Home›Pediatrics› Ongoing RCT protocol tests 6-week dCBT program MOCA in Chinese adolescents
Ongoing RCT protocol tests 6-week dCBT program MOCA in Chinese adolescentsNew trial plans to treat depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents
BMC psychiatryPublished September 30, 2026Study authors: Lei Tingting, Wang Ning, Wang Rui, He Yuqian, Liu Xueer, Zhou XinyuPubMed ↗NCT07163013 ↗DOI ↗Editorial oversight: Dr. Sofia Müller, MD · Lifespan & Whole-Person Care
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Key Takeaway
Recognize this as an ongoing trial protocol; no efficacy or safety conclusions can be drawn yet.
This publication is a protocol for a randomized controlled trial, not a report of completed results. The trial will compare a 6-week digital cognitive behavioral therapy program, MOCA, against a regular school mental health curriculum in Chinese adolescents aged 12 to 18 years with depressive symptoms. The planned sample size is 200 participants, and the study is described as single-center.
The primary outcome is change in depressive symptom severity from T1 to T2. Secondary outcomes include feasibility, changes from baseline in self-reported depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, psychological resilience, quality of life enjoyment, and satisfaction. Follow-up is planned at 3 months, at week 18 (T3).
No main results are reported. Adverse events, serious adverse events, discontinuations, and tolerability are all not reported. Funding and conflicts of interest are not reported, and practice relevance is not reported.
The stated limitation is that the study is currently ongoing. Because this is a protocol without outcome data, no conclusions can be drawn about the efficacy, safety, or clinical role of the MOCA program in this population.
How this fits prior evidence
This protocol addresses a gap in prior coverage by outlining a randomized test of a digital cognitive behavioral intervention for adolescent depressive symptoms, a population and delivery format not represented in the prior items. Prior coverage has focused on self-compassion and rumination in depressive disorders, barriers to mental health care for Black populations, esketamine and ketamine for depressive disorders, depression with diabetes, and tDCS plus cognitive-behavioral interventions showing no significant benefit over sham. The current protocol does not confirm, extend, or contrast those findings because no results are available.
Depression can be a heavy burden for teenagers, often making it hard to focus on school or enjoy daily life. A new study is looking for better ways to support young people facing these challenges. The trial focuses on Chinese adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 who are experiencing symptoms of depression.
Researchers are testing a specific 6-week program called dCBT MOCA. They will compare this program against the standard mental health curriculum currently taught in schools. The goal is to see if this specific approach helps reduce the severity of depressive symptoms and improves overall quality of life.
Because this is a protocol, it means the study is currently ongoing. No results have been collected or shared yet. The team will also track things like anxiety, resilience, and how much the students enjoy their lives. Since the study is still in progress, we do not yet know if the new program is more effective than the current school curriculum.
What this means for you:
A new trial is testing a 6-week program to see if it helps Chinese teens with depressive symptoms.
Common questions
Who is this program for?
This program is designed specifically for Chinese adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 who are experiencing symptoms of depression. The study aims to see if the 6-week dCBT MOCA program helps these young people more than the standard school mental health curriculum.
What are the results of the new program?
Because this is a protocol for a study that is currently ongoing, no results have been reported yet. The researchers will eventually look at changes in depressive symptoms, anxiety, and quality of life to see how well the program works.
BACKGROUND: Previous studies have confirmed that digital cognitive behavioral therapy (dCBT) is an effective intervention for alleviating depressive symptoms. However, there are no specific dCBT programs available for Chinese adolescents. Therefore, we developed a smartphone-based cognitive behavioral therapy program. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of dCBT for Chinese adolescents with depressive symptoms.
METHODS: The Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chinese Adolescents with Depressive Symptoms (CADS-D) study is a single-center, two-arm, open-label randomized controlled trial. A total of 200 adolescents aged 12-18 years with depressive symptoms will be recruited. Key exclusion criteria include severe depressive symptoms or suicide risk, comorbid psychiatric disorders other than depressive disorders, severe physical illness or disability preventing dCBT use, current or recent treatment for depression, and inability to complete follow-up. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group, receiving the 6-week dCBT program MOCA, or the control group, receiving the regular school mental health curriculum. Assessments will be conducted at baseline (T1), post-intervention at week 6 (T2), and at a 3-month follow-up at week 18 (T3). The primary outcome is the change in depressive symptom severity from T1 to T2. Secondary outcomes, assessed at both T2 and T3, include feasibility and changes from baseline in self-reported depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, psychological resilience, and quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction. The first participant was enrolled in May 2025, and the study is currently ongoing.
DISCUSSION: Findings from the CADS-D trial will provide empirical evidence regarding the efficacy and feasibility of dCBT among Chinese adolescents. If dCBT proves effective in alleviating depressive symptoms in adolescents, it will enhance therapeutic access for a wider adolescent population in China.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07163013; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07163013 ) on 9 September 2025.
