Efficacy of a Positive Psychological Intervention in Patients With Eating Disorders

NCT ID: NCT03003910

Last Updated: 2016-12-28

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

54 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2013-02-28

Study Completion Date

2015-11-30

Brief Summary

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This study is aimed to test the efficacy of a positive psychological intervention for promoting positive emotions and optimistic thinking in eating disordered patients. Participants are randomly assigned to receive the positive intervention or the control condition, which consists on thinking about daily activities.

Detailed Description

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Eating disorders (ED) are very difficult conditions to treat. Therefore, interventions in this field are shifting their main target towards the disorder's impact in quality of life, rather than ED symptomatology in itself. In this sense, a focus in the promotion of positive emotions and well-being is emerging in order to buffer from the harmful effects caused by ED.

Positive psychological interventions have shown efficacy in the promotion of positive emotions and well-being. In this sense, one of these interventions is called Best Possible Self (BPS), since is aimed to enhance positive emotions and well-being. Specifically, BPS is a positive future thinking technique, which requires people to envision themselves in the future, after everything has gone as good as it possibly could. This exercise has shown efficacy improving optimism, future expectancies and positive affect compared to a control condition, in general population and depressive patients.

Furthermore, the progress of Information and Communication Technologies, has allowed the development of technology applications and devices that could enhance the quality of experience and the well-being levels. This approach is called Positive Technology and it can be used as a complement to positive psychological interventions. Positive Technology can be defined as the scientific and applied approach to improve the quality of our personal experience trying to increase wellness and generate strengths.

Taking into account the prior literature, the aim of the present study is to carry out a randomized controlled study with ED patients in order to explore if BPS is able to produce improvements in different well-being and clinical measures. The exercise will be applied through a Positive Technology system. The design employed in this study is similar to the used in other studies.

Five assessment moments were used: Before the exercise (baseline), after the first session (day 1) and post-training (1 month). Moreover, two follow-ups were included: one month after finishing the training period (1st follow-up) and three months after finishing the training (2nd follow-up)

Conditions

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Eating Disorder Daily Activities

Keywords

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Best Possible Self

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Participants

Study Groups

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Best Possible Self

Participants are asked to write and imagine about a future in which they have reached all their goals and they have developed all their potentialities in four different domains: personal, professional, social and health domain.

They carry out the exercise in a Positive Technology System called the "Book of Life", which has shown efficacy in the enhancement of positive mood (Baños, Etchemendy, Farfallini, García-Palacios, Quero \& Botella, 2014). This application looks like a personal diary, where participants can write all that they want and these essays are supported by multimedia content (pictures, songs and videos). Additionally, they can continue doing the exercise in a web platform in which they can visualize all the content they had developed previously.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Best Possible Self

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Intervention group which requires people to envision themselves in a future in which all has gone in the best possible way.

Daily Activities

Participants are asked to think and write about all that they have done the last 24 hours. They carry out the exercise in a powerpoint document, where they can record all the activities, situations and thoughts occurred in the past 24 hours.

Group Type PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Daily Activities

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Control group which consists of thinking and writing about all the activities and situations that had taken place during the last 24 h.

Interventions

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Best Possible Self

Intervention group which requires people to envision themselves in a future in which all has gone in the best possible way.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Daily Activities

Control group which consists of thinking and writing about all the activities and situations that had taken place during the last 24 h.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

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Positive Psychological Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Subject has a diagnosis of Eating Disorder by a Clinical Psychologist according to DSM-IV criteria
* Subject accepts to participate in the study voluntarily

Exclusion Criteria

* Subject suffering a severe physical condition
* Subject suffering from substance or alcohol depedence
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

65 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Hospital Provincial de Castellon

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

PREVI Clinical Center

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

Universitat Jaume I

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Angel Enrique Roig

Ph.D Student

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Cristina Botella, Professor

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

University Jaume I

Locations

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University Jaume I

Castellon, Castellón, Spain

Site Status

Countries

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Spain

References

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Bolier L, Haverman M, Kramer J, Westerhof GJ, Riper H, Walburg JA, Boon B, Bohlmeijer E. An Internet-based intervention to promote mental fitness for mildly depressed adults: randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res. 2013 Sep 16;15(9):e200. doi: 10.2196/jmir.2603.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 24041479 (View on PubMed)

Botella C, Riva G, Gaggioli A, Wiederhold BK, Alcaniz M, Banos RM. The present and future of positive technologies. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2012 Feb;15(2):78-84. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2011.0140. Epub 2011 Dec 9.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22149078 (View on PubMed)

Meevissen YM, Peters ML, Alberts HJ. Become more optimistic by imagining a best possible self: effects of a two week intervention. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2011 Sep;42(3):371-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2011.02.012. Epub 2011 Mar 2.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21450262 (View on PubMed)

Pietrowsky, R., & Mikutta, J. (2012). Effects of positive psychology interventions in depressive patients-A randomized control study. Psychology, 3(12), 1067. doi: 10.4236/psych.2012.312158.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Renner F, Schwarz P, Peters ML, Huibers MJ. Effects of a best-possible-self mental imagery exercise on mood and dysfunctional attitudes. Psychiatry Res. 2014 Jan 30;215(1):105-10. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2013.10.033. Epub 2013 Nov 1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 24252218 (View on PubMed)

Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). How to increase and sustain positive emotion: The effects of expressing gratitude and visualizing best possible selves. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(2), 73-82.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Dawson L, Rhodes P, Touyz S. "Doing the impossible": the process of recovery from chronic anorexia nervosa. Qual Health Res. 2014 Apr;24(4):494-505. doi: 10.1177/1049732314524029. Epub 2014 Mar 4.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 24594747 (View on PubMed)

Noordenbos G, Oldenhave A, Muschter J, Terpstra N. Characteristics and treatment of patients with chronic eating disorders. Eat Disord. 2002 Spring;10(1):15-29. doi: 10.1080/106402602753573531.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16864242 (View on PubMed)

Tchanturia K, Dapelo MA, Harrison A, Hambrook D. Why study positive emotions in the context of eating disorders? Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2015 Jan;17(1):537. doi: 10.1007/s11920-014-0537-x.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25413641 (View on PubMed)

Enrique A, Breton-Lopez J, Molinari G, Roca P, Llorca G, Guillen V, Fernandez-Aranda F, Banos RM, Botella C. Implementation of a Positive Technology Application in Patients With Eating Disorders: A Pilot Randomized Control Trial. Front Psychol. 2018 Jun 11;9:934. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00934. eCollection 2018.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 29942272 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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aenrique

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id