Moving 4 Mood: a trial of a physical activity intervention as an adjunct to regular care for young people with depression

Participants who are randomised to the physical activity intervention will receive a manualised integrated physical activity intervention, based on a behavioural activation framework, in addition to routine clinical care (psychological therapy of the clinician’s choice). The treatment manual/pack includes: 1) provision of resources (e.g., water bottle) and verbal and written information about the relationship between depressive symptoms and physical activity; 2) elicitation of the young person's ideas and beliefs about this information; 3) creating a list of costs and benefits for engaging in physical activity for mental health; 4) mapping current levels of physical activity; 5) provision of Australian Department of Health physical activity guidelines for their age group to assist with creating physical activity goals for the next 6-10 weeks; 6) brainstorming a range of physical activities (current and activities to try), separated into three levels based on energy expenditure (light, moderate, vigorous); 7) completing incremental goals for physical activity and recording sheet to monitor the relationship between mood and activity levels; 8) completing a weekly planner and discuss memory aides that could be used (e.g., physical activity mobile technology applications/'apps'). The intervention will be delivered in up to 10 weekly (or fortnightly) sessions, of 50 minutes duration, on an individual basis, by an allied health professional. The total duration of the intervention will be up to 10 weeks for weekly sessions (or up to 20 weeks for fortnightly sessions). Participants will receive weekly or fortnightly sessions depending on participant choice and availability and/or clinical judgement. The fidelity of the physical activity intervention will be assessed by a brief allied health professional checklist following each session to measure the type of intervention and time spent delivering it in each session. Time spent on the intervention will contribute to the evaluation of its feasibility. The checklist will also assess the types and components of psychological therapies delivered as part of treatment as usual and an estimate of time spent on these. Fidelity will also be assessed by audio-taping of a random selection of treatment sessions (approximately 25% of each allied health professional’s total session numbers). Twenty-five percent of the recordings will be coded by an independent rater for adherence to the treatment manual and to discriminate between the intervention and control conditions. Fidelity of the intervention will also be assessed using a checklist of components of the active condition collected from participants at the endpoint assessment.