TARA for Medical Students, a Single-arm Mixed Methods Pilot Study

Plain-language summary

Medical students have higher risks for depression, anxiety, burnout and suicide than the general population and they rarely seek professional help or treatment. The group treatment program "Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action" (TARA) was originally developed to treat depressed adolescents, targeting specific neuroscientific findings. TARA has shown feasibility and preliminary efficacy in clinically depressed adolescents and corresponding brain-changes in mixed community samples. In the present study feasibility and acceptability of TARA in Swedish medical students are investigated. The design was a single-arm trial with twenty-three self-selected students in early semesters of medical school, with or without mental disorders. All received TARA. Self-reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, perceived stress and psychological inflexibility were collected before and after the intervention. Qualitative data on the participants' experiences of TARA was collected both in focus group interviews and individually during and after the intervention. The investigators hypothesized that 1. TARA would be feasible in medical students, 2. the content would be acceptable, 3. attendance and retention would be good, 4. trends towards improvement would be seen on the self-rating scales and 5. it would be possible and meaningful to explore the students experience of participating in TARA.

Who can participate

What they're measuring

Trial details