Single Session Intervention for Building Self-Compassion Habits-RCT

NCT ID: NCT05199779

Last Updated: 2022-05-17

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 135 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-02-13
• Study Completion Date: 2022-04-29

Brief Summary

The study will test a single session self-compassion intervention that leverages an ultra-brief contemplative exercise. It will evaluate the effect of this intervention on psychopathology, stress, growth mindset, positive affect, self-compassion and the automaticity of self-compassion, as well as the relationships between these constructs and the automaticity of self-compassion. The participants will be undergraduate students at a large public university.

Detailed Description

The broad aims of the proposed research is to examine the outcomes of a single session psychological intervention and to further understand processes and factors associated with habit formation. undergraduate students at a large university will be randomly assigned to a self-compassion intervention (SCI), or an active control (AC), and complete assessments at baseline (pre-treatment) and 4 weeks later (post-treatment).

The investigators seek to examine the following: (A1) Determine whether the group who receives the SCI, relative to the AC, will experience increased self-compassion, growth mindset and positive affect, as well as reduced stress and psychopathology. (A2) Evaluate whether the SCI group shows greater increases in automaticity of self-compassion compared to the AC pre- to post-treatment. (A3) Assess whether greater pre- to post-treatment increases in automaticity of self-compassionate are associated with increased self-compassion, growth mindset, and positive affect, as well as reductions in stress and psychopathology.

The investigators hypothesize the following: (H1) SCI will promote greater increases in self-compassion, growth mindset, and positive affect, as well as greater reductions in stress and psychopathology from pre- to post-treatment, relative to AC. (H2) The SCI group will show greater increases in the automaticity of self-compassion than AC from pre- to post-treatment. (H3) Greater increases in the automaticity of self-compassion from pre- to post-treatment will be predicted by greater increases in self-compassion, growth mindset, and positive affect, as well as greater decreases in psychopathology and stress, from pre- to post treatment. To further understand the results obtained, the investigators will evaluate participants' frequency, adherence, and impressions of using the intervention.

Conditions

Transdiagnostic Psychopathology

Study Design

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

Study Groups

Self-Compassion Intervention (SCI)

First, participants will be taught to implement a 20-second self-compassion induction via video recording. Second, participants will be taught to choose a cue that will precede their daily use of the self-compassion induction. Participants will document the cue they chose, and will be emailed a record of their selected cue, along with the recording and transcript of the self-compassion induction that they can refer back to for reference. Third, participants will be asked to use the self-compassion induction as much as they can and at least once during their daily routine following exposure to their chosen cue.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Single Session Intervention Leveraging an Ultra-Brief Self-Compassion Exercise

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

This 20-second contemplative exercise includes draws from the science of habit formation and includes elements of self-soothing touch, somatic experiencing, and mindful self-compassion.

Finger-Tapping Active Control (AC)

The active control will receive the same procedures as described above, except for receiving a different video containing different instructions describing a finger-tapping exercise. The videos will be virtually identical in length, quality, instructor/their outfit, and lighting.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Finger-Tapping Active Control

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

This 20-second finger tapping exercise involves touching each finger to the thumb on one hand and repeating for twenty seconds. This intervention was designed to control for the potential effect of assessment on outcomes, the effect of having an activity to do for the duration of the intervention (4 weeks), regression to the mean, time, or other nonspecific factors.

Interventions

Single Session Intervention Leveraging an Ultra-Brief Self-Compassion Exercise

This 20-second contemplative exercise includes draws from the science of habit formation and includes elements of self-soothing touch, somatic experiencing, and mindful self-compassion.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Finger-Tapping Active Control

This 20-second finger tapping exercise involves touching each finger to the thumb on one hand and repeating for twenty seconds. This intervention was designed to control for the potential effect of assessment on outcomes, the effect of having an activity to do for the duration of the intervention (4 weeks), regression to the mean, time, or other nonspecific factors.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• 18 years of age or older.
• English language proficiency.
• Able and willing to give informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria

• Does not have email address or access to email.
• Not able/willing to participate in and/or complete the pre-treatment assessments

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

Sponsors

University of California, Berkeley

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Allison Harvey

Professor of Clinical Psychology

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Allison Harvey, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of California, Berkeley

Eli S Susman, BA

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of California, Berkeley

Locations

University of California at Berkeley

Berkeley, California, United States

Countries

United States

References

Susman ES, Chen S, Kring AM, Harvey AG. Daily micropractice can augment single-session interventions: A randomized controlled trial of self-compassionate touch and examining their associations with habit formation in US college students. Behav Res Ther. 2024 Apr;175:104498. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2024.104498. Epub 2024 Feb 21.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 38412573 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

2021-12-14924

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id