Efficacy of a Transdiagnostic Online Prevention Approach in Adolescents (EMPATIA)

The internet-program EMPATIA is hosted on a secure website https://selfhelp.psy.unibe.ch run by the Faculty of Human Sciences and is accessible from any regular internet browser. The software is not CE-marked as it has been developed for research purposes only. EMPATIA consists of 8 sessions and 1 booster session 3 weeks after the last session. It targets transdiagnostic mechanisms that have been identified in several mental disorders in adolescents: behavioral avoidance, repetitive negative thinking including intolerance of uncertainty, emotion, self-critical perfectionism and rejection sensitivity. The contents of EMPATIA are evidence-based and well-established cognitive-behavioral interventions dedicated to the respective transdiagnostic mechanism. The self-help program consists of psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, relaxation and acceptance-based interventions, exposure and behavioral experiments and behavioral activation as treatment components.