Clinical trials

Unemployment is higher among young people who experience mental ill-health compared to the general population. This can have a lasting impact on young people, many of whom are highly motivated to gain employment and education. There are many challenges to seeking, gaining, and maintaining employment for young people. To address these challenges and help young people meet their employment and education goals, investigators have developed a VR intervention to support vocational skill building. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and safety, of the Virtual Reality for Vocational Recovery (VR4VR) intervention. A small group of vocational specialists will support up to 20 young people with their vocational outcomes using VR4VR over a 3-6week period. Both young people and specialists will complete questionnaires related to acceptability of the intervention, including qualitative interviews. Data on feasibility and safety will also be collected. Results will inform whether VR is feasible, acceptable, and safe to support vocational outcomes within vocational services that support young people with mental health difficulties, potentially supporting further intervention development and larger trials.

A randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of extended-release guanfacine to reduce cannabis use frequency in young people with cannabis use disorder following a period of monitored abstinence.

This research will evaluate a new virtual reality (VR) intervention to support youth with depression and anxiety. While VR has shown promise for adult mental health, little is known about its use in youth or routine clinical care. The VR intervention is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and immerses young people in fun, engaging environments to teach practical coping skills for managing distress. Clinicians within youth mental health services will use the VR intervention within their routine treatment of young people. The study will evaluate both the preliminary effectiveness of the VR intervention for improving youth mental health, as well as real-world implementation outcomes to understand how it can be successfully adopted in clinical settings. The trial will use a single-group, pre-post design, with treating clinicians delivering the intervention to up to 75 young people seeking treatment for depression and anxiety over a 12-week period. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, immediately after the intervention (12 weeks), and four weeks post-intervention (16 weeks).