Brief Online Intervention for Chronic Pain

NCT ID: NCT01639196

Last Updated: 2023-05-30

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 93 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2012-07-31
• Study Completion Date: 2013-01-31

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of writing about chronic pain on mental and physical health. The effectiveness of two different types of brief online writing interventions will be explored in individuals with chronic pain.

Detailed Description

Chronic pain is highly prevalent and costly, but often not treated effectively. Psychological interventions are needed as part of chronic pain treatment since the pain affects many aspects of an individual's life. In particular, brief psychological interventions that are easily accessible (i.e., online) could benefit many people with chronic pain. Writing interventions have been used in recent years to understand difficult experiences. Writing interventions have been found to help individuals explore distressing thoughts and feelings, such as those that are associated with pain.

Conditions

Chronic Pain

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Self-compassion writing

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Self-compassion writing

Intervention Type: OTHER

Participants are instructed to write about their chronic pain in a way that elicits self-compassion for 20 minutes once a week for three consecutive weeks.

Self-efficacy writing

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Self-efficacy writing

Intervention Type: OTHER

Participants are instructed to write about their chronic pain in a way that elicits self-efficacy for 20 minutes once a week for three consecutive weeks.

Interventions

Self-compassion writing

Participants are instructed to write about their chronic pain in a way that elicits self-compassion for 20 minutes once a week for three consecutive weeks.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Self-efficacy writing

Participants are instructed to write about their chronic pain in a way that elicits self-efficacy for 20 minutes once a week for three consecutive weeks.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Diagnosed with chronic pain or a chronic pain condition or discussed pain management strategies (e.g., pain medication) with a doctor
• Experience pain on most days of the month for at least six months
• Able to read and write in English

Exclusion Criteria

• Chronic pain directly caused by a terminal condition (e.g., stage 4 cancer)

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

University of Maryland, College Park

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Mary Ann Hoffman, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Maryland, College Park

Other Identifiers

338877-1

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id