depression in children aged 6-17 years. Children must report their feelings and behaviors over the previous 2 weeks. The sum of all items provides a total measure of depression (score range: 0-26), and the higher this score is, the more severe the symptoms are.	1 year after the intervention
Primary	Depression symptoms at 1 year	Measured by the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ-C; short version), a screening tool for depression in children aged 6-17 years. Children must report their feelings and behaviors over the previous 2 weeks. The sum of all items provides a total measure of depression (score range: 0-26), and the higher this score is, the more severe the symptoms are.	1 year after the intervention
Primary	Change from baseline parent-reported depression to immediately after the intervention	Measured by the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ-P; short version), a screening tool for depression in children aged 6-17 years. Parents must inform about their children's feelings and behaviors over the previous 2 weeks. The sum of all items provides a total measure of depression (score range: 0-26), and the higher this score is, the more severe the symptoms are.	baseline and immediately after the intervention
Primary	Parent-reported depression at 1 year	Measured by the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ-P; short version), a screening tool for depression in children aged 6-17 years. Parents must inform about their children's feelings and behaviors over the previous 2 weeks. The sum of all items provides a total measure of depression (score range: 0-26), and the higher this score is, the more severe the symptoms are.	1 year after the intervention
Primary	Change from baseline children's reported anxiety symptoms to immediately after the intervention	Measured by Spence Children's Anxiety Scale Child Report (SCAS; short version). SCAS measures symptoms severity of the DSM-IV anxiety disorders in children (subscales: total, panic and agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, separation anxiety, and specific fears). This yields a minimum possible score of 0 and a maximum possible score of 24. Higher scores indicate greater severity of symptoms	baseline and immediately after the intervention
Primary	Change from baseline parent-reported anxiety symptoms to immediately after the intervention	Measured by Spence Children's Anxiety Scale Parent Report (SCAS-P; short version). SCAS-P measures symptoms severity of the DSM-IV anxiety disorders in children (subscales: total, panic and agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, separation anxiety, and specific fears). This yields a minimum possible score of 0 and a maximum possible score of 24. Higher scores indicate greater severity of symptoms.	baseline and immediately after the intervention
Primary	Children's reported anxiety symptoms at 1 year	Measured by Spence Children's Anxiety Scale Child Report (SCAS; short version). SCAS measures symptoms severity of the DSM-IV anxiety disorders in children (subscales: total, panic and agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, separation anxiety, and specific fears). This yields a minimum possible score of 0 and a maximum possible score of 24. Higher scores indicate greater severity of symptoms	1 year after the intervention
Primary	Parent-reported anxiety at 1 year	Measured by Spence Children's Anxiety Scale Parent Report (SCAS-P; short version). SCAS-P measures symptoms severity of the DSM-IV anxiety disorders in children (subscales: total, panic and agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, separation anxiety, and specific fears). This yields a minimum possible score of 0 and a maximum possible score of 24. Higher scores indicate greater severity of symptoms.	1 year after the intervention
Primary	Change from baseline children's reported psychological adjustment to immediately after the intervention	Measured by Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Child Report (SDQ). It was designed to measure children's overall difficulties (minimum value 0 and maximum value 40) and positive attributes across five subscales (minimum value 0 and maximum value 10): Emotional symptoms (e.g., anxiety and depression), Conduct problems, Hyperactivity/Inattention, Peer relationships (difficulties), and Pro-social behavior. Higher scores indicate higher levels of difficulties, except on the prosocial subscale, where higher scores reflect a more positive attribute.	baseline and immediately after the intervention
Primary	Change from baseline parent-reported psychological adjustment to immediately after the intervention	Measured by Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Parental Report (SDQ-P). It was designed to measure children's overall difficulties (minimum value 0 and maximum value 40) and positive attributes across five subscales (minimum value 0 and maximum value 10): Emotional symptoms (e.g., anxiety and depression), Conduct problems, Hyperactivity/Inattention, Peer relationships (difficulties), and Pro-social behavior. Higher scores indicate higher levels of difficulties, except on the prosocial subscale, where higher scores reflect a more positive attribute.	baseline and immediately after the intervention
Primary	Children's reported psychological adjustment at 1 year	Measured by Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Child Report (SDQ). It was designed to measure children's overall difficulties (minimum value 0 and maximum value 40) and positive attributes across five subscales (minimum value 0 and maximum value 10): Emotional symptoms (e.g., anxiety and depression), Conduct problems, Hyperactivity/Inattention, Peer relationships (difficulties), and Pro-social behavior. Higher scores indicate higher levels of difficulties, except on the prosocial subscale, where higher scores reflect a more positive attribute.	1 year after the intervention
Primary	Parent-reported psychological adjustment at 1 year	Measured by Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Parental Report (SDQ-P). It was designed to measure children's overall difficulties (minimum value 0 and maximum value 40) and positive attributes across five subscales (minimum value 0 and maximum value 10): Emotional symptoms (e.g., anxiety and depression), Conduct problems, Hyperactivity/Inattention, Peer relationships (difficulties), and Pro-social behavior. Higher scores indicate higher levels of difficulties, except on the prosocial subscale, where higher scores reflect a more positive attribute.	1 year after the intervention
Secondary	Change from baseline self-concept to immediately after the intervention	Measured by the Self-Concept Form 5 (AF-5). It measures global satisfaction with self-concept (minimum value 0 and maximum value 120) and five dimensions (minimum value 0 and maximum value 24): Social (performance in social relationships); Academic/Professional (student/worker role); Emotional (perception of emotional state in general and in specific situations); Family (participation and integration into the family unit); and Physical self-concept (appearance and physical condition). Higher scores indicate greater satisfaction with self-image.	baseline and immediately after the intervention
Secondary	Children's self-concept at 1 year	Measured by the Self-Concept Form 5 (AF-5). It measures global satisfaction with self-concept (minimum value 0 and maximum value 120) and five dimensions (minimum value 0 and maximum value 24): Social (performance in social relationships); Academic/Professional (student/worker role); Emotional (perception of emotional state in general and in specific situations); Family (participation and integration into the family unit); and Physical self-concept (appearance and physical condition). Higher scores indicate greater satisfaction with self-image.	1 year after the intervention
Secondary	Change from baseline social worries to immediately after the intervention	Measured by the Social Worries Questionnaire for pupils (SWQ-PU). It evaluates children's worries in different social situations. In general, the higher the score, the more severe the symptomatology.	baseline and immediately after the intervention
Secondary	Children's social worries at 1 year	Measured by the Social Worries Questionnaire for pupils (SWQ-PU). It evaluates children's worries in different social situations. In general, the higher the score, the more severe the symptomatology.	1 year after the intervention

External Links

•   Description University of Roehampton research for Super Skills for Life program
•   Website of the Super Skills for Life program in Spanish version
•   Website of the Super Skills for Life program online in Spanish version