Rice Simon, O'Bree Bridget, Wilson Michael, McEnery Carla, Lim Michelle H, Hamilton Matthew, Gleeson John, Bendall Sarah, D'Alfonso Simon, Russon Penni, Valentine Lee, Cagliarini Daniela, Howell Simmone, Miles Christopher, Pearson Marc, Nicholls Laura, Garland Nicola, Mullen Edward, McGorry Patrick D, Alvarez-Jimenez Mario
Orygen, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Internet Interv. 2020 May 8;20:100323. doi: 10.1016/j.invent.2020.100323. eCollection 2020 Apr.
The primary objective was to determine the acceptability, feasibility and safety of a novel digital intervention (Entourage) for young people with prominent social anxiety symptoms, with a particular focus on the engagement of young men. The secondary aim was to explore whether the intervention was associated with clinically significant improvements to clinical and social variables known to co-occur with social anxiety.
A multidisciplinary team comprising of mental health clinicians, researchers, young adult fiction writers, a comic artist and young people with a lived experience of social anxiety developed the Entourage platform in collaboration. Entourage combines evidence-based therapeutic techniques for social anxiety with an engaging, social-media-based interface that allows users to build social connections, while also receiving expert clinical moderation and support from peer workers. Acceptability, feasibility and safety outcomes of Entourage were tested in a 12-week pilot study with 89 young people (48.3% male; age = 19.8 years, = 3.3 years). Eligible participants were recruited via liaison with four headspace early-intervention centres in north-western Melbourne.
56.8% of the sample reported social anxiety symptoms in the severe or very severe range at baseline. Results demonstrated the Entourage intervention was feasible, safe, and potentially acceptable, with 98.6% of participants reporting they would recommend Entourage to another young person experiencing social anxiety. Usage results were also comparable across male and non-male participants. Results showed that young people reliably and significantly improved on clinical and social variables. In particular, young males showed a clinically significant improvement on social anxiety symptoms ( = 0.79, < .001), depression ( = 0.71, < .001), belongingness ( = 0.58, = .001), increased feelings of social connectedness ( = 0.46, = .004) and decreased loneliness ( = .46, = .006). Non-male participants also experienced a significant increase in social connectedness ( = 0.76, < .001), alongside reduced social anxiety ( = 0.78, < .001) and experiential avoidance ( = 0.81, < .001).
Entourage is a highly engaging and potentially effective intervention that represents a novel combination of features designed both to reduce social anxiety symptoms and improve social connection among young people. Entourage demonstrated some acceptability, feasibility and safety, with encouraging benefits to clinical and social variables. Entourage also showed favorable results for the engagement and support of young men with social anxiety symptoms.
主要目的是确定一种针对有明显社交焦虑症状的年轻人的新型数字干预措施（Entourage）的可接受性、可行性和安全性，特别关注年轻男性的参与情况。次要目的是探讨该干预措施是否与已知与社交焦虑同时出现的临床和社会变量的临床显著改善相关。
一个由心理健康临床医生、研究人员、青年成人小说作家、漫画艺术家以及有社交焦虑生活经历的年轻人组成的多学科团队合作开发了Entourage平台。Entourage将基于证据的社交焦虑治疗技术与一个引人入胜的、基于社交媒体的界面相结合，该界面允许用户建立社交联系，同时还能获得专家临床审核和同伴工作者的支持。在一项为期12周的试点研究中，对89名年轻人（48.3%为男性；年龄=19.8岁，标准差=3.3岁）测试了Entourage的可接受性、可行性和安全性结果。通过与墨尔本西北部的四个headspace早期干预中心联系招募符合条件的参与者。
56.8%的样本在基线时报告有严重或非常严重程度的社交焦虑症状。结果表明Entourage干预是可行、安全且可能可接受的，98.6%的参与者报告他们会向另一位有社交焦虑的年轻人推荐Entourage。男性和非男性参与者的使用结果也相当。结果显示年轻人在临床和社会变量方面有可靠且显著的改善。特别是，年轻男性在社交焦虑症状（效应量=0.79，p<0.001）、抑郁（效应量=0.71，p<0.001）、归属感（效应量=0.58，p=0.001）、社交联系感增加（效应量=0.46，p=0.004）和孤独感降低（效应量=0.46，p=0.006）方面有临床显著改善。非男性参与者在社交联系感（效应量=0.76，p<0.001）、社交焦虑降低（效应量=0.78，p<0.001）和经验性回避降低（效应量=0.81，p<0.001）方面也有显著增加。
Entourage是一种极具吸引力且可能有效的干预措施，它代表了一种新颖的功能组合，旨在减少社交焦虑症状并改善年轻人之间的社交联系。Entourage展示了一定的可接受性、可行性和安全性，对临床和社会变量有令人鼓舞的益处。Entourage在吸引和支持有社交焦虑症状的年轻男性方面也显示出良好的效果。
