This Phase II trial will examine engagement in telehealth for children undergoing psychotherapy. Specifically, the trial will examine patient engagement in Teleo, a virtual therapy platform specifically designed for psychotherapy with youth, as compared to standard video conferencing.
This study aims to examine the impact of tailored telehealth psychotherapy environments on clinical outcomes in the context of pediatric mental health treatment. Researchers will conduct a full-scale RCT with 156 families to assess how Teleo compares to standard video conferencing (e.g., Zoom) on a range of clinical metrics, including cancellation/no-show rates, clinician satisfaction, duration of treatment, need for medication, and symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
156
Therapist-led psychotherapy sessions implemented within the Teleo virtual therapy platform.
Therapist-led psychotherapy sessions implemented in standard (non-Teleo) video platform.
Ohana Center for Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health
Monterey, California, United States
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGStanford University
Stanford, California, United States
RECRUITINGChild Involvement Rating Scale (CIRS)
Observational coding questionnaire designed to assess child engagement in therapy. Consists of 6 items (4 positively-framed, 2 negatively-framed), each on a 0-5 scale. To calculate a summary score, the two negatively-framed items are reverse scored and scores on all six items are averaged. Summary scores range from 0-5, with higher scores representing greater child engagement in therapy.
Time frame: Week 1
My Thoughts About Therapy Scale - Caregiver (MTT-CG)
Caregivers will complete the MTT-GC questionnaire to measure their child's engagement in psychotherapy across dimensions of the REACH client engagement framework - Relationship, Expectancy, Attendance, Clarity, and Homework. Scores range from 0-105, higher scores indicate 'better' outcome.
Time frame: Weeks 1, 6 and 12
My Thoughts About Therapy Scale - Youth (MTT-Y)
Youth will complete questionnaires to measure self-reported engagement in psychotherapy across dimensions of the REACH client engagement framework - Relationship, Expectancy, Attendance, Clarity, and Homework. Scores range from 0-105, higher scores indicate 'better' outcome.
Time frame: Weeks 1, 6 and 12
Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS)
Caregivers will complete questionnaire to assess child participants' symptoms of anxiety and mood disorders across six dimensions: separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and low mood (major depressive disorder). Standardized T-scores will be calculated for each subscale and for the overall scale. T-scores range from 30-90, with lower scores representing better outcomes.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 4, Week 12
Rate of therapy session cancellations, no-shows, and treatment dropout
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Participants' electronic health records (EHR) will be used to track session cancellations, no-shows, and treatment dropout.
Time frame: Weeks 1-12
Rate of clinician attrition
Clinician attrition rates will be assessed via electronic health records (EHR).
Time frame: Weeks 1-12
Long-Term Cost of Care
Treatment duration and medication use will be assessed over 1 year following participants' enrollment in the study, and used to calculate differences in average long-term cost of care between the study arms.
Time frame: 1 year post-enrollment