The Impact of a Self-Compassion Intervention on Shame and Mental Health Treatment-Seeking

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

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

265 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2021-11-12

Study Completion Date

2024-05-31

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

Untreated mental health problems can cause lasting harm to self-esteem, relationships, academics, productivity, and health. It is thus highly worrisome that only 18-36% of university students with significant mental health problems seek help. Many university campuses have responded to this mental health crisis by trying to increase students' mental health literacy (MHL), defined as "knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders which aid their recognition, management, or prevention''. Increasing MHL appears to increase knowledge about mental health services, but it does not increase actual treatment-seeking desire or action. One problem with this approach is that it falsely assumes that students struggling with their mental health will want to pursue services once they have learned more about mental disorders and the associated treatments available. However, most people with mental disorders do not initially recognize that they have a disorder and may dismiss information about mental disorders and mental health treatment as irrelevant. Feelings of shame are elevated in individuals with psychological disorders, and these feelings act as one of the strongest barriers to mental health treatment-seeking.Given the low rate of treatment-seeking on university campuses, research is needed to explore how best to facilitate mental health treatment seeking among distressed students, including those who may not self-identity as having a mental health problem. Research has yet to examine the potential role of self-compassion in relation to treatment-seeking behaviours. Self-compassion (SC) is conceptualized as responding to personal distress with gentleness and kindness in order to alleviate it, and it is negatively associated with shame. However, research has not yet explored whether the perceived benefits of SC in mitigating shame can affect mental health treatment-seeking outcomes. We propose that cultivating SC amongst psychologically distressed students will subsequently decrease shame, and thus, indirectly elevate willingness to seek mental health treatment. Thus, this study will examine the effects of a one-session SC workshop/intervention compared to a one-session MHL intervention on shame and mental health treatment-seeking. Participants will be distressed students recruited from the University of Waterloo, and will be randomly assigned to the SC intervention, MHL intervention, or control intervention.

Related Clinical Trials

Explore similar clinical trials based on study characteristics and research focus.

A Compassion-based Intervention for Internal and External Shame

NCT04600557

Shame Compassion

COMPLETED NA

Interventional Study of Mental Health Literacy Educational Program for General Hospital Nurses

NCT05528640

Mental Health Issue

UNKNOWN NA

Compassionate Imagery for People With An Intellectual Disability

NCT05339191

Intellectual Disability

COMPLETED NA

Efficacy of an Smartphone App Intervention Based on Self-compassion for Mental Health Among University Students

NCT05839015

Mental Health Issue

NOT_YET_RECRUITING NA

The Development and Efficacy of a Recovery Group for People With Mental Illness

NCT04075838

Mental Illness

COMPLETED NA

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

The study will consist of four online surveys. During the first survey (Part 1; baseline), participants will answer a set of questionnaires. During the second survey (Part 2; 1-4 days after Part 1), participants will first answer a set of questionnaires. Then, they will be randomized to a self-compassion intervention, a mental health literacy intervention, or a control intervention. Then, participants will answer more questionnaires immediately after completing the intervention. During the third survey (Part 3; 14-17 days after Part 2) and fourth survey (Part 4; 3 months-3 months+7 days after Part 2), participants will answer a set of questionnaires.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Psychological Distress

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

1/3 of the study participants (anticipated n=100) will be randomly assigned to the self-compassion intervention group, 1/3 of the participants (anticipated n=100) will be placed into the mental health literacy intervention group, and 1/3 of the study participants (anticipcated n=100) will be placed into the control group.

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Participants

The participant will not know prior to their study participation that there are three different study conditions, and they will not find out which condition they were randomized to until the end of their study participation.

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Self-compassion intervention

Brief (20-minute) workshop with a self-compassion writing exercise and information about mental health resources available to students.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Self-compassion workshop

Intervention Type OTHER

The self-compassion workshop instructs participants to reflect on a source of shame, connect with their suffering related to it, and then direct feelings of support and understanding towards their suffering via a few brief writing tasks. This workshop also provides participants with basic information about mental health resources.

Mental health literacy intervention

Brief (20-minute) workshop with information and a written reflection about common mental disorders, and information about mental health resources available to students.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Mental health literacy workshop

Intervention Type OTHER

The mental health literacy workshop provides participants with information about the symptoms and treatment of common mental disorders, and asks participants to reflect on what they learned through a couple brief writing tasks. This workshop also provides participants with basic information about mental health resources.

Control

Brief (7-minute) workshop with information about mental health resources available to students.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Control workshop

Intervention Type OTHER

The control workshop provides participants with basic information about mental health resources.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Self-compassion workshop

The self-compassion workshop instructs participants to reflect on a source of shame, connect with their suffering related to it, and then direct feelings of support and understanding towards their suffering via a few brief writing tasks. This workshop also provides participants with basic information about mental health resources.

Intervention Type OTHER

Mental health literacy workshop

The mental health literacy workshop provides participants with information about the symptoms and treatment of common mental disorders, and asks participants to reflect on what they learned through a couple brief writing tasks. This workshop also provides participants with basic information about mental health resources.

Intervention Type OTHER