ACT and CBT Bibliotherapy for Perfectionism

NCT ID: NCT06057740

Last Updated: 2023-09-28

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: UNKNOWN
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 120 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-09-12
• Study Completion Date: 2025-09-01

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to test self-help books for adults with perfectionism. The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Are the self-help books (ACT and CBT) effective, compared to a waitlist control condition?

2. What are the processes of change for perfectionism in ACT vs. CBT bibliotherapy?

3. Do the self-help books (ACT and CBT) affect change in general distress, well-being, and affect?

4. Is bibliotherapy an acceptable and feasible intervention for perfectionism?

Participants will be randomized into either the ACT self-help condition, CBT self-help condition, or waitlist control condition:

1. Participants in both intervention conditions will be asked to read the respective self-help book over the course of 10 weeks and complete 4 surveys over 3.5 months.

2. Participants in the waitlist condition will be asked to complete 4 surveys over 3.5 months, and will receive access to both self-help books once the study is complete.

Detailed Description

Perfectionism is a multidimensional construct where individuals develop unrealistically high standards and attribute self-value to meeting these expectations. Perfectionism has also been shown to be a risk and a maintenance factor for a range of psychological difficulties such as depression, social anxiety, eating disorders, and obsessive-compulsive related disorders (Limburg et al., 2017). Furthermore, the prevalence of perfectionism is increasing in undergraduate students according to a recent meta-analysis (Curran & Hill, 2019), highlighting the need to expand accessible treatment options. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) have both demonstrated clinical effectiveness in targeting unhelpful perfectionism, but it is unclear how effective these psychotherapies are at decreasing perfectionism when applied in a bibliotherapy format.

The present study aims to assess the feasibility and efficacy of ACT and CBT self-help books for perfectionism over a 10-week intervention period and one month follow-up assessment, in comparison to a waitlist control condition. Additionally, this study will examine the impact of bibliotherapies on processes of change (i.e., psychological acceptance and cognitive reappraisal) as well as general distress, well-being, and affect. Participants will be adult students recruited from two universities in the mountain and midwestern regions of the United States and participants will complete self-report assessments at pre-, mid-, post-intervention, and follow-up. For the primary aim evaluating efficacy, we predict both ACT (The Anxious Perfectionist) and CBT (When Perfect Isn't Good Enough by Martin Antony) self-help books will decrease unhelpful perfectionism from pre-intervention to follow-up, in comparison to a waitlist control group. For the secondary aim evaluating processes of change, we predict that (1) ACT will increase psychological flexibility more than CBT, and (2) CBT will increase cognitive reappraisal more than ACT, from pre-intervention to follow-up. For our third aim evaluating changes in distress, well-being, and affect, we predict that (1) both ACT and CBT will decrease distress and general negative affect, and (2) ACT will outperform CBT on increases in well-being and general positive affect from pre-treatment to follow-up. For our fourth aim assessing bibliotherapy acceptability and feasibility, we predict no differences between adherence and satisfaction ratings between the ACT and CBT reading conditions.

Conditions

Perfectionism

Study Design

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

Study Groups

ACT Bibliotherapy

Participants will read 10 chapters (140 pages) of The Anxious Perfectionist by Clarissa Ong and Michael Twohig over the course of 10 weeks.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

ACT is a psychological intervention that aims to improve psychological flexibility, the ability to hold thoughts and emotions lightly in a given context and pursue valued ends (Hayes et al., 1999; Twohig \& Levin, 2017).

CBT Bibliotherapy

Participants will read 8 chapters (149 pages) of When Perfect Isn't Good Enough by Martin Antony over the course of 10 weeks.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

CBT is a psychological intervention which targets cognitions and behaviors in attempt to change emotions.

Waitlist Control

Waitlist condition; assessment only

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)

ACT is a psychological intervention that aims to improve psychological flexibility, the ability to hold thoughts and emotions lightly in a given context and pursue valued ends (Hayes et al., 1999; Twohig \& Levin, 2017).

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

CBT is a psychological intervention which targets cognitions and behaviors in attempt to change emotions.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• an adult (18 years and older) student at the university
• the ability to understand and read English
• access to the university's online library resources
• endorse high perfectionism (29 or more on the concerns over mistakes Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Subscale)

Exclusion Criteria

• N/A

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

Sponsors

Utah State University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Locations

Utah State University

Logan, Utah, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Facility Contacts

Michael P Twohig, PhD

Role: primary

michael.twohig@usu.edu

435-265-8933

Emily M Bowers, BS

Role: backup

emily.bowers@usu.edu

385-501-3270

Other Identifiers

13518

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id