Guided internet-based transdiagnostic individually tailored Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for symptoms of depression and/or anxiety in college students: A randomized controlled trial.

Common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, often emerge in college students during the transition into early adulthood. Mental health problems can seriously impact students' functioning, interpersonal relationships, and academic achievement. Actively reaching out to college students with mental health problems and offering them internet-based interventions may be a promising way of providing low-threshold access to evidence-based treatment in colleges. This randomized controlled trial aimed to assess the effectiveness of a guided web-based transdiagnostic individually tailored Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (iCBT) in treating college students with depression and/or anxiety symptoms. Through an online survey that screened college students' mental health, we recruited 100 college students aged ≥18 years who reported mild to moderate depression and/or anxiety symptoms and were attending colleges in the Netherlands. Participants were randomly allocated to guided iCBT (n = 48) or treatment as usual (TAU) control (n = 52). Primary outcomes were symptoms of depression and anxiety measured at post-treatment (7 weeks post-randomization). We also measured all outcomes at 6- and 12-months post-randomization. All analyses were based on the intention-to-treat principle and were repeated using the complete-case sample. We found no evidence of a difference between the effects of guided iCBT and TAU in any of the examined outcomes (i.e., symptoms of depression and anxiety, quality of life, educational achievement, and college dropout) across all time points (p > .05). There was no evidence that effects of iCBT were associated with treatment satisfaction and adherence. More research into transdiagnostic individually tailored iCBT is necessary. Further, future studies should recruit larger samples to investigate possible smaller but clinically relevant effects of internet-based interventions for college students with depression and/or anxiety.

Assessing social-emotional development in infants and toddlers using parent-reports: Comparing the ASQ-SE-NL to the Social-Emotional Scale of the Bayley-III-NL.

BACKGROUND: The Ages and Stages Questionnaire Social-Emotional (ASQ-SE) is a parent-report screening instrument designed to assess children's social-emotional development and detect those at risk for delay or problems. Psychometric properties of this questionnaire have been studied before, but the ASQ-SE has never been compared to the Social-Emotional Scale of the Bayley-III (Bayley-III-SE). AIM: To compare the Dutch ASQ-SE (ASQ-SE-NL) to the Dutch Bayley-III-SE (Bayley-III-NL-SE; criterion measure). METHOD: A Dutch community sample of mothers with children aged 3-41 months (n = 1014) filled out both questionnaires. Cut-off scores for the ASQ-SE-NL were determined using: 1) >1 SD above the mean and 2) ROC curves. For the Bayley-III-NL, Dutch norm scores were used. RESULTS: Specificity (70.8% and 88.5%) and screen-out accuracy (0.65 and 0.77) of the ASQ-SE-NL were good. Sensitivity was only sufficient (70.6%) when using ROC curves and only for the ASQ-SE-NL ≥18 months age versions. Screen-in accuracy was insufficient (<0.49). Positive predictive value was 34.7% and 32.7%, and negative predictive value was 87.5% and 92.3%. False positive cases on the ASQ-SE-NL scored significantly lower on the Bayley-III-NL-SE than true negative cases. CONCLUSION: Using the Bayley-III-NL-SE as the criterion, the ASQ-SE-NL performed well in identifying children not at risk for delay or problems. The ASQ-SE-NL sufficiently detected children at risk for delay or problems in the ≥18 months ASQ-SE-NL age versions when cut-off scores were determined by ROC curves. The ASQ-SE-NL can be used in a monitoring routine, but early rescreening is advised after a positive test result, given the number of false positive results.

Benefits of Social Contact in Individuals With Psychotic Symptoms: Do Closeness of the Contact and Empathic Skills Make the Difference?

Objectives: Social contact is known to be beneficial for humans' mental health. Individuals with psychotic symptoms (PS) tend to show poorer social and interpersonal functioning. However, in this patient population, social contact may be crucial for their mental wellbeing and treatment success. Additionally, closeness of social contact (familiar versus less familiar others), rather than only the presence or absence of social contacts, may play an important role. Empathy may heighten the beneficial effects of social/close contact on mental health, facilitating interactions. We investigated the association between social contact and closeness of contact on mental health, defined as positive symptoms, positive affect and negative affect in PS and control participants, with empathy as a moderator. Methods: Participants were 16-30 years old. Information regarding social/close contact and mental health was obtained using the experience sampling method in individuals with PS (n = 29) and healthy controls (n = 28). Empathy was measured using a self-report questionnaire. Results: Social contact was associated with higher positive affect in the total sample. Contact with close as opposed to less close others was related to better mental health: It was associated with lower positive symptoms in the PS group, and with more positive affect in the total sample. Empathy moderated the association between closeness of contact and positive affect in the total sample, in which the combination of higher levels of empathy combined with the presence of close contact was associated with higher positive affect in the total sample. However, the direct association between empathy and positive affect was not significant per group of contact. Conclusion: The results suggest that social contact, but especially contact with a close other is important for mental health outcomes: Contact with close others is beneficial for positive affect in the total sample and for positive symptoms in individuals with PS.

Examining the effectiveness of a web-based intervention for symptoms of depression and anxiety in college students: study protocol of a randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: The college years are a peak period for the onset of common mental disorders. Poor mental health is associated with low academic attainment, physical, interpersonal and cognitive impairments. Universities can use online approaches to screen students for mental disorders and treat those in need. The present study aims to assess the effectiveness of a guided web-based transdiagnostic individually tailored intervention to treat students with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. METHODS: and analysis : The present study is a randomised controlled trial. Participants are Dutch college students (≥18 years) with mild to moderate depression and/or anxiety symptoms. The intervention is a guided web-based transdiagnostic individually tailored intervention that targets symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. The intervention consists of seven online sessions with a duration ranging from 4 to 7 weeks depending on individual progress. A booster session is administered 4 weeks after the completion of the seventh session. Primary outcome measures are the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale for anxiety. These scales are administered at screening, post-treatment and follow-up assessments (6 and 12 months post-randomisation). : E THICS AND DISSEMINATION: The Medical Ethics Committee of the Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre has approved the protocol (registration number 2016.583, A2017.362andA2018.421). Results of the trial will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NTR6797; Pre-results.