The Effects of Relational Letter Writing

NCT05194683 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: 1005988
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 68
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

The main objective of this research is to explore the relational letter writing technique as an intervention for improving couples' relational well-being. This is a two-arm superiority randomized clinical trial. Sixty-eight couples will be monitored before, during, and after the intervention. To observe the effect of the relational letter, scores of couples who are in the intervention arm and control arm will be compared (between groups) as well as pre-post scores (within-group). The content of the letter writing will be qualitatively analyzed to explore the reconstruction of their ethical values. Results from both methods will be integrated in order to get an in-depth perspective of the newly developed intervention. It is expected to increase the array of available techniques to help couples improve their individual and relational well-being.

Conditions

Relational Problems; Couples

Keywords

Relational Letter Writing; Narrative Therapy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change in Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS)

  The change of relational well-being will be evaluated with DAS (Spanier 1976, 2001), which is developed to provide a global measure of relational satisfaction of each member, has 32 items with 5-point, 6-point, 7-point Likert scales as well as two dichotomous items. Scores range from 0 to 151, higher scores indicating more dyadic adjustment.

  The change of relational wellbeing will be evaluated for a week before the intervention (baseline), after the first session of the interview, and with follow-ups (right after the intervention, 2 weeks, and 3 months after the intervention).

• Perceived Relational Change

  Single item measure, 7-point likert scale measuring perceived change in their relationship as a result fo the intervention

  Perceived relational change will be administrated at post intervention, 2 weeks and 3 months after the intervention

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation - Outcome Measure Spanish version (CORE-OM)

  Individual wellbeing will be evaluated for a week before the intervention (baseline), after the first session of the interview, and with follow-ups (right after the intervention, 2 weeks, and 3 months after the intervention).

• Change in Global Measure of Relational Satisfaction (GMRS)

  The change of relationship satisfaction will be evaluated a week before the intervention (baseline), after the first and second session of the interview, and with follow-ups (right after the intervention, 2 weeks, and 3 months after the intervention)

• Change in Outcome Rating Scale (ORS)

  Chance of session to session progress will be evaluated a week before the intervention (baseline), after the first and second session of the interview, and with follow-ups (right after the intervention, 2 weeks, and 3 months after the intervention).

Study Arms (2)

Letter Writing Arm

EXPERIMENTAL

Relational letter writing intervention

Behavioral: Relational Letter Writing

Control Arm

NO INTERVENTION

No intervention

Interventions

Relational Letter Writing BEHAVIORAL

The intervention consists of two interviews and a between-session writing task. In the first session, couples will be interviewed regarding their relationship story and preferences. Between the two sessions, each couple member will write a letter from their relationship point of view. In the second interview, the task is reviewed and paths for relationship improvement are outlined.

Letter Writing Arm

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Couples willing to participate in a relationship enhancing intervention
• Couples should have been living together at least for 12 months

You may not qualify if:

• Couples who are currently receiving any kind of psychotherapy
• Participants presenting severe psychological disorders (Psychosis, substance abuse, major depression)
• Presence of intimate partner violence or abuse
• Participants presenting cognitive impairment or disability impeding them from writing or answering written information
• High-conflicted couples as measured by the DAS (Scores below 70)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universitat Oberta de Catalunya: lead

Study Officials

• Adrian Montesano

  Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Adrian Montesano

CONTACT

0034934505225; amontesano@uoc.edu

Kevser Cakmak

CONTACT

0034644387345; kcakmak@uoc.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: Blinding of the participants will not be valid for the nature of the study and for therapists, on the other hand, they will be blinded to the hypothesis and research questions of the study.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assoc. Prof. Adrian Montesano

Model Details: This is a parallel, randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing two arms: intervention and wait-list control.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 14, 2021
• First Posted: January 18, 2022
• Study Start: June 15, 2022
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2022
• Study Completion: May 31, 2023
• Last Updated: May 18, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL
• Time Frame: Data will be available after six months of study completion
• Access Criteria: Researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal whose proposed use of the data has been approved by an independent review committee