Brief Educational Workshops in Secondary Schools Trial (BESST trial), a school-based cluster randomised controlled trial of the DISCOVER workshop for 16–18-year-olds: Recruitment and baseline characteristics.

Kirsty  James; Stephen  Lisk; Chloe  Payne-Cook; Zamena Farishta; Maria  Farrelly; Ayesha  Sheikh; Monika  Slusarczyk; Sarah  Byford; Crispin  Day; Jessica  Deighton; Claire  Evans; Peter  Fonagy; David Saunders; Irene  Sclare; James  Shearer; Paul Stallard; Timothy  Weaver; Jynna Yarrum; Ben  Carter; June Brown

doi:10.1186/s13063-024-08116-7

Brief Educational Workshops in Secondary Schools Trial (BESST trial), a school-based cluster randomised controlled trial of the DISCOVER workshop for 16–18-year-olds: Recruitment and baseline characteristics.

Kirsty James, Stephen Lisk, Chloe Payne-Cook, Zamena Farishta, Maria Farrelly, Ayesha Sheikh, Monika Slusarczyk, Sarah Byford , Crispin Day, Jessica Deighton, Claire Evans, Peter Fonagy, David Saunders, Irene Sclare, James Shearer, Paul Stallard, Timothy Weaver, Jynna Yarrum, Ben Carter^*, June Brown

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology & Sociology

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The Brief Educational Workshops in Secondary Schools Trial (BESST) is an England-wide school-based cluster randomised controlled trial assessing the clinical and cost-effectiveness of an open-access psychological workshop programme (DISCOVER) for 16-18-year-olds. This baseline paper describes the self-referral and other recruitment processes used in this study and the baseline characteristics of the enrolled schools and participants.

METHOD: We enrolled 900 participants from 57 Secondary schools across England from 4th October 2021 to 10th November 2022. Schools were randomised to receive either the DISCOVER day-long Stress workshop or treatment as usual which included signposting information. Participants will be followed up for 6 months with outcome data collection at baseline, 3-month, and 6-month post randomisation.

RESULTS: Schools were recruited from a geographically and ethnically diverse sample across England. To reduce stigma, students were invited to self-refer into the study if they wanted help for stress. Their mean age was 17.2 (SD = 0.6), 641 (71%) were female and 411 (45.6%) were from ethnic minority groups. The general wellbeing of our sample measured using the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) found 314 (35%) of students exhibited symptoms of depression at baseline. Eighty percent of students reported low wellbeing on the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) suggesting that although the overall sample mean is below the cut-off for depression, the self-referral approach used in this study supports distressed students in coming forward.

CONCLUSION: The BESST study will continue to follow up participants to collect outcome data and results will be analysed once all the data have been collected.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry ISRCTN90912799. Registered on 28 May 2020.

Original language	English
Article number	302
Number of pages	9
Journal	Trials
Volume	25
Issue number	1
Early online date	4 May 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-024-08116-7 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-024-08116-7
Publication status	Published - 4 May 2024

Data Access Statement

The chief investigator will act as custodian of the data in accordance with legislation and the terms of the research sponsor (King's College London) and funder (National Institute for Health Research, UK).

Keywords

Wellbeing
demographics
characteristics
depression
baseline
DISCOVER
BESST
Humans
England
Male
Mental Health
Patient Selection
Time Factors
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Adolescent
Stress, Psychological
Female
Students/psychology
Adolescent Behavior
School Health Services
Schools

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James, K., Lisk, S., Payne-Cook, C., Farishta, Z., Farrelly, M., Sheikh, A., Slusarczyk, M., Byford , S., Day, C., Deighton, J., Evans, C., Fonagy, P., Saunders, D., Sclare, I., Shearer, J., Stallard, P., Weaver, T., Yarrum, J., Carter, B., & Brown, J. (2024). Brief Educational Workshops in Secondary Schools Trial (BESST trial), a school-based cluster randomised controlled trial of the DISCOVER workshop for 16–18-year-olds: Recruitment and baseline characteristics. Trials, 25(1), Article 302. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-024-08116-7, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-024-08116-7

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title = "Brief Educational Workshops in Secondary Schools Trial (BESST trial), a school-based cluster randomised controlled trial of the DISCOVER workshop for 16–18-year-olds: Recruitment and baseline characteristics.",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: The Brief Educational Workshops in Secondary Schools Trial (BESST) is an England-wide school-based cluster randomised controlled trial assessing the clinical and cost-effectiveness of an open-access psychological workshop programme (DISCOVER) for 16-18-year-olds. This baseline paper describes the self-referral and other recruitment processes used in this study and the baseline characteristics of the enrolled schools and participants.METHOD: We enrolled 900 participants from 57 Secondary schools across England from 4th October 2021 to 10th November 2022. Schools were randomised to receive either the DISCOVER day-long Stress workshop or treatment as usual which included signposting information. Participants will be followed up for 6 months with outcome data collection at baseline, 3-month, and 6-month post randomisation.RESULTS: Schools were recruited from a geographically and ethnically diverse sample across England. To reduce stigma, students were invited to self-refer into the study if they wanted help for stress. Their mean age was 17.2 (SD = 0.6), 641 (71%) were female and 411 (45.6%) were from ethnic minority groups. The general wellbeing of our sample measured using the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) found 314 (35%) of students exhibited symptoms of depression at baseline. Eighty percent of students reported low wellbeing on the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) suggesting that although the overall sample mean is below the cut-off for depression, the self-referral approach used in this study supports distressed students in coming forward.CONCLUSION: The BESST study will continue to follow up participants to collect outcome data and results will be analysed once all the data have been collected.TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry ISRCTN90912799. Registered on 28 May 2020.",

keywords = "Wellbeing, demographics, characteristics, depression, baseline, DISCOVER, BESST, Humans, England, Male, Mental Health, Patient Selection, Time Factors, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Adolescent, Stress, Psychological, Female, Students/psychology, Adolescent Behavior, School Health Services, Schools",

author = "Kirsty James and Stephen Lisk and Chloe Payne-Cook and Zamena Farishta and Maria Farrelly and Ayesha Sheikh and Monika Slusarczyk and Sarah Byford and Crispin Day and Jessica Deighton and Claire Evans and Peter Fonagy and David Saunders and Irene Sclare and James Shearer and Paul Stallard and Timothy Weaver and Jynna Yarrum and Ben Carter and June Brown",

year = "2024",

month = may,

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doi = "10.1186/s13063-024-08116-7",

language = "English",

volume = "25",

journal = "Trials",

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publisher = "BioMed Central Ltd.",

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James, K, Lisk, S, Payne-Cook, C, Farishta, Z, Farrelly, M, Sheikh, A, Slusarczyk, M, Byford , S, Day, C, Deighton, J, Evans, C, Fonagy, P, Saunders, D, Sclare, I, Shearer, J, Stallard, P, Weaver, T, Yarrum, J, Carter, B & Brown, J 2024, 'Brief Educational Workshops in Secondary Schools Trial (BESST trial), a school-based cluster randomised controlled trial of the DISCOVER workshop for 16–18-year-olds: Recruitment and baseline characteristics.', Trials, vol. 25, no. 1, 302. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-024-08116-7, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-024-08116-7

Brief Educational Workshops in Secondary Schools Trial (BESST trial), a school-based cluster randomised controlled trial of the DISCOVER workshop for 16–18-year-olds: Recruitment and baseline characteristics. / James, Kirsty ; Lisk, Stephen ; Payne-Cook, Chloe et al.
In: Trials, Vol. 25, No. 1, 302, 04.05.2024.

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Brief Educational Workshops in Secondary Schools Trial (BESST trial), a school-based cluster randomised controlled trial of the DISCOVER workshop for 16–18-year-olds: Recruitment and baseline characteristics.

AU - James, Kirsty

AU - Lisk, Stephen

AU - Payne-Cook, Chloe

AU - Farishta, Zamena

AU - Farrelly, Maria

AU - Sheikh, Ayesha

AU - Slusarczyk, Monika

AU - Byford , Sarah

AU - Day, Crispin

AU - Deighton, Jessica

AU - Evans, Claire

AU - Fonagy, Peter

AU - Saunders, David

AU - Sclare, Irene

AU - Shearer, James

AU - Stallard, Paul

AU - Weaver, Timothy

AU - Yarrum, Jynna

AU - Carter, Ben

AU - Brown, June

PY - 2024/5/4

Y1 - 2024/5/4

N2 - BACKGROUND: The Brief Educational Workshops in Secondary Schools Trial (BESST) is an England-wide school-based cluster randomised controlled trial assessing the clinical and cost-effectiveness of an open-access psychological workshop programme (DISCOVER) for 16-18-year-olds. This baseline paper describes the self-referral and other recruitment processes used in this study and the baseline characteristics of the enrolled schools and participants.METHOD: We enrolled 900 participants from 57 Secondary schools across England from 4th October 2021 to 10th November 2022. Schools were randomised to receive either the DISCOVER day-long Stress workshop or treatment as usual which included signposting information. Participants will be followed up for 6 months with outcome data collection at baseline, 3-month, and 6-month post randomisation.RESULTS: Schools were recruited from a geographically and ethnically diverse sample across England. To reduce stigma, students were invited to self-refer into the study if they wanted help for stress. Their mean age was 17.2 (SD = 0.6), 641 (71%) were female and 411 (45.6%) were from ethnic minority groups. The general wellbeing of our sample measured using the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) found 314 (35%) of students exhibited symptoms of depression at baseline. Eighty percent of students reported low wellbeing on the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) suggesting that although the overall sample mean is below the cut-off for depression, the self-referral approach used in this study supports distressed students in coming forward.CONCLUSION: The BESST study will continue to follow up participants to collect outcome data and results will be analysed once all the data have been collected.TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry ISRCTN90912799. Registered on 28 May 2020.

AB - BACKGROUND: The Brief Educational Workshops in Secondary Schools Trial (BESST) is an England-wide school-based cluster randomised controlled trial assessing the clinical and cost-effectiveness of an open-access psychological workshop programme (DISCOVER) for 16-18-year-olds. This baseline paper describes the self-referral and other recruitment processes used in this study and the baseline characteristics of the enrolled schools and participants.METHOD: We enrolled 900 participants from 57 Secondary schools across England from 4th October 2021 to 10th November 2022. Schools were randomised to receive either the DISCOVER day-long Stress workshop or treatment as usual which included signposting information. Participants will be followed up for 6 months with outcome data collection at baseline, 3-month, and 6-month post randomisation.RESULTS: Schools were recruited from a geographically and ethnically diverse sample across England. To reduce stigma, students were invited to self-refer into the study if they wanted help for stress. Their mean age was 17.2 (SD = 0.6), 641 (71%) were female and 411 (45.6%) were from ethnic minority groups. The general wellbeing of our sample measured using the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) found 314 (35%) of students exhibited symptoms of depression at baseline. Eighty percent of students reported low wellbeing on the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) suggesting that although the overall sample mean is below the cut-off for depression, the self-referral approach used in this study supports distressed students in coming forward.CONCLUSION: The BESST study will continue to follow up participants to collect outcome data and results will be analysed once all the data have been collected.TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry ISRCTN90912799. Registered on 28 May 2020.

KW - Wellbeing

KW - demographics

KW - characteristics

KW - depression

KW - baseline

KW - DISCOVER

KW - BESST

KW - Humans

KW - England

KW - Male

KW - Mental Health

KW - Patient Selection

KW - Time Factors

KW - Cost-Benefit Analysis

KW - Adolescent

KW - Stress, Psychological

KW - Female

KW - Students/psychology

KW - Adolescent Behavior

KW - School Health Services

KW - Schools

U2 - 10.1186/s13063-024-08116-7

DO - 10.1186/s13063-024-08116-7

M3 - Article

C2 - 38702825

SN - 1745-6215

VL - 25

JO - Trials

JF - Trials

IS - 1

M1 - 302

ER -

James K, Lisk S, Payne-Cook C, Farishta Z, Farrelly M, Sheikh A et al. Brief Educational Workshops in Secondary Schools Trial (BESST trial), a school-based cluster randomised controlled trial of the DISCOVER workshop for 16–18-year-olds: Recruitment and baseline characteristics. Trials. 2024 May 4;25(1):302. Epub 2024 May 4. doi: 10.1186/s13063-024-08116-7, 10.1186/s13063-024-08116-7