Experiences and results of young adults with emotional distress attending creative workshops
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN16079466 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN16079466 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | MR/S03580X/1 |
- Submission date
- 24/06/2024
- Registration date
- 26/06/2024
- Last edited
- 31/03/2025
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
During youth, it is common for people to feel anxious. Some people may call this emotional upset, depression, or anxiety. Young people living in large cities experience stressful events more frequently, such as violence, poverty, substance use, and social isolation. This is also the case for young people in Latin America, which is one of the most urbanized regions in the world. Despite the fact that many people experience stressful events, many of them do not develop emotional distress and, in the case of those who do, half usually recover within a year.
For this reason, the OLA Project is a study that seeks to identify what helps young people to prevent or recover from emotional distress, including depression and anxiety. Our emphasis is on young people who live in three large Latin American cities: Buenos Aires, Bogotá and Lima.
The objective of this activity is to carry out creative workshops with young people who are experiencing emotional distress in order to see if this type of workshop helps them improve their mental health and to know what they think about participating in these activities.
Who can participate?
Participants can take part who:
- are aged 18-30 years old
- score 10 or more on two quizzes about symptoms of depression and anxiety
- are able to read and write
- are not already taking part in regular organised creative arts activities.
What does the study involve?
- Filling out questionnaires (in person or remotely) that ask general questions (for example, marital status, education, etc.), about symptoms of depression and/or anxiety, about how satisfied participants feel about different aspects of life and about their experiences with the workshop. These questionnaires will be carried out before and after the workshop and three months after the end of the workshop.
- Creative workshop: "Travellers of the future"
The "Travellers of the Future" workshop, seeks to reflect on how young people imagine their future as individuals and as a society. For this, they will work from artistic disciplines such as theater, poetry and music.
Each workshop will have a maximum of 15 young participants and will consist of 3 sessions over a 3-week period with a duration of 3 hours per session. The workshops will be held on weekends in community artistic spaces, and will be video-recorded for researchers to analyse interactions between participants.
- Interview
We will ask some of the people who have attended the workshop and who have completed the questionnaires to participate in an interview in-person (or via video call). A researcher will ask how participants felt in the workshop, what they thought of the activities and about any challenges they faced in order to participate.
The interview will last around 45 minutes and will be audio-recorded so that researchers can analyse the information later.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Benefits:
Participation in this study will help us learn if creative workshops using art tools are effective in helping young adults reduce emotional distress. This could potentially lead to the development of new ways to reduce the burden of emotional distress on young people in Latin America and other countries, through promoting the use of art in mental health services or in educational and community spaces.
Likewise, those who participate in the creative workshop will be able to do so for free, and with the confidence that the activities are being directed by professionals with extensive experience from a prestigious artistic institution such as Teatro La Plaza. In addition, participating in artistic activities, such as those offered in this workshop, can help you feel better emotionally.
Risks:
We do not identify significant risks from participating in the workshops and answering the questionnaires or the interview. However, participants may feel uncomfortable or sad about some of the questions. Our research team is trained to discuss these issues in a warm and respectful manner; and the Teatro La Plaza team has extensive experience running workshops like this and they will ensure that all participants feel comfortable, in an atmosphere of warmth and respect.
You might feel nervous or uncomfortable about the video or audio recording of the workshop during the interview. However, remember that the information collected is strictly confidential and will not be shared with people outside the research team.
Where is the study run from?
Researchers from CRONICAS, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia are conducting the research activities in Lima (Peru). The OLA project, which this study is a part of, is being coordinated by Queen Mary University of London (UK).
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
February 2023 to February 2024
Who is funding the study?
The Medical Research Council, UK
Who is the main contact?
Mauricio Toyama, study coordinator, CRONICAS UPCH
Victoria Bird v.j.bird@qmul.ac.uk
Prof. Stefan Priebe, stefan.k.priebe@gmail.com
Contact information
Public, Scientific
58 Turner Street
Yvonne Carter Building
London
E1 2AB
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 7525862392 |
|---|---|
| v.j.bird@qmul.ac.uk |
Principal Investigator
N/A
London
-
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0001-9864-3394 |
|---|---|
| stefan.k.priebe@gmail.com |
Study information
| Study design | Interventional non-randomized non-controlled |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Non randomised study |
| Study setting(s) | Community |
| Study type | Treatment, Efficacy |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use the contact details to request a patient information sheet. |
| Scientific title | Creative workshops for young adults with emotional distress: experiences and results |
| Study objectives | To explore the experiences and outcomes of creative workshops for young adults with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression in Lima (Peru). |
| Ethics approval(s) |
1. Approved 14/02/2023, Institutional Research Ethics Committee of the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (Av. Honorio Delgado 430, Urb Ingeniería, Lima – Perú, Lima, -, Peru; +51 319 0000, telephone annex 201355; duict.cieh@oficinas-upch.pe), ref: 088-06-23 2. Approved 24/03/2023, Queen Mary Ethics of Research Committee (Research Services, Department W, 69-89 Mile End Road, London, E1 4UJ, United Kingdom; +44 20 7882 6947/7915; research-ethics@qmul.ac.uk), ref: QMERC2020/02 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Creative workshops for young adults with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression |
| Intervention | The intervention is a creative workshop called "Travellers of the Future", directed by Teatro La Plaza, which seeks to reflect on how young people imagine their future as individuals and as a society. For this, they will work from artistic disciplines such as theater, poetry and music. Each workshop will have a maximum of 15 young adult participants and will consist of 3 sessions over a 3-week period with a duration of 3 hours per session. The workshops will be held on weekends in community artistic spaces. The workshops will be video-recorded so that researchers are able to analyse interactions between attendees. Three months after the end of the workshops, participants will be contacted (online or by phone) and asked to complete the questionnaires (PHQ-8, GAD-7, MANSA) on physical forms or online, with a researcher. |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure | Measured at baseline, post-intervention (at the end of the final session of the workshop) and 3 month follow-up (3 months post-intervention) 1. Depression symptoms as measured by PHQ-8 2. Anxiety symptoms as measured by GAD-7 |
| Secondary outcome measures | 1. Quality of life as measured by MANSA at baseline, post-intervention (at the end of the final session of the workshop) and 3 month follow-up (3 months post-intervention) 2. Experiences as explored in semi-structured interviews at post-intervention |
| Overall study start date | 14/02/2023 |
| Completion date | 01/02/2024 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Healthy volunteer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Lower age limit | 18 Years |
| Upper age limit | 30 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 30 |
| Total final enrolment | 52 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. 18 - 30 years old 2. Score of 10 or more on PHQ-8 and/or GAD-7 3. Capacity to provide informed consent |
| Key exclusion criteria | 1. Participants who already regularly attend organized creative arts activities (i.e. about once a week) 2. Participants who are unable to read or write |
| Date of first enrolment | 24/03/2023 |
| Date of final enrolment | 26/06/2023 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Peru
Study participating centre
Lima
-
Peru
Sponsor information
University/education
Mile End Road
London
London
E1 4NS
England
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)20 7882 5555 |
|---|---|
| research.governance@qmul.ac.uk | |
| Website | http://www.qmul.ac.uk/ |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/026zzn846 |
Funders
Funder type
Research council
Government organisation / National government
- Alternative name(s)
- Medical Research Council (United Kingdom), UK Medical Research Council, MRC
- Location
- United Kingdom
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/02/2025 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a peer-reviewed journal |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be available upon request from Victoria Bird (v.j.bird@qmul.ac.uk) |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | 29/03/2025 | 31/03/2025 | Yes | No |
Editorial Notes
31/03/2025: Publication reference added.
28/03/2025: Contact details updated.
25/06/2024: Trial's existence confirmed by Institutional Research Ethics Committee of the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
