The Effects of Interventions Aiming at Optimizing Expectations and Inducing Positive Emotions After an Acute Stressor

NCT02848014 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2016-08k
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 74
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of the study is to determine whether a short psychological intervention aiming at optimizing expectations is able to foster positive emotions and whether an intervention inducing positive emotions is able improve participants' expectations. Furthermore, the investigators will examine whether both interventions are effective in buffering the stress response after an acute stressor in a healthy sample compared to a control condition.

Conditions

Healthy Participants

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in personal control expectation (Item of the Brief IPQ)

  Pre-intervention (baseline; T0) vs. Post-intervention (25 minutes after baseline assessment; T1)

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Change in emotions (PANAS)

  Pre-intervention (baseline; T0) vs. Post-intervention (25 minutes after baseline assessment; T1)

• Subjective stress ratings

  directly after completing the stress induction (approximately 50 minutes after baseline assessment; T2)

• Change in Cortisol levels (saliva sample)

  Pre-intervention (baseline; T0) vs.Post-intervention (25 minutes after baseline assessment; T1), directly (T2), 15 min (T3) and 30 min (T4) after stress induction

• Change in Alpha-Amylase levels (saliva sample)

  Pre-intervention (baseline; T0) vs. Post-intervention (25 minutes after baseline assessment; T1), directly (T2), 15 min (T3) and 30 min (T4) after stress induction

Study Arms (3)

Expectation

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants are asked to think and write about ways how they can positively influence/control the stress during stress induction. They also can think of strategies they used in their past. The purpose of this arm is to improve participants' personal control expectations.

Behavioral: Writing task

Emotion

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in this group are asked to write a gratitude-letter to a person they want to thank. The purpose of this arm is to foster positive emotions.

Behavioral: Writing task

Control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants in this group are asked to do a neutral writing task. The task is to write a protocol of yesterday's to-dos.

Behavioral: Writing task

Interventions

Writing task BEHAVIORAL

Control; Emotion; Expectation

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• fluent in German language

You may not qualify if:

• chronic disease
• mental disease
• the evening before the day of the experiment until end of the experiment (the next day): caffeine, alcohol, intensive physical exercise, chewing gum
• acute hay fever
• current intake of psychotropic medication

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Philipps University Marburg: lead

Study Sites (1)

Department of Psychology, Philipps University Marburg

Marburg, Hesse, 35032, Germany

Location

Study Officials

• Winfried Rief, Professor

  Philipps University Marburg

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor Dr.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 29, 2016
• First Posted: July 28, 2016
• Study Start: July 1, 2016
• Primary Completion: November 1, 2016
• Study Completion: November 30, 2016
• Last Updated: April 6, 2017

Record last verified: 2016-06

Locations

DE (1)