Single Session Intervention for Building Self-Compassion Habits-RCT

NCT05199779 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2021-12-14924
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 135
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The study will test a single session self-compassion intervention that leverages an ultra-brief contemplative exercise. It will evaluate the effect of this intervention on psychopathology, stress, growth mindset, positive affect, self-compassion and the automaticity of self-compassion, as well as the relationships between these constructs and the automaticity of self-compassion. The participants will be undergraduate students at a large public university.

Conditions

Transdiagnostic Psychopathology

Keywords

Self-Compassion; Habits; Transdiagnostic; Intervention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (6)

• Sussex-Oxford Compassion for the Self Scale (SOCS-S)

  Sum of 20-item, 5-point response scale. Scores can range from 20 to 100 (Higher score means higher compassion for self). Sub-scale items included.

  Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

• Kind of Person' Implicit Theory Scale (KOPITS)

  8 items. 6-point response scale (1 = strongly agree; 6 = strongly disagree) Higher scores indicate a more growth mindset. Lower scores indicate a more fixed mindset. Score is sum of all items, with Q3, Q5, Q7, and Q8 reverse-scored. The formula for reverse-scoring an item is: ((Number of scale points) + 1) - (Respondent's answer)

  Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

• Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)

  10 items with a 6 point response scale. Positive affect sub-scale only. Scoring: Positive Affect Score: Sum score of 1, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, and 19. Scores range from 10 - 50. Higher scores = higher levels of positive affect. Negative Affect Score: Sum score of 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 18, and 20. Scores range from 10 - 50. Lower scores = lower levels of negative affect.

  Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

• 10-item Perceived-Stress Scale (PSS-10)

  10 items, 5 point response scale (from 0 = Never to 4 = Very Often) Scoring: Reverse score (e.g., 0 = 4, 1 = 3, 2 = 2, 3 = 1 \& 4 = 0) items 4, 5, 7, \& 8 and then summing across all scale items.

  Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

• DSM-5 Cross-Cutting Measure (DSM-XC)

  22 items (suicidality item Q11 removed). 5-point scale (0=none or not at all; 1=slight or rare, less than a day or two; 2=mild or several days; 3=moderate or more than half the days; and 4=severe or nearly every day).

  Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

• Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index for Self-Compassion

  20 items. 1-9 scale.

  Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• State Self-Compassion Scale Long Form (SSCS-L)

  Change from pre-induction to post-induction at baseline and at post-treatment (week 4). Change in pre to post-induction changes in state self-compassion from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

• Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index for Exercise

  Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

• Real Self Overlap Scale

  Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

Other Outcomes (5)

• Practice Frequency

  Assessed at Post-treatment (week 4)

• Overall Practice Frequency

  Assessed at Post-treatment (week 4)

• Practice Duration

  Assessed at Post-treatment (week 4)

Study Arms (2)

Self-Compassion Intervention (SCI)

EXPERIMENTAL

First, participants will be taught to implement a 20-second self-compassion induction via video recording. Second, participants will be taught to choose a cue that will precede their daily use of the self-compassion induction. Participants will document the cue they chose, and will be emailed a record of their selected cue, along with the recording and transcript of the self-compassion induction that they can refer back to for reference. Third, participants will be asked to use the self-compassion induction as much as they can and at least once during their daily routine following exposure to their chosen cue.

Behavioral: Single Session Intervention Leveraging an Ultra-Brief Self-Compassion Exercise

Finger-Tapping Active Control (AC)

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

The active control will receive the same procedures as described above, except for receiving a different video containing different instructions describing a finger-tapping exercise. The videos will be virtually identical in length, quality, instructor/their outfit, and lighting.

Behavioral: Finger-Tapping Active Control

Interventions

Single Session Intervention Leveraging an Ultra-Brief Self-Compassion Exercise BEHAVIORAL

This 20-second contemplative exercise includes draws from the science of habit formation and includes elements of self-soothing touch, somatic experiencing, and mindful self-compassion.

Self-Compassion Intervention (SCI)

Finger-Tapping Active Control BEHAVIORAL

This 20-second finger tapping exercise involves touching each finger to the thumb on one hand and repeating for twenty seconds. This intervention was designed to control for the potential effect of assessment on outcomes, the effect of having an activity to do for the duration of the intervention (4 weeks), regression to the mean, time, or other nonspecific factors.

Finger-Tapping Active Control (AC)

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• years of age or older.
• English language proficiency.
• Able and willing to give informed consent.

You may not qualify if:

• Does not have email address or access to email.
• Not able/willing to participate in and/or complete the pre-treatment assessments

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, Berkeley: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of California at Berkeley

Berkeley, California, 94720-1650, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Susman ES, Chen S, Kring AM, Harvey AG. Daily micropractice can augment single-session interventions: A randomized controlled trial of self-compassionate touch and examining their associations with habit formation in US college students. Behav Res Ther. 2024 Apr;175:104498. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2024.104498. Epub 2024 Feb 21.

  PMID: 38412573 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Habits

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Allison Harvey, PhD

  University of California, Berkeley

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Eli S Susman, BA

  University of California, Berkeley

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Masking Details: To reduce bias in the assessments, none of the constructs of interest to this study (e.g., "stress", "self-compassion") will be included in the language used to describe the intervention or in any materials used to advertise the study. Study participants will be told they are participating in a study on "fostering emotional well-being". No further information about the intervention will be provided.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor of Clinical Psychology

Model Details: Participants will be randomized to the SCI or AC control using the randomizer elements in Qualtrics.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 5, 2022
• First Posted: January 20, 2022
• Study Start: February 13, 2022
• Primary Completion: April 29, 2022
• Study Completion: April 29, 2022
• Last Updated: May 17, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-05

Locations

US (1)