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Contact the study team using the details below to take part. If there are no contact details below please ask your doctor in the first instance.

Contact Information:

Dr Gemma Giove-Hunt
-
gg434@cam.ac.uk


Prof Tamsin Ford
-
tjf52@medschl.cam.ac.uk


Dr Rachel Hayes
+44 (0)1392 722978
R.A.Hayes@exeter.ac.uk


More information about this study, what is involved and how to take part can be found on the study website.

Study Location:

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Be Part of Research - Trial Details - Is an adapted form of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy an effective treatment to support the recovery of 15-18-year-olds who, despite already receiving some treatment, are still experiencing symptoms of depression?
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Is an adapted form of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy an effective treatment to support the recovery of 15-18-year-olds who, despite already receiving some treatment, are still experiencing symptoms of depression?

Recruiting

Open to: All Genders

Age: Child

Beckenham Exeter Worthing Plymouth Croydon London London London Barnstaple Cambridge Peterborough Huntingdon

Medical Conditions

Mental health

This information is provided directly by researchers, and we recognise that it isn't always easy to understand. We are working with researchers to improve the accessibility of this information. In some summaries, you may come across links to external websites. These websites will have more information to help you better understand the study.


In the UK about 140,000 15–19-year-olds experience depression. An estimated 35,000 young people access NHS treatment for depression, of which about 14,000 do not respond and a further 8,000 are likely to experience depression again after initial successful treatment. Teenagers who still have symptoms after treatment for low mood, depression or anxiety, or who relapse quickly, need more treatment options. These young people have a high risk of substance misuse, self-harm, school, or relationship difficulty, as well as poor adult mental and physical health. Parenting a teenager with depression is stressful and can damage family relationships. Teenagers whose parents have depression are more likely to develop mental health problems in adulthood.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) combines training in mindfulness meditation with principles from cognitive therapy. It teaches skills to recognise early warning signs of depression, avoid repetitive thinking patterns that make depression more likely, and respond in ways that protect mental health. Although MBCT is recommended for adults who have experienced three or more depressive episodes, MBCT for teenagers is relatively untested. Mindfulness for Adolescents and Carers (MAC) was developed as a version of MBCT adapted to be more engaging for teenagers. MAC aims to help teenagers recover from depression and the parallel parent/carer group aims to support parents and carers to cope better. The aim of this study is to see if MAC supports recovery and prevents relapse amongst 15-18-year-olds who risk developing recurrent depression as adults.

Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.  

The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:

21 Aug 2024 31 Dec 2025

This study is run across six different parts of England: London, Devon, Sussex, East of England, Oxford and Nottingham. People who agree to take part will either be randomly assigned to take part in the Mindfulness for Adolescents and Carers (MAC) group and continue to receive their current/usual treatment, or be assigned to continue with their current/usual treatment only.
MAC is mindfulness-based cognitive therapy adapted for teenagers. MAC is delivered to a group of up to 12 young people. There are eight weekly sessions, each 1 hour 30 to 45 minutes. Between MAC sessions, people will be asked to record their Mindfulness at Homepractice on the MAC App. The App will have spaces where they can select what practices they have done and how they found them. This will be shared with their therapist. The App will also automatically record usage information such as how often they open the App, which audio recordings they listen to the most and how long they listen to them for. This automatically collected information will not be shared with their therapist, but it will be used in the study’s final analysis.
The researchers will invite parents/carers to attend sessions as well as this can really help them to support their child. The young people and parent/carer sessions run separately, each in their own room. However, young people can still take part in this study even if their parent/carer doesn’t want to take part themselves.
Mindfulness works by helping to learn skills that can prevent low mood or depression from coming back, helping people to become more aware of how their body is feeling and the impact this can have on their emotions, and trying to help pay attention to the present moment and think about the kind of things their internal voice is saying to you. Often our mind is thinking about what will happen (the future) or what has happened (the past) and sometimes we miss what is happening right now. The present is not always as bad as we think, but even when it is, then mindfulness practices and ideas can help us find new ways of responding to difficulties. The MAC programme aims to help the young person to ‘train their mind’ so that they can choose to respond rather than react to difficulties. To do this, first we need to learn to notice when we are doing something unhelpful, and then we need to let go of it and find a different way of working with our mind. In this programme we learn to be flexible, kind and understanding with ourselves in order to take the above steps.


Young people aged between 15 and 18 who have completed at least one evidence-based treatment for anxiety or depression but are still experiencing symptoms of low mood. If a young person is eligible to participate then their parent or carer will be invited to take part in a parallel parent mindfulness group.

You can take part if:



You may not be able to take part if:


Young people:1. Current active management required for suicidal risk, self-harm or eating disorder2. Current psychosis or PTSD

Carers:1. A carer of a young person who has not consented to take part in the study


Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.

  • South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
    Bethlem Royal Hospital Monks Orchard Road
    Beckenham
    BR3 3BX
  • Devon Partnership NHS Trust
    Wonford House Hospital Dryden Road
    Exeter
    EX2 5AF
  • Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
    Trust Hq Swandean Arundel Road
    Worthing
    BN13 3EP
  • Livewell Southwest
    Local Care Centre 200 Mount Gould Road
    Plymouth
    PL4 7PY
  • CAMHS Croydon London Road
    78 London Road
    Croydon
    CR0 2TB
  • Lambeth CAMHS (clamhs)
    393 Brixton Road
    London
    SW9 7AW
  • CAMHS Lewisham Park
    78 Lewisham Park
    London
    SE13 6QJ
  • CAMHS Southwark Adolescent Team
    Bloomfield Clinic St. Thomas Street
    London
    SE1 9RT
  • Children and Family Health Devon
    Single Point of Access Team 1a Capital Court Bittern Road Sowton Industrial Estate
    Barnstaple
    EX2 7FW
  • Cambridge Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
    18a Trumpington Road
    Cambridge
    CB2 8AH
  • Peterborough Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
    City Care Centre Thorpe Road
    Peterborough
    PE3 6DB
  • Huntingdon Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
    Newtown Centre Nursery Road
    Huntingdon
    PE29 3RJ

Engaging in MAC involves a commitment to the workshops and the mindfulness practice. This typically involves experiencing the full range of positive, negative and neutral experiences that are an essential part of the treatment. This is done in a supportive and constructive therapeutic contact. Participants will complete some questionnaires and discuss with researchers how they are feeling. Some of these questions are personal and sometimes people can find it upsetting to discuss these issues. This is a new treatment and is only available through taking part in the study.

Prof Tamsin Ford
-
tjf52@medschl.cam.ac.uk


Dr Gemma Giove-Hunt
-
gg434@cam.ac.uk


Dr Rachel Hayes
+44 (0)1392 722978
R.A.Hayes@exeter.ac.uk



More information about this study, what is involved and how to take part can be found on the study website.


The study is sponsored by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust and funded by NIHR Central Commissioning Facility (CCF).



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Read full details for Trial ID: ISRCTN17687131

Or CPMS 62119

Last updated 15 August 2024

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