Anxiety DepressionNCT07237217
Guided Group Telehealth to Deliver Evidence-based Therapeutic Care to Black College Students
A study testing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Coping Skills Training in people with Anxiety Depression, run by Dr. Veronica Tetterton at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The goal of this study is to address the mental health crisis among college students by creating a promising solution for group teletherapy, which is equivalent to individual teletherapy in terms of treatment outcomes.The main question it aims to answer is: if participants' outcome measures in TheraGroup are in line… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Anxiety Depression
- What is being tested?
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Coping Skills Training
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 40 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 22 Sep 2024to 31 Aug 2025
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view
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 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Individuals at PVAMU 18 years and older
Who cannot join
- Individuals younger than 18 years of age will be excluded from the clinical trial.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
The goal of this study is to address the mental health crisis among college students by creating a promising solution for group teletherapy, which is equivalent to individual teletherapy in terms of treatment outcomes.The main question it aims to answer is: if participants' outcome measures in TheraGroup are in line with participants' outcome measures in individual therapy. The goal of the current SBIR is to test TheraGroup, the first large scale virtual group platform for evidenced-based mental health therapy. The TheraGroup application addresses the market surge in the demand for care and the shortage of mental health professionals as it represents an economically viable treatment alternative to individual teletherapy.
Read the detailed description
Mental illness among college students has become a public health crisis. Even before the pandemic, many college campuses lacked the resources to support students' mental health needs. College campus counseling centers have begun to think creatively about how to meet the growing demand for services as the number of available therapists is insufficient to treat the number of students seeking help. TheraGroup is the solution to leverage innovative group technology to provide Guided Group Therapy (GGT) in which students receive evidenced-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) coping skills training to address the high demand for mental health services and bridge the gap in services on college campuses. TheraGroup is the first large scale virtual group real-time platform for evidenced-based mental health therapy. TheraGroup is a HIPAA-compliant, platform-agnostic tool that provides the channel through which GGT will be facilitated to service college students to improve student mental health outcomes. In Aim 1, researchers will develop the TheraGroup platform. Researchers will achieve this by optimizing the existing platform, which is therapy enabled for one-to-one therapy, to enable one-to-many communication in a large group context. In addition, researchers will develop other proprietary features that create an anonymous and interactive group discussion experience. The proof of concept will be demonstrated with high usage across multiple devices. In Aim 2, researchers will implement a feasibility study to assess the impact of GGT via TheraGroup on measures of engagement, user experience, and mental health outcomes in college students. If participants' outcome measures in the GGT group are in line with participants' outcome measures in the IT group, the feasibility study will serve as a precursor to testing the effects of GGT via TheraGroup using a larger scale randomized control trial. Achieving these aims could suggest TheraGroup is a new actionable tool to supplement existing mental health interventions to address the ever-growing need for mental health services college students.
- Conditions
- Anxiety Depression
- Being tested
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Coping Skills Training
- Keywords
- mental health, college students, asynchronous group therapy
- Medical subject headings
- Psychological Well-Being
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Coping Skills TrainingBehavioural
12 Week CBT Coping Skills Training Modules
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Guided Group Therapy (GGT) via TheraGroup | Experimental | Participants in the GGT group will receive the same psychoeducational information and reading resources about the CBT coping skills and encouragement of reflection on homework assignments in a group online chat environment. Participants in GGT will also receive support in the form of direct asynchronous communication with the therapist and asynchronous communication with peers struggling with similar issues. Receives: Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Coping Skills Training |
| Individual Teletherapy (IT) | Active comparator | Participants in the IT group will receive 1 one 1 teletherapy using the 12-week structured modules. The therapist will be providing psychoeducational information and reading resources about the CBT coping skills and encouragement of reflection on homework assignments in session (via video, audio or text therapy). Receives: Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Coping Skills Training |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Engagement (8-item Scale)
Participant engagement was assessed using a self-report engagement measure administered at post-intervention. Items were rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating greater engagement. Mean engagement scores are reported as scores on a scale.
Engagement scores represent the mean of all item responses, yielding a possible score range from 1 to 5.
Measured: Week 4
Engagement (8-item Scale)
Participant engagement was assessed using a self-report engagement measure administered at post-intervention. Items were rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating greater engagement. Mean engagement scores are reported as scores on a scale.
Engagement scores represent the mean of all item responses, yielding a possible score range from 1 to 5.
Measured: Week 8
Engagement (8-item Scale)
Participant engagement was assessed using a self-report engagement measure administered at post-intervention. Items were rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating greater engagement. Mean engagement scores are reported as scores on a scale.
Engagement scores represent the mean of all item responses, yielding a possible score range from 1 to 5.
Measured: Week 12
Anxiety Symptoms (GAD-7)
Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7). Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety symptom severity.
Measured: Week 12
Anxiety Symptoms (GAD-7)
Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7). Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety symptom severity.
Measured: Week 8
Anxiety Symptoms (GAD-7)
Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7). Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety symptom severity.
Measured: Week 4
Anxiety Symptoms (GAD-7)
Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7). Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety symptom severity.
Measured: Baseline
Depressive Symptoms (PHQ-9)
Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a 9-item self-report measure. Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating greater depressive symptom severity.
Measured: Baseline
Depressive Symptoms (PHQ-9)
Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a 9-item self-report measure. Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating greater depressive symptom severity.
Measured: Week 4
Depressive Symptoms (PHQ-9)
Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a 9-item self-report measure. Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating greater depressive symptom severity.
Measured: Week 8
Depressive Symptoms (PHQ-9)
Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a 9-item self-report measure. Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating greater depressive symptom severity.
Measured: Week 12
Secondary outcomes (4)
Completion Rate
Out of the 20 participants in each clinical trial arm, this outcome reflects the number of participants who completed the engagement component by Week 12 of the intervention.
Measured: 12 weeks
User Feedback Sentiment
Sentiment was quantified using a continuous sentiment score ranging from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating more positive sentiment. Sentiment scores were derived from open-ended responses collected at Week 4. Due to non-normal distributions, sentiment scores are summarized using medians and interquartile ranges and are reported as scores on a scale.
Measured: Week 4
User Feedback Sentiment
Sentiment was quantified using a continuous sentiment score ranging from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating more positive sentiment. Sentiment scores were derived from open-ended responses collected at Week 8. Due to non-normal distributions, sentiment scores are summarized using medians and interquartile ranges and are reported as scores on a scale.
Measured: Week 8
User Feedback Sentiment
Sentiment was quantified using a continuous sentiment score ranging from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating more positive sentiment. Sentiment scores were derived from open-ended responses collected at Week 12. Due to non-normal distributions, sentiment scores are summarized using medians and interquartile ranges and are reported as scores on a scale.
Measured: Week 12
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted19 Nov 2025
- Study start22 Sep 2024
- Primary completion31 Aug 2025
- Study completion31 Aug 2025
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, outcome measures and adverse events reported by the sponsor.
- Other trials for Anxiety DepressionStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- 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
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Participant
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Dr. Veronica Tetterton
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
- Responsible party
- Sponsor-investigator, Dr. Veronica Tetterton, The Sweet I AM
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07237217
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2024-44
- Other IDs
- 1R43MD020009-01
- Status last verified
- Dec 2025
- First submitted
- 13 Nov 2025
- Last updated
- 21 Sep 2026
- Results posted
- Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Undecided: For confidentiality purposes.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 21 Sep 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Guided Group Telehealth to Deliver Evidence-based Therapeutic Care to Black College Students
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07237217
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 2024-44
- Conditions
- Anxiety Depression
- Keywords
- mental health, college students, asynchronous group therapy
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Dr. Veronica TettertonUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
- Study start
- 22 Sep 2024 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 31 Aug 2025 (actual)
- Study completion
- 31 Aug 2025 (actual)
- First posted
- 19 Nov 2025 (actual)
- Results
- Posted 23 Feb 2026
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The goal of this study is to address the mental health crisis among college students by creating a promising solution for group teletherapy, which is equivalent to individual teletherapy in terms of treatment outcomes.The main question it aims to answer is: if participants' outcome measures in TheraGroup are in line with participants' outcome measures in individual therapy. The goal of the current SBIR is to test TheraGroup, the first large scale virtual group platform for evidenced-based mental health therapy. The TheraGroup application addresses the market surge in the demand for care and the shortage of mental health professionals as it represents an economically viable treatment alternative to individual teletherapy.
Detailed description
Mental illness among college students has become a public health crisis. Even before the pandemic, many college campuses lacked the resources to support students' mental health needs. College campus counseling centers have begun to think creatively about how to meet the growing demand for services as the number of available therapists is insufficient to treat the number of students seeking help. TheraGroup is the solution to leverage innovative group technology to provide Guided Group Therapy (GGT) in which students receive evidenced-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) coping skills training to address the high demand for mental health services and bridge the gap in services on college campuses. TheraGroup is the first large scale virtual group real-time platform for evidenced-based mental health therapy. TheraGroup is a HIPAA-compliant, platform-agnostic tool that provides the channel through which GGT will be facilitated to service college students to improve student mental health outcomes. In Aim 1, researchers will develop the TheraGroup platform. Researchers will achieve this by optimizing the existing platform, which is therapy enabled for one-to-one therapy, to enable one-to-many communication in a large group context. In addition, researchers will develop other proprietary features that create an anonymous and interactive group discussion experience. The proof of concept will be demonstrated with high usage across multiple devices. In Aim 2, researchers will implement a feasibility study to assess the impact of GGT via TheraGroup on measures of engagement, user experience, and mental health outcomes in college students. If participants' outcome measures in the GGT group are in line with participants' outcome measures in the IT group, the feasibility study will serve as a precursor to testing the effects of GGT via TheraGroup using a larger scale randomized control trial. Achieving these aims could suggest TheraGroup is a new actionable tool to supplement existing mental health interventions to address the ever-growing need for mental health services college students.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (participant)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Guided Group Therapy (GGT) via TheraGroup | Experimental | Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Coping Skills TrainingParticipants in the GGT group will receive the same psychoeducational information and reading resources about the CBT coping skills and encouragement of reflection on homework assignments in a group online chat environment. Participants in GGT will also receive support in the form of direct asynchronous communication with the therapist and asynchronous communication with peers struggling with similar issues. |
| Individual Teletherapy (IT) | Active comparator | Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Coping Skills TrainingParticipants in the IT group will receive 1 one 1 teletherapy using the 12-week structured modules. The therapist will be providing psychoeducational information and reading resources about the CBT coping skills and encouragement of reflection on homework assignments in session (via video, audio or text therapy). |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Individuals at PVAMU 18 years and older
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Individuals younger than 18 years of age will be excluded from the clinical trial.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Coping Skills Training12 Week CBT Coping Skills Training Modules | Behavioural | Guided Group Therapy (GGT) via TheraGroup, Individual Teletherapy (IT) |
Primary outcome
Engagement (8-item Scale)
Time frame: Week 4
Participant engagement was assessed using a self-report engagement measure administered at post-intervention. Items were rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating greater engagement. Mean engagement scores are reported as scores on a scale. Engagement scores represent the mean of all item responses, yielding a possible score range from 1 to 5.
Engagement (8-item Scale)
Time frame: Week 8
Participant engagement was assessed using a self-report engagement measure administered at post-intervention. Items were rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating greater engagement. Mean engagement scores are reported as scores on a scale. Engagement scores represent the mean of all item responses, yielding a possible score range from 1 to 5.
Engagement (8-item Scale)
Time frame: Week 12
Participant engagement was assessed using a self-report engagement measure administered at post-intervention. Items were rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating greater engagement. Mean engagement scores are reported as scores on a scale. Engagement scores represent the mean of all item responses, yielding a possible score range from 1 to 5.
Anxiety Symptoms (GAD-7)
Time frame: Week 12
Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7). Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety symptom severity.
Anxiety Symptoms (GAD-7)
Time frame: Week 8
Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7). Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety symptom severity.
Anxiety Symptoms (GAD-7)
Time frame: Week 4
Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7). Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety symptom severity.
Anxiety Symptoms (GAD-7)
Time frame: Baseline
Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7). Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety symptom severity.
Depressive Symptoms (PHQ-9)
Time frame: Baseline
Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a 9-item self-report measure. Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating greater depressive symptom severity.
Depressive Symptoms (PHQ-9)
Time frame: Week 4
Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a 9-item self-report measure. Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating greater depressive symptom severity.
Depressive Symptoms (PHQ-9)
Time frame: Week 8
Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a 9-item self-report measure. Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating greater depressive symptom severity.
Depressive Symptoms (PHQ-9)
Time frame: Week 12
Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a 9-item self-report measure. Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). Item responses are summed to compute a total score. Total scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating greater depressive symptom severity.
4 secondary outcomes
Completion Rate
Time frame: 12 weeks
User Feedback Sentiment
Time frame: Week 4
User Feedback Sentiment
Time frame: Week 8
User Feedback Sentiment
Time frame: Week 12
Results and safety
Loading the posted results from ClinicalTrials.gov…
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 21 Sep 2026.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, baseline, all outcome measures and adverse events.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Undecided. For confidentiality purposes.
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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 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Coping Skills Training in people with Anxiety Depression, run by Dr. Veronica Tetterton at 1 site in United States.
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 21 Sep 2026. 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 States. 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?
Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 23 Feb 2026). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.
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?
Engagement (8-item Scale) (time frame: Week 4). The study lists 11 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
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 21 Sep 2026.