Mi Bridge - Motivational Interviewing to Facilitate Help-seeking Among Individuals with Sexual Interest in Children
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Behavioral: MiBridge.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia. Basic parameters: from 18 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Czechia, Finland, Germany, Slovakia, Spain +1
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
Unsure about the terms? Read our patient guide →
Official title
A Multicenter, Waitlist Controlled, Randomized Clinical Trial of the Effectiveness of Mi Bridge, a Motivational Interviewing Intervention to Facilitate Help-seeking Among Individuals with Sexual Interest in Children
Overview
The overall aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Mi Bridge to motivate high risk participants to admit to treatment. The main research question is: Is Mi Bridge, an anonymous online program based on the principles for Motivational Interviewing, effective in making high risk individuals for committing child sexual abuse prone to seek treatment for problems related to sexual interest involving children at a health care facility?
Detailed description
The present research project aims to contribute to the further development of accessible, evidence-based and safe care for people with sexual interest in children, and that are using child sexual abuse material (CSAM), so that these people can access treatment according to their needs and level of risk, with the objective of reducing the risk for child sexual abuse and improving the health of the group.
The intervention will be available in seven languages and will be tested in six countries.
Primary research questions:
Does Mi Bridge increase the likelihood that individuals at high risk for committing child sexual abuse accept seeking treatment for problems related to sexual interest involving minors at a health care facility?
Does Mi Bridge increase participants motivation for change regarding sexual behaviors involving minors?
Secondary research questions:
Does Mi Bridge increase the intention to seek treatment in the coming month for problems related to sexual interest involving minors at a health care facility?
Does Mi Bridge decrease participants sexual interest involving children?
Does Mi Bridge significantly decreases participants past week sexual behaviors involving children?
Does Mi Bridge significantly decreases participants symptoms of depression?
Is Mi Bridge effective in reducing certain dynamic risk factors for committing child sexual abuse?
About the intervention. Mi Bridge is a series of up to five conversations between a practitioner and a study participant over three weeks to help the participants understand more about themselves and their willingness to change, and to help the participants connect with the care they need and want. The conversations are carried out as anonymous voice calls or anonymous text-based chat. Mi Bridge is based on the established and well-researched method of Motivational Interviewing, which has been shown to be effective in helping people achieve the desired changes for several lifestyle related problems.
Research subjects will be recruited through Darknet and Clearnet. Darknet refers to websites that are accessible via Tor or similar services. The intervention is provided by practitioners and researchers in the relevant countries.
Mi Bridge will be evaluated through an international multicenter study using randomized wait-list controlled design.
The research subjects will sign a written consent form on the Iterapi platform without disclosing personal data such as name or location. During the subsequent screening interview via chat or voice call on Iterapi, participation criteria are ensured, questions are answered, and the consent to participate is confirmed. The research subjects are thus admitted to the study.
After inclusion, participants answer the baseline survey which consists of validated self-assessment questionnaires with both multiple choice and free-text answers.
Weekly during, after the waitlist, and after the therapeutic intervention, research subjects answer questions to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the interventions.
A Statistical Analysis Plan (SAP) based on pilot study is pre-registered at the OSF platform. The SAP describes sample size calculations, and planned analyses of outcome measures.
Interventions
- Behavioral Behavioral: MiBridge
A series of five conversations over three weeks to help participants understand more about themselves and their willingness to change, and to help participants connect with the care they need and want.
Primary outcome measures
- Motivation to seek treatment [Time frame: Pre-intervention, during the intervention, and immediately after the intervention.]
- Motivation to make a change [Time frame: Pre-intervention, during the intervention, and immediately after the intervention.]
Secondary outcome measures (6)
- Plan to seek treatment coming month [Time frame: Pre-intervention, during the intervention, and immediately after the intervention.]
- Sexual interest involving children [Time frame: Pre-intervention, during the intervention, and immediately after the intervention.]
- Behaviors related to sexual interest in children [Time frame: Pre-intervention, during the intervention, and immediately after the intervention.]
- Level of hypersexuality [Time frame: Pre-intervention, during the intervention, and immediately after the intervention.]
- Dynamic risk for committing child sexual abuse [Time frame: Pre-intervention, during the intervention, and immediately after the intervention.]
- Depressive symtoms [Time frame: Pre-intervention, during the intervention, and immediately after the intervention.]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Sufficient language skills: English, Swedish, Finnish, Czech, Slovak, German, or Spanish
- Concerns about sexual interest regarding children
- CSAM use past six month
- High risk for committing child sexual abuse according to the SChiMRA scale
Exclusion criteria
- Participants with a severe psychiatric illness (such as high acute suicide risk or severe substance abuse) will be excluded, or lack of serious intentions to participate.
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Crossover
- Masking
- Open label
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
Study locations
Czechia · 1 center
- National Institute of Mental Health — Klecany
Finland · 1 center
- Protect Children NGO — Helsinki
Germany · 1 center
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf — Hamburg
Slovakia · 1 center
- Bratislava Police Academy — Bratislava
Spain · 1 center
- Universitat Jaume I — Castellon
Sweden · 1 center
- Centre for psychiatry research, Region Stockholm — Stockholm
Identifiers
NCT: NCT06133595 · 2023-02321-01-B · 101084355-BRIDGE-ISF-2021