Web-based indicated prevention of common mental disorders in university students in four European countries - Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Peter Musiat; Rachel Potterton; Gemma Gordon; Lucy Spencer; Michael Zeiler; Karin Waldherr; Stefanie Kuso; Martina Nitsch; Tanja Adamcik; Gudrun Wagner; Andreas Karwautz; David Daniel Ebert; Alyson Dodd; Barbara Dooley; Amy Harrison; Emma Whitt; Mark Haselgrove; Helen Sharpe; Jo Smith; Rosie Tressler; Nicholas Troop; Chantal Vinyard; Dennis Görlich; Jenny Beecham; Eva Bonin; Corinna Jacobi; Ulrike Schmidt

doi:10.1016/j.invent.2018.02.004

Web-based indicated prevention of common mental disorders in university students in four European countries - Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Peter Musiat, Rachel Potterton, Gemma Gordon, Lucy Spencer, Michael Zeiler, Karin Waldherr, Stefanie Kuso, Martina Nitsch, Tanja Adamcik, Gudrun Wagner, Andreas Karwautz, David Daniel Ebert, Alyson Dodd, Barbara Dooley, Amy Harrison, Emma Whitt, Mark Haselgrove, Helen Sharpe, Jo Smith, Rosie TresslerNicholas Troop, Chantal Vinyard, Dennis Görlich, Jenny Beecham, Eva Bonin, Corinna Jacobi, Ulrike Schmidt

Clinical, Neuro- & Developmental Psychology

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Background: Mental disorders and their symptoms are highly prevalent in the university student population, and the transition from secondary to tertiary education is associated with a rise in mental health problems. Existing web-based interventions for the prevention of common mental disorders in student populations often focus on just one disorder and have not been designed specifically for students. There is thus a need for transdiagnostic, student-specific preventative interventions that can be widely disseminated. This two-arm, parallel group randomised controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a web-based transdiagnostic mental health problem prevention programme (PLUS) across several universities in four countries.

Method: Students (N = 5550) will be recruited through a variety of channels and asked to complete a personality assessment to determine whether they are at high risk for developing common mental disorders. Students at high risk will be randomly allocated to either PLUS or a control intervention, which provides practical support around issues commonly experienced at university. Students at low risk will be allocated to the control intervention. Both intervention groups will be assessed at baseline, 4 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after randomisation. Depression and generalised anxiety, assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder scales, will form the primary outcomes in this study. Secondary outcome measures include alcohol and drug use, eating behaviour, self-esteem, and quality of life. The cost-effectiveness of the intervention will also be evaluated.

Conclusions: This study will contribute to understanding the role of transdiagnostic indicated web-based interventions for the prevention of common mental disorders in university students. It will also be one of the first studies to investigate the cost-effectiveness of such interventions.

Trial Registration: This trial was registered in the ISRCTN register (ISRCTN15570935) on 12th February 2016.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	35-42
Number of pages	8
Journal	Internet Interventions
Volume	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2018.02.004
Publication status	Published - Apr 2019

Funding

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 634757. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We would like to thank all our participants, without whom this study would not be possible. US receives salary support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. US is supported by an NIHR Senior Investigator Award. The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of the NHS or NIHR. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 634757 . The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Funders	Funder number
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
National Institute for Health Research
King's College London
Horizon 2020	634757

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10.1016/j.invent.2018.02.004

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6364328

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Musiat, P., Potterton, R., Gordon, G., Spencer, L., Zeiler, M., Waldherr, K., Kuso, S., Nitsch, M., Adamcik, T., Wagner, G., Karwautz, A., Ebert, D. D., Dodd, A., Dooley, B., Harrison, A., Whitt, E., Haselgrove, M., Sharpe, H., Smith, J., ... Schmidt, U. (2019). Web-based indicated prevention of common mental disorders in university students in four European countries - Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Internet Interventions, 16, 35-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2018.02.004

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title = "Web-based indicated prevention of common mental disorders in university students in four European countries - Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial",

abstract = "Background: Mental disorders and their symptoms are highly prevalent in the university student population, and the transition from secondary to tertiary education is associated with a rise in mental health problems. Existing web-based interventions for the prevention of common mental disorders in student populations often focus on just one disorder and have not been designed specifically for students. There is thus a need for transdiagnostic, student-specific preventative interventions that can be widely disseminated. This two-arm, parallel group randomised controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a web-based transdiagnostic mental health problem prevention programme (PLUS) across several universities in four countries.Method: Students (N = 5550) will be recruited through a variety of channels and asked to complete a personality assessment to determine whether they are at high risk for developing common mental disorders. Students at high risk will be randomly allocated to either PLUS or a control intervention, which provides practical support around issues commonly experienced at university. Students at low risk will be allocated to the control intervention. Both intervention groups will be assessed at baseline, 4 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after randomisation. Depression and generalised anxiety, assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder scales, will form the primary outcomes in this study. Secondary outcome measures include alcohol and drug use, eating behaviour, self-esteem, and quality of life. The cost-effectiveness of the intervention will also be evaluated.Conclusions: This study will contribute to understanding the role of transdiagnostic indicated web-based interventions for the prevention of common mental disorders in university students. It will also be one of the first studies to investigate the cost-effectiveness of such interventions.Trial Registration: This trial was registered in the ISRCTN register (ISRCTN15570935) on 12th February 2016.",

author = "Peter Musiat and Rachel Potterton and Gemma Gordon and Lucy Spencer and Michael Zeiler and Karin Waldherr and Stefanie Kuso and Martina Nitsch and Tanja Adamcik and Gudrun Wagner and Andreas Karwautz and Ebert, \{David Daniel\} and Alyson Dodd and Barbara Dooley and Amy Harrison and Emma Whitt and Mark Haselgrove and Helen Sharpe and Jo Smith and Rosie Tressler and Nicholas Troop and Chantal Vinyard and Dennis G{\"o}rlich and Jenny Beecham and Eva Bonin and Corinna Jacobi and Ulrike Schmidt",

year = "2019",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1016/j.invent.2018.02.004",

language = "English",

volume = "16",

pages = "35--42",

journal = "Internet Interventions",

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Musiat, P, Potterton, R, Gordon, G, Spencer, L, Zeiler, M, Waldherr, K, Kuso, S, Nitsch, M, Adamcik, T, Wagner, G, Karwautz, A, Ebert, DD, Dodd, A, Dooley, B, Harrison, A, Whitt, E, Haselgrove, M, Sharpe, H, Smith, J, Tressler, R, Troop, N, Vinyard, C, Görlich, D, Beecham, J, Bonin, E, Jacobi, C & Schmidt, U 2019, 'Web-based indicated prevention of common mental disorders in university students in four European countries - Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial', Internet Interventions, vol. 16, pp. 35-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2018.02.004

TY - JOUR

T1 - Web-based indicated prevention of common mental disorders in university students in four European countries - Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

AU - Musiat, Peter

AU - Potterton, Rachel

AU - Gordon, Gemma

AU - Spencer, Lucy

AU - Zeiler, Michael

AU - Waldherr, Karin

AU - Kuso, Stefanie

AU - Nitsch, Martina

AU - Adamcik, Tanja

AU - Wagner, Gudrun

AU - Karwautz, Andreas

AU - Ebert, David Daniel

AU - Dodd, Alyson

AU - Dooley, Barbara

AU - Harrison, Amy

AU - Whitt, Emma

AU - Haselgrove, Mark

AU - Sharpe, Helen

AU - Smith, Jo

AU - Tressler, Rosie

AU - Troop, Nicholas

AU - Vinyard, Chantal

AU - Görlich, Dennis

AU - Beecham, Jenny

AU - Bonin, Eva

AU - Jacobi, Corinna

AU - Schmidt, Ulrike

PY - 2019/4

Y1 - 2019/4

N2 - Background: Mental disorders and their symptoms are highly prevalent in the university student population, and the transition from secondary to tertiary education is associated with a rise in mental health problems. Existing web-based interventions for the prevention of common mental disorders in student populations often focus on just one disorder and have not been designed specifically for students. There is thus a need for transdiagnostic, student-specific preventative interventions that can be widely disseminated. This two-arm, parallel group randomised controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a web-based transdiagnostic mental health problem prevention programme (PLUS) across several universities in four countries.Method: Students (N = 5550) will be recruited through a variety of channels and asked to complete a personality assessment to determine whether they are at high risk for developing common mental disorders. Students at high risk will be randomly allocated to either PLUS or a control intervention, which provides practical support around issues commonly experienced at university. Students at low risk will be allocated to the control intervention. Both intervention groups will be assessed at baseline, 4 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after randomisation. Depression and generalised anxiety, assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder scales, will form the primary outcomes in this study. Secondary outcome measures include alcohol and drug use, eating behaviour, self-esteem, and quality of life. The cost-effectiveness of the intervention will also be evaluated.Conclusions: This study will contribute to understanding the role of transdiagnostic indicated web-based interventions for the prevention of common mental disorders in university students. It will also be one of the first studies to investigate the cost-effectiveness of such interventions.Trial Registration: This trial was registered in the ISRCTN register (ISRCTN15570935) on 12th February 2016.

AB - Background: Mental disorders and their symptoms are highly prevalent in the university student population, and the transition from secondary to tertiary education is associated with a rise in mental health problems. Existing web-based interventions for the prevention of common mental disorders in student populations often focus on just one disorder and have not been designed specifically for students. There is thus a need for transdiagnostic, student-specific preventative interventions that can be widely disseminated. This two-arm, parallel group randomised controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a web-based transdiagnostic mental health problem prevention programme (PLUS) across several universities in four countries.Method: Students (N = 5550) will be recruited through a variety of channels and asked to complete a personality assessment to determine whether they are at high risk for developing common mental disorders. Students at high risk will be randomly allocated to either PLUS or a control intervention, which provides practical support around issues commonly experienced at university. Students at low risk will be allocated to the control intervention. Both intervention groups will be assessed at baseline, 4 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after randomisation. Depression and generalised anxiety, assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder scales, will form the primary outcomes in this study. Secondary outcome measures include alcohol and drug use, eating behaviour, self-esteem, and quality of life. The cost-effectiveness of the intervention will also be evaluated.Conclusions: This study will contribute to understanding the role of transdiagnostic indicated web-based interventions for the prevention of common mental disorders in university students. It will also be one of the first studies to investigate the cost-effectiveness of such interventions.Trial Registration: This trial was registered in the ISRCTN register (ISRCTN15570935) on 12th February 2016.

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JO - Internet Interventions

JF - Internet Interventions

ER -

Web-based indicated prevention of common mental disorders in university students in four European countries - Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

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