Efficacy of a Positive Psychology Intervention Through a Mobile App

NCT ID: NCT03072680

Last Updated: 2019-09-23

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 361 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2019-04-23
• Study Completion Date: 2019-07-27

Brief Summary

The aim of this study is to analyze the efficacy of several variations of an already validated Positive Psychology Intervention (PPI) called Best Possible Self in not flourishing population. This will be done through a mobile app specially designed for this aim.

Concretely, the design will permit to compare the classic intervention (BPS Future), a new variation (BPS Past), and a combination of both components (BPS Past+Future).

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of 3 conditions, in which they will practice the intervention for two weeks:

• BPS-PAST + BPS FUT condition: Participants will practice BPS Past for one week, and then they will switch to BPS future for another week.
• BPS-FUT condition: Participants will practice BPS Future for two weeks.
• CONTROL condition: Participants will practice DAILY ACTIVITIES for two weeks.

Detailed Description

The design will permit two comparisons:

After the first week of the intervention, participants will answer the assessment. It will permit to compare BPS PAST, BPS FUTURE and CONTROL conditions (pre-post).

After the second week, participants will answer the assessment and then it will be possible to compare BPS PAST + BPS FUTURE combination, BPS FUTURE, and CONTROL conditions.

Conditions

Not Flourishing Population

Study Design

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

Study Groups

BPS PAST + BPS FUT

Participants practice BPS PAST the first week, then they switch fot BPS FUT.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

BPS PAST

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants think about themselves in a past when they displayed their best self. Then, they visualize this with the help of audio instructions.

They will practice within a mobile app.

BPS FUT

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants think about themselves in the future after everything has gone as well as it possibly could. Then, they visualize this with the help of audio instructions.

They will practice within a mobile app.

BPS FUT

Participants practice BPS FUT during the two weeks.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

BPS FUT

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants think about themselves in the future after everything has gone as well as it possibly could. Then, they visualize this with the help of audio instructions.

They will practice within a mobile app.

CONTROL

Participants practice DAILY ACTIVITIES for the two weeks.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

DAILY ACTIVITIES

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants think about the activities they did during the last 24 hours. Then, they visualize this with the help of audio instructions.

They will practice within a mobile app.

Interventions

BPS PAST

Participants think about themselves in a past when they displayed their best self. Then, they visualize this with the help of audio instructions.

They will practice within a mobile app.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

BPS FUT

Participants think about themselves in the future after everything has gone as well as it possibly could. Then, they visualize this with the help of audio instructions.

They will practice within a mobile app.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

DAILY ACTIVITIES

Participants think about the activities they did during the last 24 hours. Then, they visualize this with the help of audio instructions.

They will practice within a mobile app.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Participants must be 18 years old or older.
• Participants must be willing to participate in the study.
• Participants must have a smartphone (Android or Ios).

Exclusion Criteria

• To suffer from moderate depression or anxiety (scores of 11 or higher) measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS; Zigmond & Snaith, 1983).
• To have "Flourishing mental health" measured by the Mental Health Continuum Short Form (MHC-SF; Keyes, 2009)

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

University of Twente

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Valencia

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Rosa María Baños Rivera

Full Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Rosa Baños, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Valencia

Locations

University of Twente

Enschede, Overijssel, Netherlands

University of Valencia

Valencia, , Spain

Countries

Netherlands; Spain

References

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)

King L. The Health Benefits of Writing About Life Goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 27(7): 798-807, 2001.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Sheldon KM, Lyubomirsky S. 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, 2006.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Peters ML, Flink IK, Boersma K, Linton SJ. Manipulating optimism: Can imagining a best possible self be used to increase positive future expectancies? The Journal of Positive Psychology 5(3): 204-211, 2010.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Other Identifiers

16337

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id