Background
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with significant medical challenges that often worsen in adolescence when caregivers are beginning to transfer responsibility for disease management. Behavioral activation (BA) is an important precedent to improvements in selfâmanagement and ultimately health outcomes; however, few interventions targeting BA have been developed for the SCD population. The goal of the present study was to evaluate a technologyâenhanced selfâmanagement intervention for adolescents and young adults (AYA) with SCD targeting BA domains (ie, disease knowledge, selfâefficacy, motivation, and selfâmanagement skills).
Design/methods
Participants were randomized to one of two study arms. SCThrive participants (N =Â 26) completed six weekly group sessions, an inâperson booster session, and used a companion app (iManage) to record symptoms, progress on goals, and connect with other group members. Each SCHealthEd participant (NÂ =Â 27) received six weekly phone calls on SCDârelated and general health education topics. All AYA completed questionnaires assessing BA at baseline and posttreatment.
Results
Separate mixed ANOVA analyses to assess for the effects of group (SCThrive/SCHealthEd), time (baseline/posttreatment), and group Ă time interaction indicated that there was a clinically meaningful improvement (8âpoint change) in selfâefficacy, with a medium effect size, P = .09, η2 = .06, and there was statistically significant improvement in one selfâmanagement skill (tracking health), P = .001, d = .71, among SCThrive participants.
Conclusions
The results support the potential for a selfâmanagement intervention to improve selfâefficacy in AYA with SCD. Health care providers are encouraged to target BA skills to support selfâmanagement of AYA with SCD.