Cognitive De-Biasing and the Assessment of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder
| Status: | Completed |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Psychiatric, Bipolar Disorder |
| Therapuetic Areas: | Psychiatry / Psychology |
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | Any |
| Updated: | 10/3/2013 |
| Start Date: | September 2012 |
| End Date: | August 2013 |
| Contact: | Melissa M Jenkins, M.A. |
| Email: | mmj@unc.edu |
Decision Making and Mental Health: Cognitive De-Biasing and the Assessment of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder
The primary aim is to test the efficacy of a new intervention to improve clinical judgment.
The investigators focus on the assessment of pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD), a
controversial diagnosis with frequent diagnostic errors, by educating mental health
professionals in common cognitive pitfalls and training them in recommended de-biasing
strategies. The investigators hypothesize that the Treatment group will show higher
diagnostic accuracy than the Control condition: Participants receiving the cognitive
de-biasing intervention will be less likely to commit faulty heuristics and race/ethnicity
bias. Secondary aims include soliciting feedback about whether the skills were useful when
diagnosing the vignettes, and whether skills and cases seem clinically realistic.
A randomized controlled trial (RCT) of 100 participants will test the efficacy of a new
intervention to improve clinical judgment.
Eligible participants will be licensed or currently supervised by a licensed mental health
professional and have experience working with pediatric populations.
Participants will be randomly assigned to either Treatment or Control conditions. All
participants receive a 5 minute pre-recorded presentation about mood disorders, then read
several case vignettes and respond to questions regarding judgments about probable diagnoses
and next clinical actions.
Study administration is Web-based via a secure portal. After answering questions to confirm
eligibility and provide informed consent, participants will complete a background
questionnaire. The Web software, Qualtrics, will randomize participants to watch a brief
presentation on mood disorders (i.e., Control condition) versus the same presentation on
mood disorders combined with the intervention (i.e., Treatment condition). The intervention
is a 20-minute training on decision-making errors and cognitive de-biasing strategies.
Next, all participants review four clinical vignettes. Using only four vignettes reduces
participant burden and maximizes response rate. Qualtrics presents the case vignettes in
random orders.
After completing the last vignette and corresponding questions, participants in the
treatment condition rate their experience of the intervention. These questions address the
secondary study aims: (a) how participants will use these new techniques in their clinical
practice; and, (b) how the investigators can tailor the intervention to make it even more
user-friendly and appealing to clinical audiences.
Inclusion Criteria:
- Participants need to be: (a) licensed or currently supervised by a licensed mental
health professional; and, (b) have experience treating child and adolescent patient
populations for mental health issues.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Not meeting criterion (a) or (b) above.
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