NCT07383467

No Time to Wait: Single Session Intervention

Recruiting now NA Last updated 3 February 2026

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Online Single Session Intervention on Growth Mindset in Depression - Major Depressive Disorder in 124 participants. Currently enrolling.

Timeline

10 January 2026

Primary endpoint
12 December 2026

1 March 2027

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	United Christian Hospital
Phase	NA
Status	Recruiting now
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	none
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	124
Start date	10 January 2026
Primary completion	12 December 2026
Estimated completion	1 March 2027
Sites	1 location across Hong Kong

Drugs / interventions tested

• Online Single Session Intervention on Growth Mindset

Conditions studied

• Depression - Major Depressive Disorder — all drugs for Depression - Major Depressive Disorder →
• Anxiety — all drugs for Anxiety →

Sponsor

United Christian Hospital

Who can join

Adults 12 to 17, any sex, with Depression - Major Depressive Disorder or Anxiety. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Mental health problems in youth are prevalent, but early intervention effectively reduces symptoms, substance abuse risk, suicide, and comorbidities. In Hong Kong, however, only 26% of people with common mental disorders seek services (Lam et al., 2015), and even then, they face long delays-e.g., 90 weeks (90th percentile) for stable cases in public psychiatry clinics (Hospital Authority, 2024). Barriers include high costs, transportation issues, stigma, and preference for self-help, creating a strong need for scalable, accessible digital solutions, especially for youth.

Single-Session Interventions (SSI) offer promise as brief, time-efficient tools that provide immediate support with minimal engagement burden. Online SSIs are often free, publicly available, and evidence-based. Research shows they reduce symptoms (moderate effect size Hedges' g = 0.32; 58% chance of better outcome vs. control), improve functioning, and boost satisfaction (Schleider \& Weisz, 2017). They work well for specific phobias and acute stress. Yet, their real-world acceptability, effectiveness outside trials, and integration with public services remain understudied-particularly for children/adolescents on waitlists.

This pilot study evaluates an online single-session psychotherapy for youth (children/adolescents) on Hong Kong public psychotherapy waitlists, targeting depression and anxiety symptoms. It extends prior work by:

Targeting two key constructs prominent in Asian contexts:

Alexithymia - difficulty identifying/describing emotions; affects \~10% generally but 36% of Hong Kong adolescents (higher in females). It worsens depression, lowers well-being, complicates therapy, and reduces help-seeking.

Fixed mindset (vs. growth mindset) - Asian groups show lower growth mindset levels; growth mindset buffers mental health issues (meta-analysis r = -0.220 with anxiety/depression/stress) and promotes better emotional regulation and treatment engagement.

Examining how SSI influences acceptability and expectancy toward subsequent face-to-face psychotherapy.

Hypotheses:

SSI will reduce depression/anxiety symptoms more than treatment-as-usual. SSI will increase acceptability and positive expectancy for future in-person treatment.

Change mechanisms-perceived behavioral control and emotional control-will mediate and sustain post-intervention outcomes.

Overall, the study aims to test SSI as a bridge intervention to bridge service gaps, address culturally relevant barriers, and inform scalable mental health strategies in resource-constrained settings like Hong Kong's public system.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial.