The Influence of Mindfulness on the Link Between Consumer Culture Values and Well-being

NCT03079154 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: ER/HELGAD/10
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 180
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

The study is a three-arm intervention, where students are randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Teacher-led group-based MBCT, Self-guided MBCT using an audio book, or 'wait list' control. Pre-intervention, respondents complete a questionnaire assessing self, values, psychological processes related to self, and well-being. Post-intervention, respondents complete the same questionnaire, and then take part in a laboratory-based study which assesses behaviours related to the variables measured in the questionnaires. We are aiming for a sample size of 180 students at Sussex, 60 in each intervention arm.

Conditions

Mental Health and General Well-being

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (8)

• Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in Mental health

  We are using a mental health assessment (DASS-21) widely used in clinical and non-clinical populations which assess symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress

  The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention

• Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in Subjective well-being

  This measure consists of an assessment of life satisfaction, and a brief measure of the frequency of positive and negative affective experiences as used in (Dittmar and Kapur, 2011)

  The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention

• Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in consumption-based coping

  This is a newly developed scale which measures the extent to which individuals use buying material goods as a strategy to cope with stress (Wright et. al, 2016)

  The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by beingcollected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention

• Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in body esteem

  We are using a well-established scale of body esteem (Mendelson et al., 2001), which assesses general appearance evaluation, evaluation of one's weight, and perceived evaluation by others

  The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention

• Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in material esteem

  This is a newly developed scale that assesses individuals' esteem in terms of the material goods they own (Dittmar et al., 2016)

  The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention

• Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in eating behaviour

  We will use a shortened form of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Scale (Van Strien et al., 1986) which measures restraint, emotional, and external eating

  The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention

• Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in excessive buying

  This scale measures compulsive buying tendencies, such as having urges to buy or feeling out of control of one's shopping behaviour (Dittmar et al., 2007)

  The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention

• Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in emotional regulation

  This scale, developed by Bjureberg (2016), assessing difficulties that people experience in dealing with, and regulating strong emotions

  The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Consumer culture values (materialistic and appearance-focused personal values)

  This self-report measure will be collected five-six weeks before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and immediately after exposure to consumer culture stimuli in phase 4 of the research

• Behavioural measure related to consumer culture: eating

  This behavioural measure will be collected immediately after exposure to consumer culture stimuli in phase 4 of the research

• Behavioural measure related to consumer culture: buying consumer goods online

  This behavioural measure will be collected immediately after exposure to consumer culture stimuli in phase 4 of the research

Other Outcomes (6)

• Self and self-related processes: Change in core self beliefs

  The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention

• Self and self-related processes: Change in self-discrepancies

  The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention

• Self and self-related processes: Change in self-compassion

  The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention

Study Arms (3)

Teacher-led MBCT course

EXPERIMENTAL

Eight-session mindfulness-based cognitive therapy course, including an initial orientation session, led by a qualified mindfulness teacher working with the Sussex Mindfulness Centre, a part of the NHS Sussex Partnership Mental Health Trust.

Other: Teacher-led MBCT course

Self-guided MBCT course

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy course, after an initial information session, which is self-guided using the audiobook Mindfulness: A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world by Mark Williams and Danny Penman (2011). It consists of eight substantive chapters that map on to the eight-session MBCT course taught by teachers to groups of students. Students will be asked to work through one chapter a week, thus matching the pace of the teacher-led intervention.

Other: Self-guided MBCT course

Wait list control

NO INTERVENTION

Students in the wait list (control) arm do not receive any intervention for the same length of time as the experimental and active comparator arms of the intervention are taking place. Students are invited to complete the self-guided MBCT course after the end of the research project.

Interventions

Teacher-led MBCT course OTHER

9 x 2 hour group sessions following national guidelines for mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

Also known as: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (high intensity)

Teacher-led MBCT course

Self-guided MBCT course OTHER

9 weeks of self-guided mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, following an audiobook covering the same material and exercises as the teacher-led intervention

Also known as: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (low intensity)

Self-guided MBCT course

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Student at the University of Sussex

You may not qualify if:

• Having experienced a significant life event (e.g., bereavement) in the six months proceeding the study Suffering from a mental health condition at clinical levels Having prior time commitments that prevent the respondents from taking parts in all phases of the study

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Sussex: lead
• Sussex Mindfulness Centre: collaborator

Related Publications (8)

• Gu J, Strauss C, Crane C, Barnhofer T, Karl A, Cavanagh K, Kuyken W. Examining the factor structure of the 39-item and 15-item versions of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire before and after mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for people with recurrent depression. Psychol Assess. 2016 Jul;28(7):791-802. doi: 10.1037/pas0000263. Epub 2016 Apr 14.

  PMID: 27078186 BACKGROUND

• Easterbrook, M. J., Wright, M. L., Dittmar, H., & Banerjee, R. (2014). Consumer culture ideals, extrinsic motivations, and well-being in children. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44(4), 349-359. doi:10.1002/ejsp.2020

  BACKGROUND

• Fowler D, Freeman D, Smith B, Kuipers E, Bebbington P, Bashforth H, Coker S, Hodgekins J, Gracie A, Dunn G, Garety P. The Brief Core Schema Scales (BCSS): psychometric properties and associations with paranoia and grandiosity in non-clinical and psychosis samples. Psychol Med. 2006 Jun;36(6):749-59. doi: 10.1017/S0033291706007355. Epub 2006 Mar 27.

  PMID: 16563204 BACKGROUND

• Dittmar H, Beattie J, Friese S. Objects, decision considerations and self-image in men's and women's impulse purchases. Acta Psychol (Amst). 1996 Sep;93(1-3):187-206. doi: 10.1016/0001-6918(96)00019-4.

  PMID: 8826795 BACKGROUND

• Crocker J, Luhtanen RK, Cooper ML, Bouvrette A. Contingencies of self-worth in college students: theory and measurement. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2003 Nov;85(5):894-908. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.5.894.

  PMID: 14599252 BACKGROUND

• Gibbons FX, Buunk BP. Individual differences in social comparison: development of a scale of social comparison orientation. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1999 Jan;76(1):129-42. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.76.1.129.

  PMID: 9972558 BACKGROUND

• Mendelson BK, Mendelson MJ, White DR. Body-esteem scale for adolescents and adults. J Pers Assess. 2001 Feb;76(1):90-106. doi: 10.1207/S15327752JPA7601_6.

  PMID: 11206302 BACKGROUND

• Bjureberg J, Ljotsson B, Tull MT, Hedman E, Sahlin H, Lundh LG, Bjarehed J, DiLillo D, Messman-Moore T, Gumpert CH, Gratz KL. Development and Validation of a Brief Version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale: The DERS-16. J Psychopathol Behav Assess. 2016 Jun;38(2):284-296. doi: 10.1007/s10862-015-9514-x. Epub 2015 Sep 14.

  PMID: 27239096 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Psychological Well-Being

Interventions

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personal Satisfaction; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mindfulness; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Behavior Therapy; Psychotherapy; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities

Study Officials

• Helga Dittmar, DPhil

  University of Sussex

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

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

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 2, 2017
• First Posted: March 14, 2017
• Study Start: September 30, 2016
• Primary Completion: September 28, 2017
• Study Completion: September 28, 2017
• Last Updated: June 12, 2019

Record last verified: 2019-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share