Web-based Single-session Intervention of Mindset for Improving Pre-practicum Anxiety and Coping

NCT06509802 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: HSEARS20240512001
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 117
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Practicum is an essential educational component of professional training, however, the process can be challenging and sometimes frustrating, with obstacles such as the rigorous training process and mental distress. Being adequately prepared to confront the challenges and difficulties in practicum is crucial for the learning outcomes and psychological well-being of social work and/or counselling trainees. At the same time, mindset is found to be a modifiable factor in intervention, which is essential in clinical psychology, therapy, prevention, and early intervention. Instilling growth mindsets regarding intelligence, emotion, and failure-is-enhancing mindsets, respectively, is worthwhile in easing anxiety and stress coping. However, the existing intervention approaches lack of mindset integration, low intensity, distinctions of employees and interns, more objective and reliable outcome indictors and well-designed randomised controlled trials. Using a two-arm randomised controlled trial, the proposed study will examine the efficacy of a Web-based Single-session Intervention of Mindset on Intelligence, Failure, and Emotion (We-SMILE) on reducing anxiety related to practicum and improving mental health and practicum-related outcomes. A total of 117 students will be recruited from the social work and/or counselling programmes, and randomly assigned to existing pre-practicum training (Training As Usual, TAU) or that plus the We-SMILE. The intervention is 45 minutes in length. Participants will be assessed at three timepoints: baseline (T1), two weeks post-intervention (T2), and eight weeks post-intervention (T3). Patient and public involvement is adopted in the intervention design and implementation strategies. It is expected that the We-SMILE group will present lower anxiety related to practicum and more positive secondary outcomes (depression, anxiety, stress, psychological well-being, learning and performance orientation, academic self-efficacy, and confidence) compared to the TAU group. The intention-to-treat principle and linear-regression-based maximum likelihood multi-level models will be used for data analysis. The study will not only provide evidence on integrated mindset intervention for trainees' mental health and learning outcomes, but also benefit social work and/or counselling supervisors and programmes as an accessible module.

Conditions

Anxiety

Keywords

implicit theory; growth mindset; social work students; counselling students; practicum; anxiety

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Anxiety related to practicum

  Anxiety related to practicum will be measured by four items, including "level of anxiety about starting the practicum", "how much your anxiety will interfere with their learning", "how prepared you are for the practicum" and "how excited you are to participate in the practicum". Each statement will be rated on a 10-point Likert scale, ranging from 1=completely not anxious, very small, completely unprepared, and completely unexcited to 10=extremely anxious, very great, perfectly prepared, and extremely excited.

  Baseline

• Anxiety related to practicum

  Anxiety related to practicum will be measured by four items, including "level of anxiety about starting the practicum", "how much your anxiety will interfere with their learning", "how prepared you are for the practicum" and "how excited you are to participate in the practicum". Each statement will be rated on a 10-point Likert scale, ranging from 1=completely not anxious, very small, completely unprepared, and completely unexcited to 10=extremely anxious, very great, perfectly prepared, and extremely excited.

  Two-week post-intervention

• Anxiety related to practicum

  Anxiety related to practicum will be measured by four items, including "level of anxiety about starting the practicum", "how much your anxiety will interfere with their learning", "how prepared you are for the practicum" and "how excited you are to participate in the practicum". Each statement will be rated on a 10-point Likert scale, ranging from 1=completely not anxious, very small, completely unprepared, and completely unexcited to 10=extremely anxious, very great, perfectly prepared, and extremely excited.

  Eight-week post-intervention

Secondary Outcomes (15)

• Depression, anxiety and stress

  Baseline

• Depression, anxiety and stress

  Two-week post-intervention

• Depression, anxiety and stress

  Eight-week post-intervention

• Psychological well-being

  Baseline

• Psychological well-being

  Two-week post-intervention

Study Arms (2)

Web-based Single-session Intervention of Mindset on Intelligence, Failure, and Emotion (We-SMILE)

EXPERIMENTAL

We-SMILE introduces growth mindsets about intelligence, failure, and negative emotions to pre-practicum trainees, consisting of five components: (a) an introduction to a proactive mindset, including neuroplasticity, the malleability of intelligence and emotion, and the importance of failure and feedback in the learning process; (b) stories and testimonials during practicum which emphasise the belief in change; (c) short videos about allegories of developing intelligence, emotion, and failure mindsets; (d) common questions and misconceptions about growth mindsets; and (e) self-persuasive writing exercises in which participants write down their thoughts and suggestions for others about growth mindsets.

Behavioral: Web-based Single-session Intervention of Mindset on Intelligence, Failure, and Emotion (We-SMILE)

Training as usual group

NO INTERVENTION

The training-as-usual group will continue the normal training and will be provided with repeated assessments at the same timeframe as the intervention group. Participants in training-as-usual group will receive the intervention course after finishing the eight-week follow-up questionnaire.

Interventions

Web-based Single-session Intervention of Mindset on Intelligence, Failure, and Emotion (We-SMILE) BEHAVIORAL

This study will be a two-arm randomised controlled trial to examine the efficacy of the We-SMILE for pre-practicum social work and/or counselling students by comparing to the We-SMILE intervention group and the no-intervention training-as-usual group.

Web-based Single-session Intervention of Mindset on Intelligence, Failure, and Emotion (We-SMILE)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 24 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• are about to start the practicum soon;
• can read and write Chinese;
• consent to participate.

You may not qualify if:

• do not consent to participate;
• cannot concentrate for at least 45 minutes to complete the intervention and questionnaires;
• have a disability or serious physical or mental illness resulting in poor condition;
• do not participate in the practicum.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: lead

Study Sites (1)

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

RECRUITING

Related Publications (1)

• Wang Y, Xi A, Wong SSK, Yam K, Leung JTY, Zhu S. Efficacy of a Web-Based Integrated Growth Mindset Intervention on Reducing Anxiety Among Social Work and Counseling Practicum Trainees: Protocol for a 2-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 Mar 27;14:e67234. doi: 10.2196/67234.

  PMID: 40146991 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anxiety Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Shimin Zhu, PhD

  The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Shimin Zhu, PhD

CONTACT

+852 2766 5787; jasmine.zhu@polyu.edu.hk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 15, 2024
• First Posted: July 19, 2024
• Study Start: May 26, 2024
• Primary Completion: April 30, 2025
• Study Completion: July 1, 2025
• Last Updated: July 19, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

HK (1)