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Rewiring the lupus brain: can therapy calm inflammation and lift teen mood?

NCT ID NCT07771088

Symptom relief Sponsor: The Hospital for Sick Children Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

What the study statuses mean

This study's is highlighted.

Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting This study
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Aug 18, 2026 · Last updated Aug 19, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

This study tests whether a specialized cognitive behavioral therapy called TEACH can improve mental health and well-being in adolescents with childhood-onset lupus. Researchers will measure changes in brain function, blood markers of inflammation, and symptoms like depression, fatigue, anxiety, and pain before and after the program. Twenty teens aged 12-18 with stable lupus will participate, undergoing brain imaging, blood tests, and questionnaires. The goal is to understand how this therapy works at a biological level, potentially leading to better ways to support teens with lupus.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
TEACH, a cognitive behavioral therapy adapted for adolescents with lupus
What this could lead to
If successful, this could reveal how talk therapy improves mental health and fatigue in teens with lupus, potentially guiding more targeted treatments.
What could go wrong
This is a small early-stage study (20 participants) without a control group, so results may not apply broadly. Brain and blood changes may not directly explain symptom improvements.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 20 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Expected to start

Sep 2026

An estimate. Start dates often move.

Expected to finish

Dec 2027

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

12 to 18 years

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: 1. be diagnosed with cSLE, meeting 2012 American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/System Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) and/or European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/ACR classification criteria for SLE by age 18 years 2. be between the ages of 12 and 18 years 3. have stable disease meeting criteria for low lupus disease activity state (LLDAS) 4. in recognition of the heterogeneity of symptoms, have elevations (T scores ≥60; see Measures section) in fatigue OR depressive symptoms (≥5 on the PHQ-9, T Score ≥ 60 on the BDI or CDI II), OR pain (i.e., average pain ≥3 out of 10) 5. have English language proficiency for cognitive assessment. Exclusion Criteria: 1. other chronic medical conditions (e.g., juvenile arthritis) 2. a documented developmental delay, severe cognitive impairment, or thought disorder 3. an untreated major psychiatric illness (e.g., bipolar disorder, psychosis, severe depression (T score ≥90) or active suicidal ideation (SI), based on the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI-II) /Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) items or PHQ9 score ≥21. 4. current psychotropic medication use 5. concurrent psychotherapy or other psychological intervention 6. conditions precluding cognitive task assessment (history of major head trauma, learning disability, alcohol/drug use within 24 hours of assessment, severe developmental problems affecting cognition, hearing loss or vision problems).

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

lupus erythematosus pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus systemic lupus erythematosus

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Lupus

How to take part

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  1. The official record

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