A Comparison of Two Ultra-brief Interventions in Primary Care for Patients With Anxiety, Depression, and Stress.

Anxiety Clinical Trial

— RNTACTSweden  

Official title:

A Comparison of Two Ultra-brief Interventions in Primary Care for Patients With Anxiety, Depression, and Stress: a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05946382
• Other study ID #: 2022-06465-01
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: February 7, 2024
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2026

Study information

• Verified date: February 2024
• Source: Region Skane
• Contact: Thor Bengtsson, MD
• Phone: +46 (0)424060850
• Email: thor.bengtsson[@]skane.se
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare the effect and time consumption of the Swedish translation of the protocol for RNT-ACT with the internet administrated self-help treatment with therapist support (iCBT) for patients seeking medical care for depression, anxiety or stress at their primary care unit. The trial consists of a feasibility study and a randomized controlled trial with 3- and 12-month follow ups.

Description:

The main question it aims to answer are: Is the Swedish translation of a psychological treatment protocol targeting Repetitive Negative Thinking (RNT) based on Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT), RNT-ACT, an effective treatment in Swedish primary care for the treatment of people with a high proportion of negative repetitive thoughts, who meet diagnostic criteria for depression and/or anxiety? The question is planned to be elaborated into the following parts:

A feasibility study in which the material and the system are tested at a single care center.

A randomized controlled trial conducted at several health centers where the comparison group is patients who are actualized for traditional psychological treatment in the form of iCBT for either anxiety or depression programs and where they are offered the second treatment arm after 3- and 12-month follow-ups.

A follow-up study where time consumption and patient satisfaction are evaluated in both branches.

Participants will be given either RNT-ACT or iCBT as treatment. The group who are given RNT-ACT will receive 2*60 minutes of therapy along with mindfulness files to listen to daily between sessions. The group who are given iCBT will receive internet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, one of the forms of delivering Cognitive behavioral therapy that is implemented in Region Skåne and can thus be seen as treatment as usual. Patients will access the treatment through a secure website and communicate with their therapist by text when needed. Researchers will compare the RNT-ACT and iCBT groups to see if there are differences in depressive, anxiety- and stress- related symptoms, rumination, psychological flexibility, client satisfaction and therapist-rated time consumption. In the feasibility study researchers will also evaluate drop-out and recruitment rate.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 124
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2026
• Est. primary completion date: December 31, 2026
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• DASS-21 >25

• Ability to communicate in Swedish orally and in writing

Exclusion Criteria:

• Routine blood tests are carried out including blood count, thyroid hormone, liver status and fluid balance in order to be able to differentially diagnose any physical illness.

In addition to physical illness are exclusion criteria

• Other psychological or psychiatric treatment,

• Suicidality, substance abuse, Anorexia Nervosa, psychosis, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and antisocial personality disorder (as verified based on M.I.N.I 7.0).

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Anxiety
• Anxiety Disorders
• Depression
• Depressive Disorder
• Mental Depression
• Mental Disorder
• Mental Disorders
• Mental Health Issue
• Mental Stress
• Rumination - Thoughts
• Stress, Psychological

Intervention

Behavioral:
• RNT-ACT Protocol
Swedish Translation of the 2*60 minute Acceptance and Commitment Protocol for Repetitive Negative Thinking.
• iCBT Treatment
Internet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as mandatory routine care in Swedish Primary care and therefore considered Treatment as usual.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Sweden	Vårdcentralen Laröd	Helsingborg	Skåne

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Region Skane	Lund University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Sweden, 

References & Publications (21)

Alfonsson S, Wallin E, Maathz P. Factor structure and validity of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 in Swedish translation. J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2017 Mar;24(2-3):154-162. doi: 10.1111/jpm.12363. Epub 2017 Jan 25. — View Citation

Amorim P, Lecrubier Y, Weiller E, Hergueta T, Sheehan D. DSM-IH-R Psychotic Disorders: procedural validity of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Concordance and causes for discordance with the CIDI. Eur Psychiatry. 1998;13(1):26-34. doi: 10.1016/S0924-9338(97)86748-X. — View Citation

Andersson G, Titov N, Dear BF, Rozental A, Carlbring P. Internet-delivered psychological treatments: from innovation to implementation. World Psychiatry. 2019 Feb;18(1):20-28. doi: 10.1002/wps.20610. — View Citation

Attkisson CC, Zwick R. The client satisfaction questionnaire. Psychometric properties and correlations with service utilization and psychotherapy outcome. Eval Program Plann. 1982;5(3):233-7. doi: 10.1016/0149-7189(82)90074-x. — View Citation

Berger T, Urech A, Krieger T, Stolz T, Schulz A, Vincent A, Moser CT, Moritz S, Meyer B. Effects of a transdiagnostic unguided Internet intervention ('velibra') for anxiety disorders in primary care: results of a randomized controlled trial. Psychol Med. 2017 Jan;47(1):67-80. doi: 10.1017/S0033291716002270. Epub 2016 Sep 22. — View Citation

Donati MA, Berrocal C, Bernini O, Gori C, Primi C. Measuring cognitive fusion through the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire-7: Measurement invariance across non-clinical and clinical psychological samples. PLoS One. 2021 Feb 3;16(2):e0246434. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246434. eCollection 2021. — View Citation

Ehring, T., & Watkins, E. R. (2008). Repetitive negative thinking as a transdiagnostic process. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 1(3), 192-205. https://doi.org/10.1521/ijct.2008.1.3.192

Gillanders DT, Bolderston H, Bond FW, Dempster M, Flaxman PE, Campbell L, Kerr S, Tansey L, Noel P, Ferenbach C, Masley S, Roach L, Lloyd J, May L, Clarke S, Remington B. The development and initial validation of the cognitive fusion questionnaire. Behav Ther. 2014 Jan;45(1):83-101. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2013.09.001. Epub 2013 Sep 18. — View Citation

Glasgow RE, Fisher L, Strycker LA, Hessler D, Toobert DJ, King DK, Jacobs T. Minimal intervention needed for change: definition, use, and value for improving health and health research. Transl Behav Med. 2014 Mar;4(1):26-33. doi: 10.1007/s13142-013-0232-1. — View Citation

Horvath, A. O., & Greenberg, L. S. (1989). Development and validation of the Working Alliance Inventory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 36(2), 223-233. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.36.2.223

Larsen DL, Attkisson CC, Hargreaves WA, Nguyen TD. Assessment of client/patient satisfaction: development of a general scale. Eval Program Plann. 1979;2(3):197-207. doi: 10.1016/0149-7189(79)90094-6. No abstract available. — View Citation

Lecrubier, Y., Sheehan, D., Weiller, E., Amorim, P., Bonora, I., Sheehan, K., . . . Dunbar, G. (1997). The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). A short diagnostic structured interview: Reliability and validity according to the CIDI. European Psychiatry, 12(5), 224-231. doi:10.1016/S0924-9338(97)83296-8

Livheim, F., Tengström, A., Bond, F. W., Andersson, G., Dahl, J., & Rosendahl, I. (2016). Psychometric properties of the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth: A psychological measure of psychological inflexibility in youth. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 5(2), 103-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2016.04.001

Lundgren T, Parling T. Swedish Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (SAAQ): a psychometric evaluation. Cogn Behav Ther. 2017 Jun;46(4):315-326. doi: 10.1080/16506073.2016.1250228. Epub 2016 Dec 9. — View Citation

Marchetti, I., Mor, N., Chiorri, C. et al. The Brief State Rumination Inventory (BSRI): Validation and Psychometric Evaluation. Cogn Ther Res 42, 447-460 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-018-9901-1

O'Neill, L., Latchford, G., McCracken, L. M., & Graham, C. D. (2019). The development of the acceptance and commitment therapy fidelity measure (ACT-FM): A Delphi Study and field test. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 14, 111-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2019.08.008

Ruiz FJ, Pena-Vargas A, Ramirez ES, Suarez-Falcon JC, Garcia-Martin MB, Garcia-Beltran DM, Henao AM, Monroy-Cifuentes A, Sanchez PD. Efficacy of a two-session repetitive negative thinking-focused acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) protocol for depression and generalized anxiety disorder: A randomized waitlist control trial. Psychotherapy (Chic). 2020 Sep;57(3):444-456. doi: 10.1037/pst0000273. Epub 2020 Jan 16. — View Citation

Schermuly-Haupt, ML., Linden, M. & Rush, A.J. Unwanted Events and Side Effects in Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Cogn Ther Res 42, 219-229 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-018-9904-y

Sheehan DV, Lecrubier Y, Sheehan KH, Amorim P, Janavs J, Weiller E, Hergueta T, Baker R, Dunbar GC. The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.): the development and validation of a structured diagnostic psychiatric interview for DSM-IV and ICD-10. J Clin Psychiatry. 1998;59 Suppl 20:22-33;quiz 34-57. — View Citation

Silberleitner, N., Cederwald, A. von, & Robinson, P. (2021). Integrerad primärvård: Principer, färdigheter och rutiner för hela vårdcentralens arbete med Beteenderelaterad Ohälsa. Natur & Kultur.

Treynor, W., Gonzalez, R. & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. Rumination Reconsidered: A Psychometric Analysis. Cognitive Therapy and Research 27, 247-259 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023910315561

* Note: There are 21 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	DASS-21	Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21); Min 0, Max 63 with high values associated with more Depression/Anxiety/Stress.	From assessment to 3 month follow up.
Secondary	Drop Out rate	Percentage of patients who for any reason fails to continue in the trial until the end of intervention.	Up to three months.
Secondary	Recruitment rate	How many patients were recruited on average for one month in the primary care unit responsible for the feasibility study.	one month.
Secondary	CSQ-8	Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8). Min 8, Max 32 with higher values indicating higher satisfaction.	From assessment to 3 month follow up.
Secondary	Self registered time consumption	Self-registered time consumption for therapists.	Up to three months.
Secondary	WAI	Working Alliance Inventory (WAI). Min 7, Max 84 with higher values indicating better working alliance.	From assessment to 3 month follow up.
Secondary	RRS-BR	Ruminative Responses Scale - Brooding and Reflection (RRS-BR). Min 5, Max 20. A higher value indicates a higher extent of ruminative response style and self-reflection.	From assessment to 3 month follow up.
Secondary	BSRI	Brief State Rumination Inventory (BSRI). Min 0, Max 80. A higher value indicates higher degree of ongoing ruminative cognitive responses.	From assessment to 3 month follow up.
Secondary	SAAQ	Swedish Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (SAAQ). Min 6, Max 42. A higher value indicates lower psychological flexibility which indicates a worse value.	From assessment to 3 month follow up.
Secondary	AFQ-Y8	Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y8). Min 0, Max 32. A higher value indicates lower psychological flexibility which indicates a worse value.	From assessment to 3 month follow up.
Secondary	CFQ-7	Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire - 7 items (CFQ-7). Min 1, Max 49. A higher value indicates higher cognitive fusion which indicates a worse value.	From assessment to 3 month follow up.

External Links

•   Client Satisfaction Questionnaire scales
•   Psychometric evaluation of the swedish translations of RRS-BR and BSRI
•   Social Psychology Network. Research randomizer.
•   State of the act evidence | association for contextual behavioral science.
•   Swedish authority (Socialstyrelsen) February 2018. Accessibility in health and healthcare
•   Swedish authority (Socialstyrelsen). April 2021. National guidelines for care in depression and anxiety disorders. Support for governance and management.
•   Swedish platform for use of internet service in health care
•   The Swedish governments official investigations. Statens Offentliga Utredningar (SOU) 2021:6 Good and close care - The right support for mental health
•   Working Alliance Inventory - WAI.
•   Working Alliance Inventory.