The YouthMood Project: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of an Online Cognitive Behavioral Program With Adolescents

• Published in: Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 2009-12, Vol.77 (6), p.1021-1032
• Main Authors: Calear, Alison L, Christensen, Helen, Mackinnon, Andrew, Griffiths, Kathleen M, O'Kearney, Richard
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Affect; Age Factors; Analysis of Variance; Anxiety; Anxiety - therapy; Anxiety-Depression; Australia; Behavior Modification; Behavior therapy. Cognitive therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Chi-Square Distribution; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Clinical psychology; Cluster randomized controlled trials; Cognitive Behavior Therapy; Cognitive Restructuring; Cognitive therapy; Cognitive Therapy - methods; Comparative Analysis; Computer Assisted Therapy; Counseling Techniques; Depression; Depression (Psychology); Depression - therapy; Female; Foreign Countries; Human; Humans; Intention to Treat Analysis; Internet; Intervention; Major Depression; Male; Measures (Individuals); Medical research; Medical sciences; Patient Education as Topic; Prevention; Preventive programmes; Program Effectiveness; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; School Health Services; Schools; Self Concept; Sex Factors; Social Support; Statistical Analysis; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Teenagers; Therapy; Treatment Outcome; Treatments
• ISSN: 0022-006X; 1939-2117
• DOI: 10.1037/a0017391

The aim in the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of an online, self-directed cognitive-behavioral therapy program (MoodGYM) in preventing and reducing the symptoms of anxiety and depression in an adolescent school-based population. A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted with 30 schools ( N = 1,477) from across Australia, with each school randomly allocated to the intervention or wait-list control condition. At postintervention and 6-month follow-up, participants in the intervention condition had significantly lower levels of anxiety than did participants in the wait-list control condition (Cohen's d = 0.15-0.25). The effects of the MoodGYM program on depressive symptoms were less strong, with only male participants in the intervention condition exhibiting significant reductions in depressive symptoms at postintervention and 6-month follow-up (Cohen's d = 0.27-0.43). Although small to moderate, the effects obtained in the current study provide support for the utility of universal prevention programs in schools. The effectiveness of booster sessions should be explored in future research.