Efficacy of a Compassion Program in University Students

NCT ID: NCT05197595

Last Updated: 2023-10-18

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: UNKNOWN
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 200 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-11-06
• Study Completion Date: 2023-12-30

Brief Summary

University life is a challenging period. College students are exposed to a large number of stressors such as increased workload, multitasking, new responsibilities, changes in sleep and eating habits, social stressors, financial concerns and future employability, unlimited access to technology, etc. The participation of some of them in unhealthy activities should also be noted.

There is sufficient evidence to affirm that high levels of stress cause different alterations in students, such as attention and concentration deficits, difficulties in memorizing and solving problems, low productivity and poor academic performance. Due to this, in addition to the psychological and social impact of said mental health problems, the academic functioning of the students decreases and the dropout rates increase, which represents a problem for themselves and for the institutions. On the other hand, students and future professionals in training run the risk of suffering burnout as a consequence of the chronic stress to which they are subjected, with the consequent negative effects on their future professional practice.

The main objective of the present research is to evaluate the efficacy of a six-week compassion program for the reduction of psychological distress in university students compared to an active control condition based on relaxation.

Conditions

Mental Health Wellness

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

Compassion condition

90-minute group sessions, held once a week over a space of 6 weeks, and is offered as an extra-curricular activity.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Attachment-based compassion therapy

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Compassion program consists of 6 sessions of 90 minutes/session (15-20 people) Written material and sound recordings will be offered as support elements. The estimated duration of the program is two months

Relaxation condition

90-minute group sessions, held once a week over a space of 6 weeks, and will be offered as an extracurricular activity.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Relaxation program

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Relaxation program consists of 6 sessions of 90 minutes/session (15-20 people) Written material and sound recordings will be offered as support elements. The estimated duration of the program is two months

Interventions

Attachment-based compassion therapy

Compassion program consists of 6 sessions of 90 minutes/session (15-20 people) Written material and sound recordings will be offered as support elements. The estimated duration of the program is two months

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Relaxation program

Relaxation program consists of 6 sessions of 90 minutes/session (15-20 people) Written material and sound recordings will be offered as support elements. The estimated duration of the program is two months

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Age: 18-30 years old.
• Study undergraduate or master's degrees at the University of Zaragoza.
• Understand perfectly spoken and written Spanish.
• Grant informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria

• Any diagnose of disease that may affect central nervous system (brain pathology traumatic brain injury, dementia, etc.).
• Other psychiatric diagnoses or acute psychiatric illness (substance dependence or abuse, history of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, eating disorders, etc.) except for anxious pathology or personality disorders.
• Any medical, infectious or degenerative disease that may affect mood, presence of delusional ideas or hallucinations consistent or not with mood, and suicide risk.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 30 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Hospital Miguel Servet

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Javier Garcia Campayo

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Miguel Servet University Hospital

Zaragoza, , Spain

Countries

Spain

References

Beltran-Ruiz M, Fernandez S, Garcia-Campayo J, Puebla-Guedea M, Lopez-Del-Hoyo Y, Navarro-Gil M, Montero-Marin J. Effectiveness of attachment-based compassion therapy to reduce psychological distress in university students: a randomised controlled trial protocol. Front Psychol. 2023 Aug 24;14:1185445. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1185445. eCollection 2023.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 37691796 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

18/2021

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id