Dataset Information

The Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD) Study: Online recruitment into the largest recontactable study of depression and anxiety.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Anxiety and depression are common, debilitating and costly. These disorders are influenced by multiple risk factors, from genes to psychological vulnerabilities and environmental stressors, but research is hampered by a lack of sufficiently large comprehensive studies. We are recruiting 40,000 individuals with lifetime depression or anxiety and broad assessment of risks to facilitate future research.

Methods

The Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD) Study (www.gladstudy.org.uk) recruits individuals with depression or anxiety into the NIHR Mental Health BioResource. Participants invited to join the study (via media campaigns) provide demographic, environmental and genetic data, and consent for medical record linkage and recontact.

Results

Online recruitment was effective; 42,531 participants consented and 27,776 completed the questionnaire by end of July 2019. Participants' questionnaire data identified very high rates of recurrent depression, severe anxiety, and comorbidity. Participants reported high rates of treatment receipt. The age profile of the sample is biased toward young adults, with higher recruitment of females and the more educated, especially at younger ages.

Discussion

This paper describes the study methodology and descriptive data for GLAD, which represents a large, recontactable resource that will enable future research into risks, outcomes, and treatment for anxiety and depression.

SUBMITTER: Davies MR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6891252 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD) Study: Online recruitment into the largest recontactable study of depression and anxiety.

Davies Molly R MR Kalsi Gursharan G Armour Chérie C Jones Ian R IR McIntosh Andrew M AM Smith Daniel J DJ Walters James T R JTR Bradley John R JR Kingston Nathalie N Ashford Sofie S Beange Ioana I Brailean Anamaria A Cleare Anthony J AJ Coleman Jonathan R I JRI Curtis Charles J CJ Curzons Susannah C B SCB Davis Katrina A S KAS Dowey Le Roy C LRC Gault Victor A VA Goldsmith Kimberley A KA Bennett Megan Hammond MH Hirose Yoriko Y Hotopf Matthew M Hübel Christopher C Kanz Carola C Leng Jennifer J Lyall Donald M DM Mason Bethany D BD McAtarsney-Kovacs Monika M Monssen Dina D Moulton Alexei A Ovington Nigel N Palaiologou Elisavet E Pariante Carmine M CM Parikh Shivani S Peel Alicia J AJ Price Ruth K RK Rimes Katharine A KA Rogers Henry C HC Sambrook Jennifer J Skelton Megan M Spaul Anna A Suarez Eddy L A ELA Sykes Bronte L BL Thomas Keith G KG Young Allan H AH Vassos Evangelos E Veale David D White Katie M KM Wingrove Janet J Eley Thalia C TC Breen Gerome G

Behaviour research and therapy 20191024

<h4>Background</h4>Anxiety and depression are common, debilitating and costly. These disorders are influenced by multiple risk factors, from genes to psychological vulnerabilities and environmental stressors, but research is hampered by a lack of sufficiently large comprehensive studies. We are recruiting 40,000 individuals with lifetime depression or anxiety and broad assessment of risks to facilitate future research.<h4>Methods</h4>The Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD) Study (www. ...[more]

PMID: 31715324

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Project description:BackgroundRaising awareness of online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) could benefit many people with depression, but we do not know how purchasing online advertising compares to placing free links from relevant local websites in increasing uptake.ObjectiveTo pilot a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing purchase of Google AdWords with placing free website links in raising awareness of online CBT resources for depression in order to better understand research design issues.MethodsWe compared two online interventions with a control without intervention. The pilot RCT had 4 arms, each with 4 British postcode areas: (A) geographically targeted AdWords, (B) adverts placed on local websites by contacting website owners and requesting links be added, (C) both interventions, (D) control. Participants were directed to our research project website linking to two freely available online CBT resource sites (Moodgym and Living Life To The Full (LLTTF)) and two other depression support sites. We used data from (1) AdWords, (2) Google Analytics for our project website and for LLTTF, and (3) research project website. We compared two outcomes: (1) numbers with depression accessing the research project website, and then chose an onward link to one of the two CBT websites, and (2) numbers registering with LLTTF. We documented costs, and explored intervention and assessment methods to make general recommendations to inform researchers aiming to use similar methodologies in future studies.ResultsTrying to place local website links appeared much less cost effective than AdWords and although may prove useful for service delivery, was not worth pursuing in the context of the current study design. Our AdWords intervention was effective in recruiting people to the project website but our location targeting "leaked" and was not as geographically specific as claimed. The impact on online CBT was also diluted by offering participants other choices of destinations. Measuring the impact on LLTTF use was difficult as the total number using LLTTF was less than 5% of all users and record linkage across websites was impossible. Confounding activity may have resulted in some increase in registrations in the control arm.ConclusionsPractitioners should consider online advertising to increase uptake of online therapy but need to check its additional value. A cluster RCT using location targeted adverts is feasible and this research design provides the best evidence of cost-effectiveness. Although our British pilot study is limited to online CBT for depression, a cluster RCT with similar design would be appropriate for other online treatments and countries and our recommendations may apply. They include ways of dealing with possible contamination (buffer zones and AdWords techniques), confounding factors (large number of clusters), advertising dose (in proportion to total number of users), record linkage (landing within target website), and length of study (4-6 months).Trial registrationclinicaltrials.gov (Registration No. NCT01469689); http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01469689 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6EtTthDOp).

Project description:IntroductionPostpartum depression and anxiety (PPDA) is experienced by up to 20% of families in the first year. The condition impacts not only parents but also their developing child. While mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have shown to be beneficial for this population, many parents do not have access to treatment or find it challenging to commit or complete the treatment. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened some of the challenges that parents face. The ability to find time for needed self-care and health interventions is also affected by limited childcare support. The opportunity to attend a group online may significantly improve the accessibility to group MBI but may also bring challenges. This study aims to examine the feasibility and acceptability of online MBI groups for parents in families affected with PPDA.Methods and analysisIn this feasibility study, participants will include mothers diagnosed with PPDA and their partners. Two online MBI groups will run simultaneously for 8 weeks: one for mothers with PPDA and another one for their partners. The primary outcome will be feasibility of conducting the online groups, assessed from the facilitators' perspective, participants' perspective and attrition throughout the study. The participants' perspectives on feasibility will be assessed by questions including how difficult it was for them to make it to the sessions, specific obstacles encountered and their scheduling preferences. The facilitators' perspective will be assessed by frequency of technical difficulties encountered, of disruptions in the online sessions and of episodes where parents leave the screen (eg, to calm their child). Secondary outcomes will include mental health, couple relationship, satisfaction and acceptability which will also be evaluated through participant questionnaires.Ethics and disseminationThe study has received ethics approval from the University of British Columbia Children's and Women's Research Ethics Board. Study results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and conferences.Trial registration numberNCT04617132.

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Project description:To compare online and paper-based screening for depression and anxiety in adults with cystic fibrosis (CF).Cross-sectional study in CF clinics in Ireland and through the Cystic Fibrosis Ireland online community.160 adult patients aged 18 or above were recruited. Of these, 147 were included in the analysis; 83 online and 64 paper-based. The remaining 13 were excluded because of incomplete data.Depression and anxiety were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Data on pulmonary function (forced expiratory volume in 1 s %) and body mass index were self-reported based on clinical assessments. Sociodemographic data were collected.Compared with the paper-based participants, the online participants were more likely to be female (61.7% vs 48.4%), older (mean 32.2 vs 28.2 years) and were more likely to be married (32.5% vs 15.6%), living with their spouse or partner (42.5% vs 22.6%) and working either full time (33.7% vs 15.9%) or part time (30.1%vs 17.5%). The prevalence rates of elevated anxiety and depression were not significantly different (P=0.71 and P=0.56). HADS anxiety and depression scores were not statistically different between online (P=0.83) and paper-based (P=0.92) participants based on Mann-Whitney U test. A significant negative correlation was found between depression and pulmonary function (r=-0.39, P=0.01) and anxiety and pulmonary function (r=-0.36, P=0.02). Based on Cronbach's alpha, there were no statistically significant differences between the online and paper-based participants on the internal consistency of the HADS anxiety (P=0.073) and depression (P=0.378) scales.Our findings suggest that online and paper-based screening for depression and anxiety in adult patients with CF yield comparable findings on prevalence rates and scores, associations with health and internal consistency of subscales. This study highlights that online screening offers an alternative method to paper-based screening. Further research with a larger sample and assessment of measurement equivalence between online and paper based screening is needed to confirm our results.

Dataset Information

The Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD) Study: Online recruitment into the largest recontactable study of depression and anxiety.

Background

Methods

Results

Discussion

Publications

The Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD) Study: Online recruitment into the largest recontactable study of depression and anxiety.

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