#3293. A pilot randomised controlled trial of befriending by volunteers in people with intellectual disability and depressive symptoms

October 2026publication date
Proposal available till 01-06-2025
4 total number of authors per manuscript0 $

The title of the journal is available only for the authors who have already paid for
Journal’s subject area:
Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous);
Rehabilitation;
Psychiatry and Mental Health;
Neurology (clinical);
Neurology;
Places in the authors’ list:
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More details about the manuscript: Science Citation Index Expanded OR/AND Social Sciences Citation Index
Abstract:
People with intellectual disability (ID) are more likely to experience chronic depression compared with the general population, which may be compounded by loneliness and lower levels of social support. The aim of this pilot trial was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a future larger trial of one-to-one befriending by volunteers in people with ID and depressive symptoms. The main outcomes were feasibility of recruitment, retention rate of participants, adherence, acceptability of the intervention, changes in depressive symptoms and feasibility of collecting data for a health economic analysis. Befriending was thought to be acceptable, but modifications were suggested. An exploratory analysis suggested that GDS-LD score was lower in the intervention group compared with the control group after adjusting for baseline scores, but not significant. A large trial would not be feasible based on the recruitment strategies employed in this study.
Keywords:
Befriending; Depressive symptoms; Intellectual disability; Pilot study; Randomised controlled trial; Volunteers

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