Brief Mood Enhancement Intervention

NCT02954965 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: PRO00074337
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 66
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of the current study is to test the efficacy of two brief, behavioral interventions intended to improve burnout among doctoral-level graduate students (n = 102). Specifically, individuals will be randomly assigned to one of three intervention conditions: 1) Reward: a brief intervention to help participants increase engagement in healthy and rewarding values-driven behaviors, 2) Approach: a brief intervention to help participants identify and decrease emotion-driven avoidance of important goals, or 3) Control: a control condition that involves monitoring only. Multilevel modeling will be used to assess changes in burnout, mood, and stress, following the interventions, controlling for participants' individual baseline levels of these variables.

Conditions

Stress, Psychological; Burnout, Professional

Keywords

graduate student; burnout; stress; mood

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change in burnout, as measured by the School Burnout Inventory total score

  Self-report questionnaire assessing burnout

  baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)

• Change in stress, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale total score

  Self-report questionnaire assessing stress

  baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)

Secondary Outcomes (11)

• Change in mastery, as measured by the Pearlin Personal Mastery Scale total score

  baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)

• Change in avoidance, as measured by the Brief Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire total score

  baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)

• Change in mood, as measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule total scores for Positive and Negative Affect

  baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)

• Change in reward, as measured by the Environmental Reward Observation Scale total score

  baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)

• Change in behavioral activation, as measured by the Activation sub-scale of the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale

  baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)

Study Arms (3)

Reward

EXPERIMENTAL

A brief, phone-administered intervention designed to help graduate students increase the number of pleasant and rewarding activities in their daily lives.

Behavioral: Reward

Approach

EXPERIMENTAL

A brief, phone-administered intervention designed to help graduate students block procrastination and avoidance and to approach important activities they are currently avoiding.

Behavioral: Approach

Monitoring

NO INTERVENTION

Participants will monitor their current behaviors, mood, and burnout with no directed intervention to change behavior

Interventions

Reward BEHAVIORAL

Brief behavioral intervention (administered during a 45-minute phone call) that is designed to improve graduate student burnout by helping participants to identify activities that are rewarding and pleasurable and to integrate these activities into their schedule.

Reward

Approach BEHAVIORAL

Brief behavioral intervention (administered during a 45-minute phone call) that is designed to improve graduate student burnout by helping participants to identify activities that are challenging, but important to their long-term goals and values, and to integrate these activities into their schedule.

Approach

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 60 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Currently enrolled in any in-person (not online) Ph.D. program in the state of North Carolina
• Demonstrating above average levels of burnout
• Has regular access to the Internet
• Has a Social Security Number
• Is able to read and understand English

You may not qualify if:

• Current mania or psychosis
• Current suicidal ideation
• Are currently in psychotherapy, have been in psychotherapy in the past 8 weeks, or are planning to start psychotherapy during the course of the 10-day study
• Have had any changes in psychiatric medications in the past 8 weeks, are not taking medications as prescribed or are planning to change medications during the course of the 10-day study
• Are currently taking benzodiazepines Pro Re Nata (PRN)
• Are under 18 years old

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Duke University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Duke University Medical Center

Durham, North Carolina, 27705, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stress, Psychological; Burnout, Professional; Burnout, Psychological

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Occupational Stress; Occupational Diseases

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 30, 2016
• First Posted: November 4, 2016
• Study Start: November 1, 2016
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2017
• Study Completion: December 1, 2017
• Last Updated: February 23, 2018

Record last verified: 2018-02

Locations

US (1)