Efficacy of Best Possible Self Intervention Over Time

NCT02321605 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: UJaimeI08
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 78
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study is aimed to test the efficacy of a Positive Psychology Intervention (Best Possible Self) over optimism, future expectancies and positive affect at mid-term, in comparison to a control group. The principal hypothesis is that Best Possible Self intervention will enhance significantly the levels of optimism and positive affect in comparison to the control group at short and mid-term.

Conditions

Best Possible Self Intervention

Keywords

Best Possible Self; Positive Psychology; Optimism; Positive Technology; Future Thinking

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Subjective Probability Task (SPT; MacLeod, 1996).

  This scale measures positive and negative expectancies about future events. It consists of 20 statements referring to negative expectancies and 10 statements referring to positive expectancies. Participants answer on a 7-point scale (Not at all likely to occur - Extremely likely to occur). Some studies have found an appropriate levels of internal consistency for positive and negative expectancies (α=0.80-0.82 y 0.91, respectively).

  4 months

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS, Watson, Clark & Tellegen, 1988; Sandín et al., 1999).

  4 months

• Life Orientation Test (Lot-R; Otero, Luengo, Romero Gómez & Castro, 1998; Scheier, Carver & Bridges, 1994).

  4 months

• Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II; Beck, 1996)

  4 months

Other Outcomes (1)

• Eysenck Personality Questionnaire - Revised - Neuroticism (EPQ-R-N; Eysenck, Eysenck & Barrett, 1985; Eysenck & Eysenck, 1997).

  Baseline

Study Arms (2)

BPS exercise

EXPERIMENTAL

Intervention group which requires people to envision themselves in a future in which all has gone in the best possible way.

Behavioral: e-BPS

Daily Activities

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Control group which consists of thinking and writing about all the activities and situations that had taken place during the last 24 h.

Behavioral: Daily Activities

Interventions

e-BPS BEHAVIORAL

Participants are asked to write and imagine about a future in which they have reached all their goals and they have developed all their potentialities in four different domains: personal, professional, social and health domain. They carry out the exercise in a Positive Technology System called the "Book of Life", which has shown efficacy in the enhancement of positive mood (Baños, Etchemendy, Farfallini, García-Palacios, Quero \& Botella, 2014). This application looks like a personal diary, where participants can write all that they want and these essays are supported by multimedia content (pictures, songs and videos). Additionally, they can continue doing the exercise in a web platform in which they can visualize all the content they had developed previously.

Also known as: Best Possible Self, Positive Psychology Intervention

BPS exercise

Daily Activities BEHAVIORAL

Participants are asked to think and write about all that they have done the last 24 hours. They carry out the exercise in a powerpoint document, where they can record all the activities, situations and thoughts.

Also known as: Best Possible Self, Positive Psychology Intervention

Daily Activities

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Be between 18 and 70 years old.
• Be willing to participate in the study.
• Have an e-mail address.

You may not qualify if:

• Presence of severe physical illness.
• Presence of psychological disorders.
• Be receiving psychological treatment.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universitat Jaume I: lead

Study Sites (1)

University Jaume I

Castellon, Castellón, 12006, Spain

Location

Related Publications (5)

• Botella C, Riva G, Gaggioli A, Wiederhold BK, Alcaniz M, Banos RM. The present and future of positive technologies. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2012 Feb;15(2):78-84. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2011.0140. Epub 2011 Dec 9.

  PMID: 22149078 BACKGROUND

• Meevissen YM, Peters ML, Alberts HJ. Become more optimistic by imagining a best possible self: effects of a two week intervention. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2011 Sep;42(3):371-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2011.02.012. Epub 2011 Mar 2.

  PMID: 21450262 BACKGROUND

• Peters, M. L., Flink, I. K., Boersma, K. y Linton, S. J. (2010). Manipulating optimism: Can imagining a best possible self be used to increase positive future expectancies? The Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(3), 204-211.

  BACKGROUND

• Sheldon, K. M., y Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). How to increase and sustain positive emotion: The effects of expressing gratitude and visualizing best possible selves. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(2), 73-82.

  BACKGROUND

• Baños, R. M., Etchemendy, E., Farfallini, L., García-Palacios, A., Quero, S., & Botella, C. (2014). EARTH of Well-Being System: A pilot study of an Information and Communication Technology-based positive psychology intervention. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(6), 482-488.

  BACKGROUND

Related Links

• Laboratory of Psychology and Technology of the Universitat Jaume I

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Activities of Daily Living

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Rehabilitation; Aftercare; Continuity of Patient Care; Patient Care; Therapeutics; Health Services; Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services

Study Officials

• Cristina Botella, Professor

  Universitat Jaume I

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Juana M Bretón, Assistant Professor

  Universitat Jaume I

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Angel Enrique, PhD student

  Universitat Jaume I

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 17, 2014
• First Posted: December 22, 2014
• Study Start: January 1, 2013
• Primary Completion: August 1, 2014
• Study Completion: October 1, 2014
• Last Updated: December 22, 2014

Record last verified: 2014-12

Locations

ES (1)