Savor-Aging: the Art of Savoring Positive Emotions

NCT06842628 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 128/24
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 46
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study is part of the larger project to promote positive aging (PNRR Age-IT Project) in the elderly through the amplification of positive experiences and emotions. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary effects in terms of effectiveness of the "Savoring: the art of savoring positive emotions project", which is a self-help e-savoring training aimed at increasing psychological and subjective well-being in elderly participants. As secondary goals, this study aims to decrease depression and feelings of loneliness. An additional objective is to investigate user experience regarding the online protocol. A between-subjects design will be used.

Conditions

Aging Well; Positive Affect

Keywords

Savoring; Positive Aging; Positive Emotions; Positive Technology; Self-help

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS)

  This scale was designed by Diener and colleagues (1985; Italian version: Di Fabio \& Busoni, 2009) to investigate life satisfaction and consists of 5 items that can be answered through a 7-step Likert scale ranging from 1 "strongly disagree" to 7 "strongly agree."

  This questionnaire will be administered in T0 (baseline), T1 (post intervention - after 3 weeks) and T2 (one-month follow up).

• Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences (SPANE)

  This self-report scale consists of 12 items and was developed by Diener and colleagues (2010; Italian version: Corno, Molinari, \& Baños, 2016) to measure positive and negative affect. It is composed of two sub-scales: the first refers to positive emotions (6 items: positive, good, pleasant, happy, joyful, satisfied) and the second to negative emotions (6 items: negative, bad, unpleasant, sad, fearful, angry). It can be answered through a 5-step Likert scale where 1 means "very rarely or never" and 5 means "very often or always."

  This questionnaire will be administered in T0 (baseline), T1 (post-intervention - after 3 weeks) and T2 (one-month follow-up).

• Flourishing Scale (FS)

  This scale, developed by Ryan and Deci (2001; Italian version Di Fabio, 2010), aims to investigate the elements that make up psychological well-being, including relationships, self-esteem, life purpose and optimism. It consists of 8 items and each is positively worded and responses are measured on a 7-step Likert scale, where 1 means "strongly disagree" and 7 means "strongly agree." The score range is from 8 to 56.

  his questionnaire will be administered in stages T0 (baseline), T1 (post-intervention - after 3 weeks) and T2 (one-month follow-up)

Secondary Outcomes (7)

• DeJong Gierveld Loneliness Scale

  This instrument will be administered in T0 (baseline), T1 (post-intervention - after 3 weeks) and T2 (one-month follow-up).

• Center for Epidemiologic Studies- Depression Scale (CES-D)

  This scale will be administered in T0 (baseline), T1 (post-intervention - after 3 weeks) and T2 (one-month follow up).

• Perceived Usefulness and Pleasantness of the Exercises

  Immediately after each of the 6 activities of the training

• User Experience

  This questionnaire will be administered at T1 (post-intervention - after 3 weeks from baseline).

• Perceived Usefulness of the Training

  This questionnaire will be administered at T1 (post-intervention - after 3 weeks from baseline).

Study Arms (2)

E-Savoring Group

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will complete the online savoring training for 3 weeks, by doing 2 activities per week. The exercises will be focused on savoring past, present and future time.

Other: Savoring

Emotional Induction group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants will complete six emotional induction exercises.

Other: Positive Emotional Induction

Interventions

Savoring OTHER

Participants will follow an e-savoring training for 3 weeks. The first week will be focused on savoring past positive experiences (positive reminiscence and life lessons); the second week will be focused on savoring the present (absorption during an activity and writing a letter of gratitude to a significant person); and the third week will be focused on savoring the future (anticipating positive future events and making kind gestures to a significant person). After each activity, they will be guided to reflect and savor the positive emotions that emerge from the activity. The participants will complete some questionnaires at baseline, post-intervention, and in the one-month follow-up.

E-Savoring Group

Positive Emotional Induction OTHER

Participants will follow a positive emotional induction training for 3 weeks, with 2 exercises per week. The first week, they will listen to a piece of music and watch a video that elicits positive emotions; the second week, they will do an activity that they particularly enjoy in solitude and listen to a narrative about gratitude; the third week, they will listen to a narrative about hope and carry out an activity they like with a loved one. The participants will complete some questionnaires at baseline, post-intervention, and in the one-month follow-up.

Emotional Induction group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 60 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age over 60
• Adequate understanding of the Italian language
• Possession of a technological tool to be able to access the Internet

You may not qualify if:

• Having a score below 26 on the MMSE that will be administered by telephone (Itel-MMSE) before division into the two groups. The Itel-MMSE scores will be converted into MMSE scores.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Catholic University of the Sacred Heart: lead

Study Sites (1)

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Milan, Italy

Location

Related Publications (4)

• Villani D, Pancini E, Pesce F, Scuzzarella L. Savoring life during pandemic: an online intervention to promote well-being in emerging adults. BMC Psychol. 2023 Jul 4;11(1):196. doi: 10.1186/s40359-023-01225-z.

  PMID: 37403128 BACKGROUND

• Salces-Cubero IM, Ramirez-Fernandez E, Ortega-Martinez AR. Strengths in older adults: differential effect of savoring, gratitude and optimism on well-being. Aging Ment Health. 2019 Aug;23(8):1017-1024. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2018.1471585. Epub 2018 May 21.

  PMID: 29781723 BACKGROUND

• Gaggioli A, Villani D, Serino S, Banos R, Botella C. Editorial: Positive Technology: Designing E-experiences for Positive Change. Front Psychol. 2019 Jul 9;10:1571. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01571. eCollection 2019. No abstract available.

  PMID: 31338053 BACKGROUND

• Bryant FB, Osowski KA, Smith JL. Gratitude as a Mediator of the Effects of Savoring on Positive Adjustment to Aging. Int J Aging Hum Dev. 2021 Apr;92(3):275-300. doi: 10.1177/0091415020919999. Epub 2020 May 5.

  PMID: 32370635 BACKGROUND

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: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 13, 2025
• First Posted: February 24, 2025
• Study Start: February 24, 2025
• Primary Completion: June 30, 2025
• Study Completion: June 30, 2025
• Last Updated: August 22, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

IT (1)