iMinds
A multicentred feasibility trial of a novel app-based approach to supporting young people who have experienced online sexual abuse.
i-Minds is a multicentred, feasibility trial investigating the acceptability of a novel app-based approach to supporting young people who have experienced online sexual abuse. The trial is being conducted across NHS Lothian, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Pennine Care Trust, and Kooth, a digital mental health support network.
Online sexual abuse can have serious effects on the mental health and development of young people. There is currently no evidence-based support offered to help the increasing number of young people who have experienced online sexual abuse.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recognised as a research priority the identification of effective interventions for the wellbeing and prevention of further harm for young people who have experienced online sexual abuse.
In partnership with young people and a range of stakeholders, i-Minds is addressing this urgent need through developing an app aimed at improving mentalisation.
Mentalisation is the ability to reflect on and understand our own and others’ thoughts, intentions, and feelings. Our assumptions about the intentions and reasons behind other people’s behaviour are usually based off both verbal and non-verbal cues in real world interactions. When we engage with others online, signals of empathy and other non-verbal cues can become more challenging to interpret. This is when mentalising, something that is often already compromised in vulnerable young people, can be even further impacted.
Difficulties in mentalising can impede risk assessment and assumed trust in online communications, which is why mentalisation forms the theoretical underpinning of the iMinds app.
The i-Minds app focuses on three main areas:
- Relationships in the online space
- Emotional and mental health
- Impact of trauma
The i-Minds app is self-led, meaning that the participant guides themselves through the content at their own pace without the support of a clinician.
This feasibility clinical trial will offer information on whether or not young people use the app and if it is safe to do so. Additional assessments taken at the beginning and end of the trial will help indicate whether the app was helpful or not.
Funded by NIHR – National Institute for Health Research
Find out more
Professor Matthias Schwannauer (PI)
Jennifer Ward – Research Assistant
Erica Niebauer – Research Assistant