DepressionO-ACEPOPNCT04663594
Online Culture for Mental Health in People Aged 16-24
A study testing WofB and Ashmolean Website in people with Depression and Anxiety, run by University of Oxford at 1 site in United Kingdom.
Trial summary
O-ACE POP is a randomised controlled trial of an online cultural experience named Ways of Being, compared to a typical museum website (the Ashmolean Museum). The primary aim is to compare these two interventions by efficacy on mood, distress (depression and anxiety), flourishing and investigate potential mechanisms of… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 16 to 24 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Depression, Anxiety
- What is being tested?
- WofB and Ashmolean Website
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 463 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited Kingdom
- Study dates
- 4 Dec 2020to 10 Feb 2021
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 16 to 24 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult
Who may be able to join
- People ages 16-24
Who cannot join
- No access to a laptop or desktop computer
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: An Online Cultural Experience to Support Mental Health in People Aged 16-24 During COVID-19: the O-ACEPOP (Online Active Community Engagement Proof of Principle) Study
O-ACE POP is a randomised controlled trial of an online cultural experience named Ways of Being, compared to a typical museum website (the Ashmolean Museum). The primary aim is to compare these two interventions by efficacy on mood, distress (depression and anxiety), flourishing and investigate potential mechanisms of action, as well as the feasibility of a larger scale RCT.
Read the detailed description
People of target age will be actively recruited with a link to Participant information and E-consent procedures for those who fulfil inclusion criteria and consent to entering their email address.
Consenting participants will enter a demographic questionnaire. Participants will then be emailed a unique ID number and requested to complete a baseline assessment on a computer, including self-report measures and online tasks. Participants will then be randomised to WoB or the Ashmolean Website. Once randomised participants will be requested to log on to the intervention at least once a day for the next three days
Randomisation and blinding Randomisation procedures will be followed. The participants will be aware of which intervention they have been allocated to. All measures are online and self-report.
Ways of Being (WoB) is an online cultural experience designed to reduce distress (symptoms of anxiety and depression) and promote positive mental health in people aged 16-24. It is a web-experience based on qualitative research and co-production with people aged 16-24. The experience is based on human centred narratives related to the objects and artworks of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and partner museums. In addition, other people's viewpoints on the objects and artworks or narrative, are a focus of the experience. The experience combines text, audio and aesthetic elements.
The Ashmolean Website is a generic museum website owned by the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford. The Ashmolean is the oldest public museum in the UK, and has incredibly rich and diverse collections from around the globe, ranging from classical civilisation to the Pre-Raphaelites and modern art. The website is aimed at general museum visitors, tourists, families, primary, secondary and tertiary learners, teachers, and those with specialist cultural interests.
Statistical Analysis Plan The main outcome will be the mean PANAS score at each time point. These will be regressed on time (pre-intervention vs. during, exit and follow up), a group indicator (WoB vs. the Ashmolean Website), and their interaction.
- Conditions
- Depression, Anxiety
- Being tested
- WofB, Ashmolean Website
- Medical subject headings
- Depression, Anxiety Disorders
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
WofBOther
Online experience designed to reduce anxiety and depression and support mental health and wellbeing
Ashmolean WebsiteOther
A generic museum website owned by the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Ways of Being online Experience | Experimental | Ways of Being (WoB) every day for three days Receives: Other: WofB |
| Ashmolean Website | Other | The Ashmolean Website every day for three days Receives: Other: Ashmolean Website |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
PANAS
Is a widely used scale of emotion and comprises 20 items, 10 measuring positive affect (excited, inspired etc) and 10 measuring negative affect (upset, afraid etc), on a Likert Scale of 1 (very slightly) to 5 (extremely). We will be measuring change between baseline and time-points (in Timeframe)
Measured: Baseline, Days 2-4 (morning and evening), Day 5, six weeks
K10
The K10 is a well validated self-report measure of distress (depression and anxiety). We will be measuring change between baseline and time-points (in Timeframe)
Measured: Baseline, Day 5, six weeks
Secondary outcomes (4)
Facial expression recognition task
The facial expression recognition task provides an objective measure of emotional bias which is associated with vulnerability to depression. We will be measuring change between baseline and time-points (in Timeframe)
Measured: Baseline, Day 5, six weeks
Probabilistic Incentive Learning Task
This is an instrumental learning task in which the participant gains or loses points by choosing between two paired images. The participant is told that some images are more likely (but not always) to be associated with gains and some with losses. The explicit aim is to maximize points. We will be measuring change between baseline and time-points (in Timeframe)
Measured: Baseline, Day 5, six weeks
Flourishing
The Flourishing Scale is an 8-item measure of self-perceived success in domains such as self-esteem, relationships, optimism and purpose. We will be measuring change between baseline and time-points (in Timeframe)
Measured: Baseline, Day 5, six weeks
Loneliness
The UCLA Loneliness Scale is a self-report inventory that uses a Likert-type scale to assess subjective feelings of loneliness. In addition we will add an item directly asking about loneliness. We will be measuring change between baseline and time-points (in Timeframe).
Measured: Baseline, Day 5, six weeks
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted11 Dec 2020
- Study start4 Dec 2020
- Primary completion10 Feb 2021
- Study completion10 Feb 2021
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (2)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for DepressionStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by University of OxfordThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Two arm study, 1:1 randomisation (stratified by gender)
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 463 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Oxford
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04663594
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 0009275
- Acronym
- O-ACEPOP
- Status last verified
- May 2022
- First submitted
- 27 Nov 2020
- Last updated
- 6 May 2022
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: The data will be made available on OSF once peer reviewed
Publications
Syed Sheriff R, Riga E, O'Dell B, Chandler L, Adams H, Glogowska M; Public contributor, University of Birmingham. Online cultural experiences for mental health in people aged 16-24: a qualitative analysis of multisource data from a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2026 Apr 28;16(4):e105217. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-105217.
PubMed 42049312Syed Sheriff RJ, Vuorre M, Riga E, Przybylski AK, Adams H, Harmer CJ, Geddes JR. A cultural experience to support mental health in people aged 16-24 during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to a typical museum website: study protocol of an online randomised controlled trial. Trials. 2021 Jul 22;22(1):482. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05441-z.
PubMed 34294126
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 6 May 2022. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- An Online Cultural Experience to Support Mental Health in People Aged 16-24 During COVID-19: the O-ACEPOP (Online Active Community Engagement Proof of Principle) Study
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04663594
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- O-ACEPOP / 0009275
- Conditions
- Depression, Anxiety
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 463 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- University of OxfordUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 4 Dec 2020 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 10 Feb 2021 (actual)
- Study completion
- 10 Feb 2021 (actual)
- First posted
- 11 Dec 2020 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
O-ACE POP is a randomised controlled trial of an online cultural experience named Ways of Being, compared to a typical museum website (the Ashmolean Museum). The primary aim is to compare these two interventions by efficacy on mood, distress (depression and anxiety), flourishing and investigate potential mechanisms of action, as well as the feasibility of a larger scale RCT.
Detailed description
People of target age will be actively recruited with a link to Participant information and E-consent procedures for those who fulfil inclusion criteria and consent to entering their email address.
Consenting participants will enter a demographic questionnaire. Participants will then be emailed a unique ID number and requested to complete a baseline assessment on a computer, including self-report measures and online tasks. Participants will then be randomised to WoB or the Ashmolean Website. Once randomised participants will be requested to log on to the intervention at least once a day for the next three days
Randomisation and blinding Randomisation procedures will be followed. The participants will be aware of which intervention they have been allocated to. All measures are online and self-report.
Ways of Being (WoB) is an online cultural experience designed to reduce distress (symptoms of anxiety and depression) and promote positive mental health in people aged 16-24. It is a web-experience based on qualitative research and co-production with people aged 16-24. The experience is based on human centred narratives related to the objects and artworks of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and partner museums. In addition, other people's viewpoints on the objects and artworks or narrative, are a focus of the experience. The experience combines text, audio and aesthetic elements.
The Ashmolean Website is a generic museum website owned by the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford. The Ashmolean is the oldest public museum in the UK, and has incredibly rich and diverse collections from around the globe, ranging from classical civilisation to the Pre-Raphaelites and modern art. The website is aimed at general museum visitors, tourists, families, primary, secondary and tertiary learners, teachers, and those with specialist cultural interests.
Statistical Analysis Plan The main outcome will be the mean PANAS score at each time point. These will be regressed on time (pre-intervention vs. during, exit and follow up), a group indicator (WoB vs. the Ashmolean Website), and their interaction.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- Two arm study, 1:1 randomisation (stratified by gender)
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Ways of Being online Experience | Experimental | Other: WofBWays of Being (WoB) every day for three days |
| Ashmolean Website | Other | Other: Ashmolean WebsiteThe Ashmolean Website every day for three days |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 16 to 24 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- People ages 16-24
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- No access to a laptop or desktop computer
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| WofBOnline experience designed to reduce anxiety and depression and support mental health and wellbeing | Other | Ways of Being online Experience |
| Ashmolean WebsiteA generic museum website owned by the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford. | Other | Ashmolean Website |
Primary outcome
PANAS
Time frame: Baseline, Days 2-4 (morning and evening), Day 5, six weeks
Is a widely used scale of emotion and comprises 20 items, 10 measuring positive affect (excited, inspired etc) and 10 measuring negative affect (upset, afraid etc), on a Likert Scale of 1 (very slightly) to 5 (extremely). We will be measuring change between baseline and time-points (in Timeframe)
K10
Time frame: Baseline, Day 5, six weeks
The K10 is a well validated self-report measure of distress (depression and anxiety). We will be measuring change between baseline and time-points (in Timeframe)
4 secondary outcomes
Facial expression recognition task
Time frame: Baseline, Day 5, six weeks
Probabilistic Incentive Learning Task
Time frame: Baseline, Day 5, six weeks
Flourishing
Time frame: Baseline, Day 5, six weeks
Loneliness
Time frame: Baseline, Day 5, six weeks
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 6 May 2022.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 42049312Syed Sheriff R, Riga E, O'Dell B, Chandler L, Adams H, Glogowska M; Public contributor, University of Birmingham. Online cultural experiences for mental health in people aged 16-24: a qualitative analysis of multisource data from a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2026 Apr 28;16(4):e105217. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-105217.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 34294126Syed Sheriff RJ, Vuorre M, Riga E, Przybylski AK, Adams H, Harmer CJ, Geddes JR. A cultural experience to support mental health in people aged 16-24 during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to a typical museum website: study protocol of an online randomised controlled trial. Trials. 2021 Jul 22;22(1):482. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05441-z.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. The data will be made available on OSF once peer reviewed
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing WofB and Ashmolean Website in people with Depression and Anxiety, run by University of Oxford at 1 site in United Kingdom.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 6 May 2022. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United Kingdom. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
PANAS (time frame: Baseline, Days 2-4 (morning and evening), Day 5, six weeks). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04663594, which also lists 2 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 6 May 2022.