Self-help course with guidance on the Internet for Turkish migrants with depression.

The Turkish population living in the Netherlands has a high prevalence of psychological complaints and experiences a high threshold for seeking professional help for these problems. Seeking help through the Internet can bridge these barriers. This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of "Alles Onder Controle TR" (in Dutch and Turkish), a web-based guided self-help intervention for depressed Turkish migrants.

This study will investigate the effectiveness of a culturally adapted and internet-based guided self-help intervention among Turkish migrants, in terms of reduction of depressive symptoms (CES-D). As a secondary objective, the underlying mechanisms of change will be measured in terms of somatic symptoms, anxiety, acculturation, satisfaction and the quality of life.

This study is a randomized controlled trial with two conditions:

1. Web-based guided self-help intervention (experimental group);

2. The wait-list control group (access to the intervention after 4 months).

The culturally adapted version of the web-based guided self-help intervention Alles Onder Controle(in Dutch and Turkish) will reduce symptoms of depression among Turkish adults living in the Netherlands.

1. T0: Baseline measurement;

2. T1: Post-treatment'

3. T2: 4 months follow up (after baseline).

The intervention we will evaluate is the adapted version of the original website Alles Onder Controle, a brief problem solving intervention based on Self-Examination Therapy: Alles Onder Controle TR (in Dutch) and Her Şey Kontrol Altında (in Turkish).



The course is available in two languages and both are adapted by a Turkish psychologist in collaboration with the VU University and the Trimbos-institute, by:

1. Cultural sensitivity in the languages and presentation concerning psychological problems;

2. Use of cultural specific cases and problems that are recognizable for the target group concerned;

3. Cultural specific examples of persons with similar problems.



The intervention consists of 5 sessions and takes 5 weeks in total. During that period the respondents indicate what they think is important in their lives, they make a list of their “problems and worries” and they categorize their problems into three groups: unimportant (not related to what they think is important in their lives), important and solvable (these problems are solved by a systematic problem-solving approach consisting of 6 steps), or important but unsolvable (for example having lost someone by death, having a chronic general medical disease; for these problems they make a plan how to live with it). At the end of the course, the participant will receive a certificate for successfully completing the course. The participants are supported by a trained coach, who gives feedback to the homework assignments of the participants in brief, weekly e-mails.