The GAP-CBT Study
Participant type
Overview
We are investigating how patients use the time between their therapy appointments. This study is no longer looking for new participants but is still ongoing.
Summary
What is the study about?
There is good evidence that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (or CBT) is helpful for anxiety and depression. But not everyone benefits, so we need to find ways to improve it. Most research on CBT examines what happens during sessions. We know little about what people do between sessions. This means we don’t fully understand which things are most helpful for patients to do between sessions.
What are you trying to find out?
This study aims to find out which things that people do between sessions are linked to making more progress overall in therapy. We are not asking you to do anything differently between your sessions, but would like to understand more about how you use this time.
Who is it for?
This study is no longer looking for new participants but is still ongoing.
We were looking for participants who are receiving a type of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in NHS Talking Therapies and have had about 2 or 3 appointments so far. This study will involve 3000 participants across many services.
What does taking part involve?
This study is no longer looking for new participants but is still ongoing.
There are 4 steps:
- Complete a consent form to tell us you agree to take part. This is done online and we will then send you a copy.
- Complete a set of questionnaires, asking about what you have done between your last few appointments (about 20 minutes).
- Complete the same set of questionnaires again in a few weeks’ time, after you have had about 5 appointments in total (about 20 minutes).
- When your appointments come to an end, we may invite you to meet with a member of the study team to have a 30–45-minute discussion about your experiences during treatment. This is optional and only a small number of people are needed for this stage of the study. These meetings can happen online (via Microsoft Teams), by telephone, or in person, and we will ask you to give your consent verbally for this part of the study. These discussions will be audio recorded so they can be analysed later.
Your clinical treatment will continue as normal, including the standard questionnaires you complete before each appointment. The study questionnaires are different and are only required twice.
Why is it important?
Research is important to help us improve treatments for anxiety and depression. Taking part will help us to understand more about what patients could do between sessions to maximise their progress. Participants will not benefit directly but are contributing towards helping others in future.
How can I find out more?
This study is no longer looking for new participants but is still ongoing.
You can find out more information at this website. If you have questions for the research team, click the button below to email us:
Collaborators
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