Reducing social anxiety in adolescents distressed by a visible difference: Results from a randomised control trial of a web-based intervention

A visible difference to the face or body may challenge adolescents’ adjustment and engagement in life activities, where some require psychosocial support. However, evidence is limited for whether existing interventions for this adolescent group reduce social or appearance-related distress. We therefore conducted a parallel-group, randomised control trial to evaluate the effectiveness of Young Person's Face IT, a self-guided web-based psychosocial intervention developed for adolescents with a visible difference who experience distress. Adolescents (N = 189, aged 11–18) from two countries (Norway and the Netherlands), were randomly allocated to an intervention group or care as usual (CAU). Outcomes were body esteem, social anxiety, perceived stigmatisation, and life disengagement. Compared with CAU, participants who completed Young Person's Face IT showed reductions in social anxiety symptoms (ηp2 = 0.06). No significant improvements were found for the other outcomes. This study endorses web-based psychosocial support in reducing social anxiety in adolescents distressed by a visible difference. Future studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of Young Person's Face IT and to explore potential long-term effects

Measuring quality of life of primary antibody deficiency patients using a disease-specific health-related quality of life questionnaire for common variable immunodeficiency (CVID_QoL)

Abstract Background Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) and other primary antibody deficiencies (PAD) are a heterogeneous group of > 300 congenital disorders affecting the immune system. Until recently, efforts to measure health-related quality of life (QoL) in PAD patients have utilised generic QoL tools and disease-specific tools for other conditions. Still, the full impact of the disease is probably not understood. We evaluated the performance of the CVID_QoL, a novel disease-specific QoL instrument for adults with CVID, on Norwegian PAD patients and compared the results to those of the generic WHOQOL-BREF. Methods Respondents were recruited through the Norwegian Centre for Rare Disorders’ patient database. Included patients fulfilled the following criteria (all three): 1.) Age ≥18 years, 2.) a PAD diagnosis, 3.) currently on immunoglobulin therapy. The CVID_QoL is a 32-item questionnaire. Global CVID_QoL scores were compared between Norwegian PAD patients and Italian CVID patients. Results In total, 83 PAD patients filled out the CVID_QoL, 63% had CVID, 76% were females. 32 patients filled out the WHOQOL-BREF. Feasibility was high (<1% missing). Internal consistency for the emotional- (Cronbach’s α-value = 0.91) and relational functioning (α =  0.77) subscales was high, but questionable for the gastrointestinal and skin symptoms subscale (α =  0.66). Convergent validity varied from weak to strong (range 0.3–0.8). Floor and ceiling effects were present. Conclusions Although many disease-specific characteristics are probably shared with CVID and other PAD, the CVID_QoL captures some, but not all, dimensions of PAD patients’ QoL. More evaluations of the CVID_QoL’s performance in different contexts are needed