An Initial Test of Prototype Mobile App Interventions for Decluttering

NCT06108245 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: IRB-23-253
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 116
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The aim of the study is to investigate whether values clarification writing prompts administered via a prototype mobile application can help enhance motivation and facilitate decluttering in individuals with hoarding problems. This randomized control trial will help to (1) assess whether values clarification can improve outcomes in hoarding treatment by increasing motivation, (2) clarify which specific values clarification procedures are most beneficial, and (3) evaluate the impact of values clarification on overall symptoms and well-being. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the experimental group (receiving the values clarification intervention), psychological placebo group (self-reflection intervention), or the no intervention waitlist group.

Conditions

Hoarding

Keywords

Clutter; Values Clarification; mHealth; Mobile app; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Saving Inventory - Revised (SI-R; Frost et al., 2004)

  A self-report measure of hoarding symptoms grouped into three factors: excessive acquisition, difficulty discarding, and clutter. The SI-R consists of 23 items that are rated on a scale from 0 (e.g., no distress) to 4 (e.g., extreme distress). Scores range from 0 to 92, with higher scores indicate greater endorsement of hoarding disorder symptoms.

  Baseline, Posttreatment (4 weeks after baseline) and Follow-up (8 weeks after baseline)

Secondary Outcomes (15)

• Sheehan Disability Scale (Sheehan, Harnett-Sheehan, & Raj, 1996)

  Baseline, Posttreatment (4 weeks after baseline) and Follow-up (8 weeks after baseline)

• Activities of Daily Living in Hoarding Scale (ADL-H; Frost et al., 2013)

  Baseline, Posttreatment (4 weeks after baseline) and Follow-up (8 weeks after baseline)

• Values Clarity Questionnaire (VCQ; McLoughlin et al., unpublished manuscript)

  Baseline, Posttreatment (4 weeks after baseline) and Follow-up (8 weeks after baseline)

• Valuing Questionnaire (VQ; Smout et al., 2013)

  Baseline, Posttreatment (4 weeks after baseline) and Follow-up (8 weeks after baseline)

• Acceptance and Action Questionnaire for Hoarding (AAQH; Krafft et al., 2019)

  Baseline, Posttreatment (4 weeks after baseline) and Follow-up (8 weeks after baseline)

Study Arms (3)

Values Clarification Condition

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will be asked to respond to values clarification prompts twice a day over 28 days \[4 weeks\]. In each session, participants will receive a randomly assigned writing prompt from a pool of four categories: hierarchical, conditional, distinction, and perspective-taking prompts. In the initial session, participants will be asked to respond to a brief set of questions pertaining to their hoarding behavior in the past 12 hours and their motivation to declutter right now. From that point on, participants will respond to a brief set of questions before each writing prompt pertaining to their hoarding behaviors in the time since the previous writing prompt. After the writing prompt, they will be asked about how motivated they are to declutter right now. Each writing prompt is anticipated to take up to 10 minutes to complete and participants will receive notifications to use the app twice daily in addition email reminders twice a week to engage with the app.

Behavioral: Values Clarification Mobile Application

Self-Reflection Condition

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Participants in this condition will be asked to respond to a set of randomly selected self-reflection prompts twice a day over 28 days \[4 weeks\]. As with the experimental condition, participants in the initial session will be asked to respond to a brief set of questions pertaining to their hoarding behavior in the past 12 hours and their motivation to declutter right now. From that point on, participants will be asked to respond to a brief set of questions before each writing prompt pertaining to their hoarding behaviors in the time since the previous writing prompt. After the writing prompt, they will be asked about how motivated they are to declutter right now. Each writing prompt is anticipated to take up to 10 minutes to complete, and participants will receive notifications to use the app twice daily in addition to email reminders twice a week to engage with the app.

Behavioral: Self-Reflection Mobile Application

Waitlist Condition

NO INTERVENTION

Participants assigned to the waitlist will not receive access to any intervention for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, they will receive access to either the values clarification or self-reflection mobile application.

Interventions

Values Clarification Mobile Application BEHAVIORAL

Participants in the intervention group will be asked to answer a series of values clarification writing prompts twice a day over four weeks.

Values Clarification Condition

Self-Reflection Mobile Application BEHAVIORAL

Participants in the psychological placebo group will be administered writing prompts in the same format and frequency as the values intervention, but with prompts focused on self-reflection related to clutter and organization.

Self-Reflection Condition

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• years or older.
• Living in the USA.
• Owning an Android or iOS mobile device.
• Meeting the clinical cutoff scores for the Saving Inventory-Revised and Clutter Image Rating scales.
• Seeking help for clutter and/or hoarding.
• Interested in testing a self-help prototype mobile app intervention.

You may not qualify if:

• years or younger.
• Living outside the USA.
• Not owning an Android or iOS mobile device.
• Scoring below the clinical cutoff scores for the Saving Inventory-Revised and Clutter Image Rating scales.
• Not seeking help for clutter and/or hoarding.
• Not interested in testing a self-help prototype mobile app intervention.
• Not having the fluency in English sufficient to understand study materials.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Mississippi State University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Mindfulness and Acceptance Processes Lab

Starkville, Mississippi, 39759, United States

Location

Related Publications (14)

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  BACKGROUND

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• Diener E, Emmons RA, Larsen RJ, Griffin S. The Satisfaction With Life Scale. J Pers Assess. 1985 Feb;49(1):71-5. doi: 10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13.

  PMID: 16367493 BACKGROUND

• Frost RO, Hristova V, Steketee G, Tolin DF. Activities of Daily Living Scale in Hoarding Disorder. J Obsessive Compuls Relat Disord. 2013 Apr 1;2(2):85-90. doi: 10.1016/j.jocrd.2012.12.004. Epub 2012 Dec 25.

  PMID: 23482436 BACKGROUND

• Frost RO, Steketee G, Grisham J. Measurement of compulsive hoarding: saving inventory-revised. Behav Res Ther. 2004 Oct;42(10):1163-82. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2003.07.006.

  PMID: 15350856 BACKGROUND

• Frost, R. O., Steketee, G., Tolin, D. F., & Renaud, S. (2008). Development and validation of the clutter image rating. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 30, 193-203.

  BACKGROUND

• Henry JD, Crawford JR. The short-form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21): construct validity and normative data in a large non-clinical sample. Br J Clin Psychol. 2005 Jun;44(Pt 2):227-39. doi: 10.1348/014466505X29657.

  PMID: 16004657 BACKGROUND

• Kelley, M. L., Heffer, R. W., Gresham, F. M., & Elliott, S. N. (1989). Development of a modified treatment evaluation inventory. Journal of psychopathology and behavioral assessment, 11, 235-247.

  BACKGROUND

• Bangor, A., Kortum, P. T., & Miller, J. T. (2008). An empirical evaluation of the system usability scale. Intl. Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 24(6), 574-594.

  BACKGROUND

• Krafft, J., & Levin, M. E. (2021). Does the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire measure more than frequency of negative thoughts?. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 22, 63-67.

  BACKGROUND

• Krafft, J., Ong, C. W., Twohig, M. P., & Levin, M. E. (2019). Assessing psychological inflexibility in hoarding: The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire for Hoarding (AAQH). Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 12, 234-242.

  BACKGROUND

• McLoughlin, S., Stapleton, A., & Hochard, K. D. (2022). Development and preliminary validation of the Value Clarity Questionnaire. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/u97q3

  BACKGROUND

• Sheehan DV, Harnett-Sheehan K, Raj BA. The measurement of disability. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 1996 Jun;11 Suppl 3:89-95. doi: 10.1097/00004850-199606003-00015.

  PMID: 8923116 BACKGROUND

• Smout, M., Davies, M., Burns, N., & Christie, A. (2014). Development of the valuing questionnaire (VQ). Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 3(3), 164-172.

  BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Hoarding; Speech Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior; Language Disorders; Communication Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Jennifer Krafft, PhD

  Mississippi State University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Model Details: Participants will be randomly assigned with equal likelihood to receive the values clarification prototype mobile application, the self-reflection prototype mobile application, or no treatment. After 8 weeks, participants who are in the no treatment group will be able to access both applications, and participants in either app group will be able to access the other app.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 4, 2023
• First Posted: October 30, 2023
• Study Start: November 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: November 29, 2024
• Study Completion: December 5, 2024
• Last Updated: January 8, 2025

Record last verified: 2024-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL
• Time Frame: Within one year of the end of data collection, and remaining available indefinitely
• Access Criteria: There are no specific access criteria. The request must have a valid research-related purpose.

Locations

US (1)