Projects per year
Abstract
Background:
Psychological distress becomes more common during adolescence, yet many young people struggle to access clinic-based mental health care. Digital, self-help single-session interventions (SSIs) could extend current provision and overcome barriers to help seeking.
Objective:
This study aims to pilot Project Care UK, a self-compassion–focused SSI, to examine its feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy for UK adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years.
Methods:
We used a single-arm, within-subjects pre-post intervention program evaluation. Consenting participants completed a demographic survey and clinical measures at baseline. Self-assessments of hope, hopelessness, negative beliefs about self-compassion, and help seeking were measured immediately before and after the intervention. Acceptability and feasibility were measured after the intervention using the Program Feedback Scale and study completion metrics. Preliminary efficacy was evaluated using linear mixed-effects models. The study protocol was preregistered on the Open Science Framework before publication.
Results:
Of the 813 individuals who gave consent for the study, 714 (87.8%) initiated the preintervention assessment survey, 610 (75%) initiated the intervention, 341 (41.9%) initiated the Program Feedback Scale, and 329 (40.5%) initiated the postintervention assessment survey. The sample consisted of adolescents (mean age 15.38, SD 1.58 y) who were predominantly assigned female sex at birth, were White, and were nonheterosexual. Intervention completers widely endorsed the intervention as acceptable. Significant, favorable pre- and postintervention changes were observed across all outcome measures, including increased hope (Cohen d=0.72, P<.001), decreased hopelessness (Cohen d=–0.73, P<.001), and reduced negative beliefs about self-compassion (Cohen d=–0.64, P<.001). No significant changes were observed for help-seeking intentions.
Conclusions:
Although not all participants completed the study, our findings show that recruiting adolescents in the United Kingdom is feasible; completers indicated that the intervention was acceptable, and they showed improvements in the proximal outcomes of hope, hopelessness, and beliefs about self-compassion. More extensive follow-up over time and comparator intervention analyses would allow more robust conclusions to be drawn.
Psychological distress becomes more common during adolescence, yet many young people struggle to access clinic-based mental health care. Digital, self-help single-session interventions (SSIs) could extend current provision and overcome barriers to help seeking.
Objective:
This study aims to pilot Project Care UK, a self-compassion–focused SSI, to examine its feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy for UK adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years.
Methods:
We used a single-arm, within-subjects pre-post intervention program evaluation. Consenting participants completed a demographic survey and clinical measures at baseline. Self-assessments of hope, hopelessness, negative beliefs about self-compassion, and help seeking were measured immediately before and after the intervention. Acceptability and feasibility were measured after the intervention using the Program Feedback Scale and study completion metrics. Preliminary efficacy was evaluated using linear mixed-effects models. The study protocol was preregistered on the Open Science Framework before publication.
Results:
Of the 813 individuals who gave consent for the study, 714 (87.8%) initiated the preintervention assessment survey, 610 (75%) initiated the intervention, 341 (41.9%) initiated the Program Feedback Scale, and 329 (40.5%) initiated the postintervention assessment survey. The sample consisted of adolescents (mean age 15.38, SD 1.58 y) who were predominantly assigned female sex at birth, were White, and were nonheterosexual. Intervention completers widely endorsed the intervention as acceptable. Significant, favorable pre- and postintervention changes were observed across all outcome measures, including increased hope (Cohen d=0.72, P<.001), decreased hopelessness (Cohen d=–0.73, P<.001), and reduced negative beliefs about self-compassion (Cohen d=–0.64, P<.001). No significant changes were observed for help-seeking intentions.
Conclusions:
Although not all participants completed the study, our findings show that recruiting adolescents in the United Kingdom is feasible; completers indicated that the intervention was acceptable, and they showed improvements in the proximal outcomes of hope, hopelessness, and beliefs about self-compassion. More extensive follow-up over time and comparator intervention analyses would allow more robust conclusions to be drawn.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e72077 |
| Journal | JMIR mental health |
| Volume | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 18 Jun 2025 |
Acknowledgements
We particularly valued the advice from young people about how and where to share the recruitment materials for this study, specifically the spotLight on Adolescent Mood Problems Young Person’s Advisory Group, and the Camhelions Young Person’s Advisory Group. We also particularly appreciated the support of research assistants Beatrice Sung, Melanie Luximon, Christy Chiu, and Chloe Payne-Cook, who supported recruitment to Project Care UK, and colleagues from the Liverpool Learning Partnership and the Liverpool-based Young Person’s Advisory Service who signposted the study.Funding
MEL (advanced fellowship 302929) is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research for this research project. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Institute for Health and Care Research, National Health Service, or the UK Department of Health and Social Care. NM is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (project reference 2912026).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Institute for Health and Care Research | 302929 |
| Economic and Social Research Council | 2912026 |
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Improving access to timely evidence-based help for youth mental health using single session interventions
Loades, M. (PI)
National Institute for Health Research
1/05/23 → 30/11/28
Project: Central government, health and local authorities