Extract

Background and study aims There are many pressures on young people today, and life can be very stressful at times. When stress mounts up, it can affect how young people feel. Stress might make young people feel moody or really low. It might mean that they stop enjoying things as much as they used to. It can affect young people’s sleep, appetite, and concentration. It can even stop them getting on with friends and family. To help fight stress, we have developed a computer program called Stressbusters for young people. Many young people suffering from stress have already used the program, and they found it helpful. The aim of the current project is to test how helpful Stressbusters is at treating the symptoms of depression. The project is in two parts and is being conducted in two main-stream secondary schools in South London. Who can participate? The research is in two stages. In the first stage, we are inviting all pupils to take part (unless they have trouble reading English). In the second stage, we are inviting pupils whose scores on a questionnaire show that they are suffering from stress and low mood to take part (unless they are already receiving help for stress from someone else). If the child’s scores on the questionnaire show that they are suffering from symptoms of depression, they will be invited to take part in stage 2. If their scores show that they are not suffering from symptoms of depression, they will not be invited to take part in stage 2. What does the study involve? In stage 1, your child will be asked to fill in a questionnaire. The questionnaire takes a few minutes to fill out. It is not a test and there are no right or wrong answers. Your child will complete the questionnaire in their classroom in class time. The questionnaire is private. It will be handed back to us. It will not be seen by any other pupils or by teachers. In stage 2, if your child is eligible, he or she will be invited to use Stressbusters. The program contains 8 weekly computer sessions, each lasting about 30 to 40 minutes. Sessions were designed with the help of young people - each one is interactive, and has videos, animations, graphics, and fact sheets to print out. Sessions will be done at school. They will be done in private, but there will always be someone there to help if needed. To see how well Stressbusters works, half of young people will use it immediately while half will use it after a delay of 10 to 12 weeks. Whether your child is invited to use Stressbusters immediately or after a delay is decided by chance, like flipping a coin. Your child will have a 50:50 chance of using it immediately. Before and after using Stressbusters, we will ask your child to fill in three more questionnaires about how they are feeling. This will take them about 15-20 minutes. We will ask them to fill in the same questionnaires 3 months and 6 months after finishing Stressbusters. We will also ask teachers to fill in questionnaires about young people, and their attendance and achievements at school. After finishing Stressbusters, we will ask your child what they thought about the program, to help us improve it further. This interview will take about 20-30 minutes, and we will ask your child’s permission to record it. We will ask you to fill in three questionnaires about your child. They will take about 15-20 minutes to fill out. These will be posted to you at home, and we will ask you to return them to us in a prepaid envelope. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? It is unlikely that there are any risks. Sometimes, combating low mood and stress is hard work and it can be upsetting, but there will always be someone there to help if the young person needs it. All the information the young person tells us is private and confidential. But if we are told something that suggests that they are at risk of harm (for example if someone is threatening them, or if they want to hurt themselves), then we would need to break confidentiality, and we would contact the parents. If we need to do this, we will always tell the young person first. We will offer the young person immediate specialist help if they are in this situation. The main benefit is that the evidence so far shows that young people are likely to be helped by using Stressbusters. We hope that they will benefit by learning to cope better with stress and low moods. When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? The study started in one school in March 2011. We aim to start in the second school in November 2011 and the study is expected to run until September 2013. Who is funding the study? Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity (UK). Who is the main contact? Dr Patrick Smith [email protected]

Inclusion criteria

• depression

Links

• ictrp
• isrctn