Journaling and Addiction Recovery: Piloting "Positive Recovery Journaling"

NCT ID: NCT04458181

Last Updated: 2024-06-20

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 81 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2020-07-07
• Study Completion Date: 2021-11-01

Brief Summary

The main objective of this study is to pilot test the Positive Peer Journaling (PPJ) [later renamed "Positive Recovery Journaling" (PRJ)] intervention and its feasibility and acceptability. A second objective is to compare individuals assigned to PPJ to individuals in a treatment as usual control group.

Detailed Description

Many spiritual and religious traditions involve the practice of personal inventory and self-examination. These practices involve conducting a review of the day, spirituality, gratitude, and striving for self-knowledge and self-improvement. The 10th step of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) recommends that members conduct such a daily inventory. While this practice may benefit AA members, not everyone seeking addiction recovery joins AA. Even for those who do, it can take time to reach step 10 and begin deriving benefits from it. The study PI, Dr. Amy Krentzman, developed Positive Recovery Journaling (PRJ, formerly "positive peer journaling") as a simple 10-minute daily practice which reviews the past 24 hours on the left side of a journal page and plans the upcoming 24 hours on the right side of a journal page. The prompts for the left and right sides of the PRJ page are based on principles from positive psychology and behavioral activation.

The main objective of this study is to pilot test the PRJ intervention and to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and logistics of treatment delivery.

A second objective is to observe whether PRJ is associated with improvement in satisfaction with life, happiness with recovery, and commitment to sobriety

Conditions

Addiction

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Treatment Group

Participants in this group will complete the intervention, Positive Peer Journaling (PPJ), while also continuing to attend intensive outpatient treatment for addiction.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Positive Peer Journaling (PPJ)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

PPJ is a journaling practice to support addiction recovery. PPJ encourages past 24 hour review and upcoming 24 hour planning to improve subjective wellbeing in recovery and reduce relapse. PPJ uses journals with column headings under which individuals make bullet-pointed lists. On the left hand page, past 24 hours is recalled, itemizing "good" and "bad" things that happened and things for which one is grateful. Good wishes for others are also expressed on this page. On the right hand page, values-based activities for the upcoming 24 hours are planned via headings representing valued life domains such as "recovery," "work/school," "spirituality," "home and household," and "health."

Control Group

There will be no intervention for those randomized to the control group. However, they will complete assessment instruments throughout the study period while also continuing to attend intensive outpatient treatment for addiction.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Positive Peer Journaling (PPJ)

PPJ is a journaling practice to support addiction recovery. PPJ encourages past 24 hour review and upcoming 24 hour planning to improve subjective wellbeing in recovery and reduce relapse. PPJ uses journals with column headings under which individuals make bullet-pointed lists. On the left hand page, past 24 hours is recalled, itemizing "good" and "bad" things that happened and things for which one is grateful. Good wishes for others are also expressed on this page. On the right hand page, values-based activities for the upcoming 24 hours are planned via headings representing valued life domains such as "recovery," "work/school," "spirituality," "home and household," and "health."

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• meet DSM-V criteria for past-year Substance Use Disorder as primary or secondary diagnosis,
• English literacy sufficient to make short written lists needed to complete PPJ and homework assessments,
• minimum 2 weeks sustained abstinence,
• completed first 2 weeks of treatment at Nuway (approximately 2 weeks), an intensive outpatient substance use disorder treatment program and the recruitment site,
• agree to be audio recorded or transcription recorded in group meetings and in individual meetings with research staff,
• currently are clients in the Nuway outpatient program,
• participants must be English speaking and literacy must be strong enough to write short lists and to understand the questions asked in the questionnaires,
• participants must have an electronic device that connects to the internet and internet connection for online delivery of intervention during COVID-19.

Exclusion Criteria

• presence of a psychotic disorder, psychiatric condition (e.g., suicidal ideation), or cognitive impairment (e.g., severe dementia, traumatic brain injury) limiting ability to give consent and/or participate in the study;
• severe psychiatric illness (current schizophrenia, major depression with suicidal ideation);
• personality disorders that would interfere with satisfactory participation in or completion of the study protocol,
• inability to give informed, voluntary consent to participate,
• lack of sufficient English literacy to participate, defined as inability to make a list of 5 things they did yesterday and inability to understand questionnaire items,
• any impairment, activity, or situation that in the judgement of the research staff would prevent satisfactory participation in or completion of the study protocol.

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

Sponsors

University of Minnesota

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Amy Krentzman, MSW, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Minenesota

Locations

NUWAY

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Countries

United States

Provided Documents

Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Document Type: Informed Consent Form

View Document

Other Identifiers

STUDY00004619-2

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id