Campus Life Study: Harnessing Generativity Among Young Adults

NCT04207528 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: IRB#19-002092
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 165
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Recent research suggests that short, online interventions can enhance well-being, which is beneficial to both physical and mental health outcomes. Further, growing evidence suggests that prosocial behavior-a behavior that can be reliably manipulated through a short online intervention-may have beneficial effects on well-being and physical health. Giving support to others appears to be just as beneficial as receiving support, and asking people to perform kind acts for others over the course of several weeks, for example, has been shown to both increase well-being and reduce the inflammatory potential of immune cells. The purpose of the current study is to test a novel 3-week, online prosocial writing-based intervention in a sample of young adults. Previous intervention studies have manipulated prosocial behavior by asking participants to perform tangible acts of kindness for others, such as writing a note to a coworker or helping a neighbor. However, providing this type of direct support can be logistically challenging and may contribute to increased feelings of distress in certain contexts. Writing interventions designed to elicit feelings of generativity offer one alternative approach, though they have yet to be tested among young adults. Participants (n = 200) will be randomized to one of two conditions--peer helping or a facts-only control--and instructed to write about their experiences in their first-year at UCLA (freshman or first-year after transfer). Those in the peer helping will be asked to write for the benefit of a student who is about to begin their first year, whereas those in the facts-only control will not. In total, participants will complete 4 writing assignments, each on a separate day over the course of one week. Valid self-report measures will be assessed at pre-intervention, each writing session, post-intervention, and at the 2-week follow-up. The investigators expect participants in the peer helping condition to experience a greater increase in well-being (primary outcome) across the intervention and the follow-up when compared to the control condition. Secondary outcomes will include depressive symptoms, anxiety, loneliness, physical symptoms, social support, and generativity. As an exploratory aim, will also assess several moderators (i.e., psychological distress, prosocial tendencies, generativity) and mediators (i.e., fulfillment of psychological needs, positive affect) of the intervention effects.

Conditions

Healthy Young Adults

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in psychological well-being

  Well-being within the past week will be measured at baseline, post-intervention, and the 2-week follow-up via the 14-item Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF). The MHC-SF is comprised of three empirically derived subscales: the 3-item Emotional Well-Being Subscale, the 6-item Psychological Well-Being Subscale, and the 5-item Social Well-Being Subscale. Higher scores on each subscale, and the total score overall (range: 0-56), indicate greater well-being.

  At the baseline survey (1 day before the intervention begins), at the post-intervention survey (2 days after the final writing assignment), and and at the 2-week follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (9)

• Change in depressive symptoms

  At the baseline survey (1 day before the intervention begins), at the post-intervention survey (2 days after the final writing assignment), and and at the 2-week follow-up

• Change in anxiety and worry

  At the baseline survey (1 day before the intervention begins), at the post-intervention survey (2 days after the final writing assignment), and and at the 2-week follow-up

• Change in loneliness

  At the baseline survey (1 day before the intervention begins), at the post-intervention survey (2 days after the final writing assignment), and and at the 2-week follow-up

• Change in physical symptoms and health-care center visits

  At the baseline survey (1 day before the intervention begins), at the post-intervention survey (2 days after the final writing assignment), and and at the 2-week follow-up

• Change in sleep disturbance

  At the baseline survey (1 day before the intervention begins), at the post-intervention survey (2 days after the final writing assignment), and and at the 2-week follow-up

Other Outcomes (1)

• Prosocial Tendencies (Moderator)

  At the baseline survey (1 day before the intervention begins)

Study Arms (2)

Peer Helping Condition

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in the peer helping condition will be asked to write about their experiences in their first-year at UCLA (freshman or first-year after post-transfer), with an emphasis on using the experience to benefit someone who is about to be a first-year student.

Behavioral: Writing

Facts-only Control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants in the facts-only writing condition will be asked to write facts about their experiences in their first-year at UCLA (freshman or first-year post-transfer). Unlike the previous conditions, they will not be instructed to write for the benefit of another individual.

Behavioral: Writing

Interventions

Writing BEHAVIORAL

After completing the baseline questionnaire, participants will be randomized to one of two conditions-a peer helping condition or a facts-only writing control. Participants will receive general instructions for completing the writing sessions and will be asked to write for at least 5 minutes per session. Topics covered in each session will vary and are related to common themes relating to life as a first-year university student (e.g., academics, adjusting to university, etc.). Participants will be instructed not to worry about grammar, spelling, or sentence structure and reminded that their responses will remain anonymous. Writing sessions (four in total) will be spaced 1 day apart and take place all within the same week.

Facts-only Control; Peer Helping Condition

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• enrolled in an upper-division psychology course
• years of age or older
• fluent in English
• access to the internet and email

You may not qualify if:

• none

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, Los Angeles: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California, 90095, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Functional Laterality

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Dominance, Cerebral; Nervous System Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 13, 2019
• First Posted: December 23, 2019
• Study Start: January 6, 2020
• Primary Completion: February 10, 2020
• Study Completion: February 10, 2020
• Last Updated: February 12, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-02

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)