Key Points

This page gives you a ‘key points’ summary about the aims of the study and what participation in the study involves:

We are carrying out this study to try and develop more effective and accessible treatments for young people aged 16-18 who are feeling depressed.
This study will be testing an online treatment package developed and tested in Sweden, but not used in the UK until now. At the moment, this study is only for young people currently living in the UK.
The treatment is a self-guided programme called Internet-Based Psychodynamic Therapy (I-PDT), containing 8 ‘chapters’ available weekly, with texts, videos and exercises that you access through the treatment website. You also have your own therapeutic support worker who provides feedback and who you can text-chat with online for up to 30 minutes every week.
To check whether you are eligible to participate we will ask you to fill in some questionnaires, both online and by telephone. This will help us all be sure that this treatment is right for you.
You get as much out of the programme as you put into it! It is important that you understand that participating in a programme like this requires time and commitment. Even though you will receive support from your therapeutic support worker, it is your responsibility to read the chapters and complete the exercises.
As part of the study we will ask you to fill in questionnaires weekly, once the study is finished and after 3 months of completion. We will also like to conduct a telephone interview with you about your experiences with the programme once you finish, though this is optional.
Your participation is completely voluntary, and you can exit the programme and the study whenever you want.
This study is being carried out at the Anna Freud Centre with the ethical approval of UCL. All your data will be kept confidential and securely stored. Only the research team will have access to it.

Now that you've read the key points, please click here to read the full study information sheet. It's a little long, but contains important information about taking part. It also includes a 'data privacy notice', which explains how we look after your data and keep it confidential.