Anxiety and depressive disorders are common in adolescents, however they are often unrecognized. Rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT), a form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is efficient for children and adolescents. School settings are appropriate environments to deliver such interventions for vulnerable youths. Given youth's access and predilection to use technology, a video-based prevention program was developed. The present study aims to investigate the efficacy of a transdiagnostic REBT prevention program for internalizing symptoms in adolescents, implemented in a school setting. Classes from different Romanian public schools will be randomized in either intervention or wait list group.
The prevention program will be group-based, delivered in 6 sessions, over 3 weeks. Each of the six modules aimed a different component: Psychoeducation, Relaxation, Relationship between cognitive distortions/irrational beliefs and emotions, Cognitive restructuring, Exposure/ behavioral activation and problem solving, Maintenance of gainings. Despite specific activities, for each session a video cartoon on that subject will be viewed and discussed. Homework would be given at every session. REBT prevention programs delivered in school settings represent ecological modalities to target vulnerable groups. Technology components added to traditional programs may lead to greater motivation and satisfaction with treatment. Adolescents will complete assessments at four time-points: T1 (baseline), T2 (post-intervention), T3 (3 months follow-up) and T4 (12 months follow-up).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
381
The video-based transdiagnostic REBT consists of 6 sessions delivered in a group format.
Delayed intervention
Babes-Bolyai University
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
The Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC; March, Parker, Sullivan, Stallings, & Conners, 1997)
anxiety symptoms
Time frame: Change from baseline anxiety symptoms at 3 weeks post-intervention, 3 months follow up, 12 months follow-up
Beck Depression Inventory for Youth subscale from the Beck Youth Inventories-Second edition for children and adolescents (Beck, 2005)
depressive symptoms
Time frame: Change from baseline depressive symptoms at 3 weeks post-intervention, 3 months follow up, 12 months follow-up
The Children's Automatic Thoughts Scale - Negative/Positive (CATS-N/P) (Hogendoorn et al., 2010)
maladaptive cognitions
Time frame: Change from baseline maladaptive cognitions at 3 weeks post-intervention, 3 month follow up, 12 months follow-up
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) (Goodman, 1997)
comorbid problems
Time frame: Change from baseline comorbid problems at 3 weeks post-intervention, 3 months follow up, 12 months follow-up
The Questionnaire for Measuring Health-Related Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents, The Revised Version - adolescent version (Kiddo-KINDL) (Ravens-Sieberer et al., 2001)
quality of life
Time frame: Change from baseline quality of life at 3 weeks post-intervention, 3 months follow up, 12 months follow-up
The Credibility/ Expectancy Questionnaire (Devilly & Borkovec, 2000)
Treatment expectancies
Time frame: pre-intervention
The Client Satisfaction Scale (Vigerland et al., 2016)
Satisfaction with the intervention
Time frame: post-intervention
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