Project details

Summary

What is the study about?

Depression is a common problem in young people, and around one in 5 teenagers will have depression at least once by the age of 18. Symptoms can include sadness, irritability, loss of interest and pleasure in activities, tiredness, loss of confidence, trouble with concentration and sleep, and changes in appetite. Low mood can affect young people’s lives including their relationships with others, education, and physical health. 

Emotional disorders in young people have been increasing, with more need for support since the covid-19 pandemic. However even before the pandemic, only a quarter of children and young people with mental health disorders could get help; even when young people are seen by specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), they often have to wait a long time for specialist therapy.

Behavioural activation (BA) is a type of therapy that works for depressed adults, but we don’t know how it works in young people. This study uses a new version of BA which is an online 8 session workbook, that can be used by therapists in CAMHS. 

What are you trying to find out?

We want to find out if behavioural activation (BA) works for young people with low mood. There are a lot of keen therapists in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) who would like to give better help to young people but need more training. We would like to give these therapists training in our BA. We also want to find out if our BA is good value for money, how easy it is to use for young people, carers and clinicians, and if it can reduce long waits for other therapy.

We want to look at the difference between 2 types of support for young people with depression, who have just been referred to CAMHS. If you agree to take part in the study the child will get one of these treatments: 

1. BA plus psychoeducation (PE, which is information about depression), and CAMHS usual care OR
2. PE and CAMHS usual care.

We will offer ‘blended’ BA, that is, after the first BA session in the clinic, young people will choose whether they would prefer to have other sessions online, by phone, or in the clinic. However, there may be times when the therapist may ask that the young person attend the clinic, for example, if their mood has become worse. 

Why is it important? 

We want to find out if behavioural activation (BA) works for young people with low mood. There are a lot of keen therapists in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) who would like to give better help to young people but need more training. We would like to give these therapists training in our BA. We also want to find out if our BA is good value for money, how easy it is to use for young people, carers and clinicians, and if it can reduce long waits for other therapy.

How can I find out more?

This study is no longer looking for new participants but is still ongoing. You can also find out more information on the project website here.

If you have questions for the research team, click the button below to email the research team:

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