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NCT Number: NCT05519748

Effectiveness of an Online Psychoeducation Program for Improving Coping in People With a High Level of Dissociative Symptoms: A Pilot Randomized Waitlist-controlled Trial

Subject Population Our study's target population is people with pathological dissociation in the community.

Research Design A pilot randomized waitlist-controlled trial will investigate the effects of an online psychoeducation program on coping, symptom management, and self-efficacy of people with pathological dissociation immediately (posttest-1) and 2-month (posttest-2) post-intervention. Supplementary semi-structured interviews will be conducted for process evaluation. The analysis and reporting of the trial will strictly follow the CONSORT guidelines.

Instrument The primary outcome of our study is the coping ability of individuals with pathological dissociation, which will be assessed by the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (Brief-COPE). The secondary outcome measures are dissociative symptoms, emotional regulation, and self-efficacy, which would be assessed by the Dissociative Experiences Scale-Taxon (DES-T), the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) accordingly.

Procedure The online psychoeducation program is developed based on an integrative theoretical framework that integrates the Stress and Coping model, Cognitive-Behavioural Theory, Bandura's self-efficacy theory, and findings of our previous feasibility studies on this psychoeducational program. Participants will be recruited via posting on social media and online forums. A 16-session online psychoeducation program will be delivered to the participants in eight weeks.

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Key information

Conditions

Dissociation Dissociative Disorders Mental Disorders

Age range

18 year–64 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • agree to give informed consent and participate
  • aged 18 or above
  • self-reported symptoms or experiences of pathological dissociation
  • screened positive on the Chinese version of the DES-T (i.e., DES-T score 20 or above) at a baseline screening
  • able to understand and communicate in Chinese-Cantonese
  • have access to the internet.

Exclusion criteria

  • Individuals who have a reading disorder, cognitive impairment, dementia, or intellectual disabilities
  • Individuals who are participating in any research studies
  • Individuals who had participated in our previous feasibility study of the same intervention

Treatment and study plan

Online psychoeducational program

Behavioral

The intervention group will receive an online psychoeducational program for 8 weeks. The psychoeducation package consists of 16 different sets of reading materials and post-session writing/reflection exercises, which will be delivered to the participants twice a week.

Primary outcomes

  1. Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (Brief-COPE)

    Time frame: Immediately and two months after completion of the intervention in the experimental group

    Change in participants' coping strategies, as assessed using the Brief-COPE. This measure has 28 items and is a commonly used self-report measure of coping strategies. The Chinese version of the Brief-COPE had excellent internal consistency, test-retest reliability and content validity. Higher scores indicate more significant use of that specific coping strategy.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Dissociative Experiences Scale-Taxon (DES-T)

    Time frame: Immediately and two months after completion of the intervention in the experimental group

    Change in participants' pathological dissociative experiences, as assessed using the DES-T. This measure has 8 items and can be used to screen for pathological dissociative experiences. The Chinese version of the DES-T demonstrated good construct validity and good discriminant validity between participants with and without clinically diagnosed dissociative disorders, with a cut-off score of 20. Higher scores indicate more frequent dissociative symptoms.

Other outcomes

  1. Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ)

    Time frame: Immediately and two months after completion of the intervention in the experimental group

    Change in participants' emotion regulation, as assessed using the ERQ. This measure has 10 items and is a self-report measure of emotion regulation. It has good internal consistency and established construct validity. The Chinese version of the ERQ also demonstrates good internal consistency and construct validity. Higher scores indicate greater use of that particular emotion regulation strategy.

  2. General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES)

    Time frame: Immediately and two months after completion of the intervention in the experimental group

    Change in participants' self-efficacy, as assessed using the GSES. This measure has 10 items and is to assess respondents' level of self-efficacy by using a 4-point Likert scale to rate their self-beliefs to cope with adversities in different life situations. The total score ranges from 10 to 40, with the higher the score indicating the higher their perceived competence in managing difficult demands in life. The Chinese version of the GSES also demonstrated excellent internal consistency and good construct validity.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Other

Collaborators

  • Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2022
Primary completion
2023
Study completion
2023
First posted
Aug 29, 2022
Registry last updated
May 24, 2024

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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