Depression Clinical Trials

The goal of this study is to examine whether a well-formulated ketogenic diet (KD) can be implemented into a university counseling treatment program for major depression and to test whether such a program has any benefit on mental and metabolic health. Read Less

The overall purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of an intervention designed to prevent nurse suicide. This randomized controlled trial will test the Healer Education Assessment and Referral (HEAR) program alone and the HEAR program combined with a program called MINDBODYSTRONG. The HEAR program is a method of screening to detect clinicians at moderate to high risk for suicide and referring them for treatment through an encrypted anonymous on-line platform. MINDBODYSTRONG© is an adaptation of a well-tested cognitive-behavioral skills building intervention (also known as COPE in the literature) that provides a cognitive-behavior theory-based approach to decrease depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation and improve healthy lifestyle beliefs and behaviors in at-risk populations. MINDBODYSTRONG© will involve eight self-paced computerized sessions designed specifically for nurses and clinicians. Nurses will be recruited nationally through the American Nurses Association. Read Less

Lithium is highly effective in the treatment of bipolar disorder. This study aims to investigate, for the first time, the impact of lithium monotherapy on the structural and functional connectivity of the brain using MRI imaging. Read Less

Open enrollment study to collect data for the optimization of machine learning models for use in an app for the early detection of mental health and suicidal risk. Read Less

Acute, double-blind, adaptively randomized treatment with duloxetine or escitalopram, followed by double-blind, randomized adjunctive treatment with clonazepam or pregabalin for persistent symptoms. Read Less

Studies suggest that for youth in poverty, addressing stressors like parental mental health concerns may improve children's mental health outcomes. Rates of depression and suicidality are growing among teens nationwide and rates of depression are disproportionately high for Hispanic youth. Hispanic families are disproportionately impacted by poverty and are disproportionately exposed to adverse childhood experiences, yet Hispanic patients are less likely than non-Hispanic patient to have access to specialty mental healthcare. Integrating mental health care into primary care is one avenue towards making specialized mental healthcare more accessible to the Hispanic community. There have been few studies focused on addressing parental mental health within pediatric primary care, and even fewer focused specifically on supporting Hispanic families within primary care. The current study would seek to formally assess whether a family-centered treatment approach improves depression outcomes for both Hispanic teens and parents identified in primary care. The current study would implement depression screening for teens and global mental health screening for parents in MetroHealth's Pediatric Hispanic Clinic. Teens identified with depression would receive integrated consultation with a psychology provider as usual. In this study, parents who agree to participate would also be screened for depression, anxiety, trauma and parenting stress. Parents who screen positive would then be randomized to receive either a list of referrals for bilingual mental health services in the community (treatment as usual), or into the family-centered treatment arm. In the family-centered treatment arm, parents would be connected directly to bilingual adult mental health services with a community partner, Catholic Charities, who would provide collateral therapy to parents via telehealth. Families will then receive follow-up calls from a bilingual MetroHealth provider 3- and 6-months later to re-administer the same parent outcome measures. Investigators hypothesize that adolescent depression symptoms will improve to a greater degree in the family-centered treatment condition as compared to treatment as usual, and that measures of parental mental health and parenting stress will show significantly greater improvement in the family-centered treatment condition as compared to treatment as usual. Read Less

The overall aim of this study is to employ Community Health Workers (CHWs) to screen for depression in 30 Black churches and compare the effectiveness of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) (Intervention arm) to Referral As Usual (Control arm) on treatment engagement for depression. The investigators will assess patient-level outcomes (Mental-Health Related Quality of Life and depressive symptoms) at 3- and 6-months post-screening and conduct a mixed-methods process evaluation to assess multi-level facilitators and barriers of screening uptake. Read Less

The goal is to improve mental health of minority and other vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by SARS-CoV-2. The study will evaluate the impact of mental health services on SARS-CoV-2 mitigation strategies such as prevention behaviors, receiving vaccinations, and safe healthcare utilization. Successful completion of this study will contribute to the National Institute of Mental Health Strategic Plan employing implementation science to maximize the public health impact of research for effectiveness and reach of mental health services, especially for minority groups and other underserved populations in the United States. Read Less

Living with spinal cord injury (SCI) can have a significant negative impact on an individual's mental health and restrict participation in personally valued activities and roles. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based approach that can lessen symptoms of mental health disorders (e.g., depressive symptoms) and improve quality of life through mindfulness and acceptance processes and behavior change processes for valued living. Evidence for ACT for individuals living with SCI, however, is limited to a very few studies that involved in-person group-based ACT and did not focus on depressed individuals with SCI. The primary goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of an 8-week videoconferencing ACT program on improving mental health outcomes in depressed individuals living with SCI. The primary hypotheses are that the ACT group will show improvements in depressive symptoms at posttest and 2-month follow-up compared to the wait-list control group. Investigators will invite 120 individuals living with SCI and reporting depressive symptoms and randomly assign them to either the ACT group or the wait-list control group. The ACT group will receive eight weekly individual ACT sessions guided by a coach through videoconferencing with a booster session at 1-month follow-up. The wait-list control group will continue his or her own care as usual during the study period and have the option to receive eight individual ACT sessions after study participation ends. Data will be collected at pretest, posttest, and 2-month follow-up and compared between the ACT group and the control group over time. About 40% of individuals living with SCI report depressive symptoms and other mental health symptoms, and mental health disorders following SCI are associated with negative long-term outcomes. Managing uncomfortable or painful thoughts and emotions arising from functional limitations and accepting changed lives while moving forward for valued living through ACT skill practice will help individuals with SCI alleviate symptoms of mental health conditions, promote engagement in personally valued activities, and improve quality of life. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to use smartphone technology to capture individual location emotional and cognitive data, to examine how real-world behaviors thoughts, emotions, and brain activity are related to one another. Read Less

This research study seeks to find causes and treatments of depression in teenagers. The study goals are to increase our knowledge of treatments for depression and understand how the brain changes when teenagers have depression. The study will also compare teenagers with depression to those without mental health diagnoses. This outpatient study is recruiting participants ages 11-17 who are depressed. They must have a pediatrician or other medical provider, be medically healthy, and able to perform research tasks. They may not currently be hospitalized, psychotic or actively suicidal. Teenagers with depression are eligible even if they are taking medication. The study begins with an evaluation that includes clinical assessment, interviews, and questionnaires. Visits may include paper-and-pencil and computer tests of mood, memory, and thinking; specialized computer games; and structural and brain imaging. If eligible, study participants may return several times a year for up to two years. This part of the study does not involve treatment. Participants may be eligible for outpatient treatment for up to 25 weeks. This includes evidenced-based "talk" therapy. Participants may choose either Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Adolescents (IPT-A) or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). If indicated, participants may opt to receive standard medication treatments along with psychotherapy. Research includes computer tasks and brain imaging. All clinical evaluations, research tasks and visits are free of cost. Participants are compensated for research activities. Parents and teenager must agree to the teenager s participation in research. The study is conducted at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland and enrolls participants from the Washington DC Metro region within 50 miles of NIH. Transportation expenses are reimbursed by NIMH. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to study whether distressed medical residents, fellows, and faculty health professionals benefit from completing online an anonymous and interactive screening of stress, depression, substance use, and suicidal thoughts. The screening and ability to interact online with a clinician anonymously are hypothesized to increase willingness to come for counseling in person. Suicide risk factors are expected to be lower once the distressed medical trainee or faculty member receives treatment. Read Less