Recruiting

Informational Videos

Sponsor:

IWK Health Centre

Code:

NCT07165782

Conditions

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Adolescence

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Youth

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 15 - 25

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Brief Videos Delivered by Text Message

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if informational videos (the intervention) sent by text messages can help young people (age 15 - 25) manage symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is a small-scale trial to evaluate whether the intervention has potential to be effective, whether it is feasible to carry out a bigger study, and whether youth find the intervention acceptable.The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Does the intervention help youth reduce their symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and depression, improve how well they function day-to-day, and lead to post-traumatic growth.
2. Will it be possible to conduct a larger study on the intervention (e.g., are we able to attract participants to take part in the study; do participants follow through with the intervention and the study) and is the intervention acceptable to youth (e.g., do they watch the videos, and rate the videos as useful, interesting, understandable, and relevant)?

Researchers will compare those who receive the intervention right away to those who wait to receive the intervention to see if there are differences between groups.

Videos will teach youth about PTSD and provide the opportunity to practice strategies that have been shown to help with reduce symptoms of PTSD, such as exposure, reducing avoidance, social support, and coping strategies (e.g., changing your thoughts, deep breathing, and muscle relaxation).

The study is fully online. Participants will be randomly placed in one of two groups:

1. Intervention Group: Gets three PTSD-related text messages per week for 10 weeks. They will also be asked to rate each of the videos on how helpful you found them.
2. Waitlist Group: Does not receive text messages until AFTER the final surveys for the study are completed (i.e., 5 months), then will receive the intervention.

Everyone will be asked to complete online surveys about their mental health and functioning 3 times during the study:

  • Beginning of the study
  • 10 weeks into the study
  • 3 months after the videos end (end of study)

Conditions

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Adolescence

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Youth

Study ID

NCT07165782

Start date

Sep 10, 2025

Status verified date

Sep, 2025

Completion date

Dec 30, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Sep 10, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 15 - 25

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Likely diagnosis of PTSD as indicated by a minimum score of 31 on the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist
  • Direct exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence or through witnessing, learning it happened to a close relation as assessed by the Life Events Checklist
  • Between 15 and 25 years old at time of enrolment
  • Access to a mobile phone and a data plan that allows them to receive text messages and videos
  • Live in Canada

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Presence of active suicidality, determined by items from the Patient Safety Screener
  • Active symptoms of psychosis, indicated by a brief Psychosis Screener Questionnaire
  • An inability to read and/or understand English

Study Design

Enrollment

98 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

active comparator: Brief Video Intervention

Participants will receive three text messages per week for 10 weeks. Each message contains a link to a video providing information about PTSD and coping strategies.

no intervention: Control Group

The control group will receive no intervention. They will have access to the intervention after they complete all study activities, however they will not be included in the data analysis.

Interventions

Brief Videos Delivered by Text Message

The intervention consists of brief videos delivered by text message, designed to deliver psychoeducation, coping strategies, and social support guidance for youth with PTSD. The focus is to reduce avoidance behaviors, increase exposure, change cognitions and enhance social support.

The text messages will follow a six-module curriculum, covering key PTSD recovery topics:

1. Psychoeducation on PTSD - Understanding symptoms, trauma responses, and brain plasticity.
2. Reducing Avoidance - Encouraging gradual engagement with feared thoughts and situations.
3. Cognitive Coping Strategies - Introducing cognitive restructuring techniques.
4. Behavioral Coping Strategies - Teaching relaxation techniques (e.g., deep breathing, grounding).
5. Social Support - Highlighting the role of social support and strategies to strengthen connections.
6. Maintenance and Relapse Prevention - Preparing for setbacks and reinforcing progress.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in Posttraumatic Stress as Assessed by the PTSD Checklist (PCL-5) at 10 Weeks (End of Treatment) [ Time Frame: From enrolment to the end of treatment at 10 weeks ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Patrick J McGrath, PhD

+13435588921patrick.mcgrath@iwk.nshealth.ca

Research Coordinator

+19024707552text4ptsd@iwk.nshealth.ca

Locations

IWK Health

Recruiting

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3K 6R8

Contacts

Adam Cummins

902-470-7552adam.cummins@iwk.nshealth.ca

More Information

Sponsor

IWK Health Centre

Last update posted

Sep 10, 2025

Last verified

Sep, 2025

Keywords

  • posttraumatic stress disorder
  • post-traumatic stress disorder
  • trauma
  • public health
  • rct
  • text message
  • video intervention

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by IWK Health Centre on 2025-09-10.