THRIVE+ Group Intervention for Gender-Diverse Young People

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    An acceptability and feasibility study of a group psychological intervention (THRIVE+) using third wave CBT approaches for General and Gender-Related Distress (GGRD) in gender diverse young people in a CAMHS setting.

  • IRAS ID

    355713

  • Contact name

    Jake Camp

  • Contact email

    jake.camp@kcl.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    King’s College London

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    N/a, N/a

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    0 years, 10 months, 5 days

  • Research summary

    THRIVE+ is a 16-session group psychological intervention to support pariticpants who self-identify as Gender Diverse Young People (GDYP) aged 12-18 from local SLaM Tier 2/3 outpatient CAMHS as the primary study sample targeting general psychological distress alongside any co-occurring gender-related distress. GDYP will be eligible if they report general distress as measured by RCADS-25 and DERS-18 meeting the clinical cut off.

    Following patient and public involvement, some GDYPs asked for the intervention to include separate parent and/or carer sessions to offer additional support and provide information to parents/carers about supporting GDYP. GDYP participants will provide their consent for their parent/carer to attend two parallel sessions. All participants will attend sessions, complete outcome measures, and give a semi-structured interview.

    Sessions will be based at the Michael Rutter Centre for Children and Adolescents (or the Pears Maudsley if the building is completed on time), as CAMHS clinical sites for SLaM.

    This 16-week pilot study will address the gap in literature described in the implementation plan (NHS England, 2024) and evaluate
    1. Whether the group intervention and methodology is well-received (acceptability) by both samples,
    2. Whether the THRIVE+ group intervention and study methodology are feasible to deliver in an NHS CAMHS setting
    3. Evaluate early indicators of effectiveness (assessed via changes in self-report measures of distress and other co-occurring difficulties) for the group intervention to inform future studies/trials.

    The study will last approximately 7-8 months however timelines are subject to ethical approval procedures.

    This project is funded by King’s College London (The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience), Doctorate in Clinical Psychology Course.

  • REC name

    London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    25/LO/0792

  • Date of REC Opinion

    25 Feb 2026

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion