Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults

NCT06507826 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: 2021-193-AH
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 652
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this study was to test an online writing intervention to encourage a self-compassionate mindset in family caregivers of older adults. The main aims were to answer the questions:

• Writing with self-compassion would increase self-compassion.
• Writing with self-compassion would improve mood. Researchers compared self-compassion components (self-kindness, which involves a gentle and non-judgemental approach to oneself at times of difficulty; common humanity, which includes recognising one's difficulties as part of a shared human experience; mindfulness, which includes noticing difficult feelings without becoming overwhelmed by them) to see which combinations achieved the best outcomes. Participants wrote with different combinations of self-compassion components together, such as mindfulness and common humanity or mindfulness and self-kindness. Participants also wrote with self-kindness, common humanity, or mindfulness separately.

Conditions

Self-Compassion; Control

Keywords

Mindfulness; Self-kindness; Common humanity; Self-compassion

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Self-kindness measured with the State Self-Compassion Scale (Neff et al., 2021)

  Scores closer to 5 expected on a scale of 1 to 5

  State measured immediately after intervention

• Common humanity measured with the State Self-Compassion Scale (Neff et al., 2021)

  Scores closer to 5 expected on a scale of 1 to 5

  State measured immediately after intervention

• Mindfulness measured with the State Self-Compassion Scale (Neff et al., 2021)

  Scores closer to 5 expected on a scale of 1 to 5

  State measured immediately after intervention

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Guilt measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson and Clark, 1999)

  State measured immediately after intervention

• Sadness measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson and Clark, 1999)

  State measured immediately after intervention

• Serenity measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson and Clark, 1999)

  State measured immediately after intervention

Study Arms (11)

Control

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Descriptive writing.

Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults

Mindfulness

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Writing with mindfulness.

Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults

Mindfulness with Self-Kindness

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Writing with mindfulness and self-kindness.

Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults

Mindfulness with Common Humanity

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Writing with mindfulness and common humanity.

Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults

Control with Timed Response

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Descriptive writing.

Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults

Mindfulness with Timed Response

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Writing with mindfulness.

Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults

Self-Kindness with Timed Response

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Writing with self-kindness.

Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults

Common Humanity with Timed Response

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Writing with common humanity.

Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults

Revised Control

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Descriptive writing.

Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults

Self-Compassion

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Writing with mindfulness, self-kindness, and common humanity.

Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults

Self-Compassion Without Mindfulness

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Writing with self-kindness and common humanity.

Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults

Interventions

Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults BEHAVIORAL

Self-compassionate writing focusing on one or more self-compassion components (mindfulness, self-kindness, common humanity).

Common Humanity with Timed Response; Control; Control with Timed Response; Mindfulness; Mindfulness with Common Humanity; Mindfulness with Self-Kindness; Mindfulness with Timed Response; Revised Control; Self-Compassion; Self-Compassion Without Mindfulness; Self-Kindness with Timed Response

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 100 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Family carer.
• Caring for a person over 65 years of age.
• Participants over 18 years of age.

You may not qualify if:

• Professional carers.
• Caring person under 65 years of age.
• Participants under 18 years of age.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Farah Wiita: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Reading

Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AL, United Kingdom

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Neff, K. D., Tóth-Király, I., Knox, M. C., Kuchar, A., & Davidson, O. (2021). The development and validation of the state self-compassion scale (long-and short form). Mindfulness, 12, 121-140.

  RESULT

• Watson, David & Clark, Lee. (1999). The PANAS-X: Manual for the positive and negative affect schedule-expanded form. Psychology Publications.

  RESULT

Study Officials

• Aileen K Ho, PhD

  University of Reading

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Masking Details: Participants were unaware of condition assignment until after the study.
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: PhD Candidate

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 5, 2024
• First Posted: July 18, 2024
• Study Start: February 18, 2022
• Primary Completion: November 15, 2022
• Study Completion: November 15, 2022
• Last Updated: July 18, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: SAP, ICF, CSR, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Data will become available on publication of the research report. It will be made available for 5 years.
• Access Criteria: Access permitted under the conditions of the informed consent agreement.

Locations

GB (1)