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

N/ACompletedNCT05519748

Chinese University of Hong Kong101 enrolled

Overview

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.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

101

Conditions

Dissociation

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 64 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * agree to give informed consent 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: * 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

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

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

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.