Evaluating a three-session resilience workshop for secondary school students
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN15458396 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN15458396 |
- Submission date
- 13/05/2021
- Registration date
- 17/05/2021
- Last edited
- 17/05/2021
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Previous research has indicated that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is effective for use with young people, therefore increasing attention has turned to its use in a school setting. Mental health prevention and wellbeing promotion in schools is increasingly prioritised due to the strain on mental health services, however many questions still exist about what format this should take. This study looked at the effectiveness of a brief three-session workshop for secondary school students based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, delivered by teachers and school counsellors. This study aims to test whether students who attend the workshops have improved outcomes on mental health and wellbeing compared to students who attend their normal lessons.
Who can participate?
Students from Year Eight classes in UK secondary schools are eligible to participate in this project.
What does the study involve?
Two classes from each school are randomly selected; one to attend the workshops and one to attend their normal lessons. Students from both classes are asked to completed a set of questionnaires at three different timepoints (before the first workshop, after the last workshop and six weeks after the last workshop).
Students who attend the workshops receive three one-hour workshops during lesson time, delivered by a teacher and a school counsellor. The workshops are spread over a six-week period. The teacher and school counsellor will have received training in how to deliver the workshops by the research team.
The workshops aim to help people manage difficult thoughts and feelings, and to do more of the things that are important to them. The benefits of participating are that students will learn some helpful, new skills to use in their day to day lives. For students who attend their lessons as usual, the information they provide allows us to compare the workshops with normal lessons, and therefore contributes to the development of mental health interventions for their age group.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
We anticipate there to be minimal risks to taking part in the project. The nature of the workshops and questionnaires means that participants are asked to consider their own mental health and well-being. It is possible this may be upsetting for students. We have safeguarding procedures in place to address any safety concerns and encourage students to speak to a member of school staff if they are distressed.
Where is the study run from?
Cardiff University School of Psychology (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
August 2019 to May 2021
Who is funding the study?
Cardiff University School of Psychology (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Laura Knight, KnightL5@cardiff.ac.uk
Contact information
Public
South Wales Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology
70 Park Place
Cardiff
CF10 3AT
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)2920 870582 |
|---|---|
| KnightL5@cardiff.ac.uk |
Scientific
South Wales Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology
70 Park Place
Cardiff
CF103AT
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)2920 870582 |
|---|---|
| KnightL5@cardiff.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | Interventional cluster-randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Cluster randomised trial |
| Study setting(s) | School |
| Study type | Prevention |
| Participant information sheet | https://lauraknight17.wixsite.com/informationsheet |
| Scientific title | The Efficacy of a univeRsal school-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy intervention (InTER-ACT) for student wellbeing: a cluster-randomised controlled trial |
| Study acronym | InTER-ACT |
| Study objectives | Students who receive the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy intervention will show significant improvements in their mental health and wellbeing after the intervention compared to students in a control group who receive no intervention. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 06/10/2020, School of Psychology Research Ethics Committee (Cardiff University, Tower Building, 70 Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, UK; +44(0)29 208 70360; psychethics@cardiff.ac.uk), ref: EC.17.11.14.5006R6A7 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Mental health and wellbeing in secondary school students |
| Intervention | This study is a cluster-randomised controlled trial. The six participating schools provide a list of Year Eight classes to the researcher, and from this list cluster-randomisation is used to allocate one class to the intervention condition and one class to the control condition, using a random number generator. The intervention class receive an ACT workshop, comprising three one-hour sessions, delivered across a maximum of a six-week period. Each ACT workshop is one hour in duration. The ACT workshops are delivered by one teacher and one school counsellor from each secondary school. The control class attend their usual lessons. The intervention consists of a universal, non-targeted Acceptance and Commitment Therapy intervention program, ‘InTER-ACT’ (In School Training In Emotional Resilience with ACT), developed by two Clinical Psychologists, Dr Victoria Samuel and Dr Chloe Constable. Each workshop consisted of a psycho-educational element, experiential exercises and opportunities for group discussion and interaction. Students in both the intervention and control classes complete a set of questionnaires in the week prior to the first workshop (pre-intervention), in the week following the final workshop (post-intervention) and six weeks following the final workshop (follow-up). |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | Wellbeing, measured by the Short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale at three timepoints (pre-intervention, post-intervention and a six-week follow up). |
| Secondary outcome measures | 1. Anxiety and Depression measured using Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS-25) at three timepoints (pre-intervention, post-intervention and a six-week follow up) 2. Stress measured by Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4) at three timepoints (pre-intervention, post-intervention and a six-week follow up) 3. Mindfulness measured by Child Acceptance and Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) at three timepoints (pre-intervention, post-intervention and a six-week follow up) |
| Overall study start date | 30/08/2019 |
| Completion date | 25/05/2021 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Healthy volunteer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 12 clusters in total, 30 participants in each cluster (six schools, one intervention and one control class from each school) |
| Total final enrolment | 359 |
| Key inclusion criteria | Participants must be enrolled in a Year Eight class of one of the participating secondary schools. |
| Key exclusion criteria | No exclusion criteria, all students in the two identified year 8 classes are eligible to participate. |
| Date of first enrolment | 01/11/2019 |
| Date of final enrolment | 01/08/2020 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- United Kingdom
- Wales
Study participating centre
Cardiff
CF103AT
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
University/education
70 Park Place
Cardiff
CF103AT
Wales
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)2920 874000 |
|---|---|
| dclinpsy@cardiff.ac.uk | |
| Website | http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/ |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/03kk7td41 |
Funders
Funder type
University/education
Private sector organisation / Universities (academic only)
- Location
- United Kingdom
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/09/2021 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Not expected to be made available |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a high-impact peer-reviewed journal. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not expected to be made available due to confidentiality. The anonymised data will be held confidentially using password protected databases. This will be stored for 5 years in line with Cardiff University’s guidance on storing research related data. Participants can access their own data by contacted the research team stating their unique identifier. The data will not be made publicly available due to the sensitive nature of the data. |
Editorial Notes
17/05/2021: Trial's existence confirmed by School of Psychology Research Ethics Committee, Cardiff University.
