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Completed

NCT Number: NCT06004531

Planetary Health and Loneliness

The aim of this 3-phase study is the evaluation of planetary health behaviors and its cognitive processes in relation to levels of eco-anxiety, general well-being, and levels of loneliness. As climate change progresses at a dangerous rate, it is important to establish and maintain lifestyles that are productive, fulfilling, environmentally conscious, and low in anxiety. Through a better understanding of the interconnected nature of planetary health behaviors with other aspects of healthy living and perception of social isolation, and the effect of an intervention, this research will add to current state of science to help inform the creation of interventions promoting sustainable, healthy, happy living among the general public and specific subgroups.

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Key information

Conditions

Loneliness Anxiety Anxiety Disorders Behavior COVID-19 Choice Behavior Coronaviridae Infections Coronavirus Infections Health Behavior Health-Related Behavior Healthy Diet Healthy Lifestyle Healthy Nutrition Infections Lung Diseases Mental Disorders Nidovirales Infections Pneumonia Pneumonia, Viral RNA Virus Infections Respiratory Tract Diseases Respiratory Tract Infections Virus Diseases

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Germany

Bremen, 28759, Germany

About this study

The aim of this study with three phases is the evaluation of healthy behaviors and its cognitive processes, and anxiety levels in relation to selected physical, mental, and environmental health aspects by means of online survey in (1) general population and (2) rehabiliation setting as well as with (3) an experimental design with students/ see section "Arms and Interventions".

The umbrella terminology of "planetary health" is used in the context of this study. As climate change progresses at a dangerous rate, it is important to establish and maintain lifestyles that are productive, fulfilling, environmentally conscious, and low in anxiety and stress. By evaluating prevalence of healthy behaviors and levels of eco-anxiety as well as loneliness as one early indicator of health risk, this study hopes to build on existing public health knowledge to develop interventions targeting and encouraging multiple aspects of healthy, eco-friendly lifestyles. This study will also help later intervention design by determining effective methods of persuasion and promotion of sustainable planetary health behaviors.

Main research questions are

*Phase 1/general population*

I. Is climate-awareness (in terms of EMCB, YCSCB and Mindful Health) more likely to also increase motivation to promote own health (in terms of physical activity and healthy nutrition)?

*Phase 1/general population*

II. What is the (non-)linear relationship between eco-anxiety and climate-sensitiveness/health behavior?

*Phase 1/general population and Phase 2/rehabiliation setting*

III. Is climate-sensitiveness and eco-anxiety invariant to socio-demographic variables such as clinic, gender, occupation, and age? (No differences)

*Phase 2/rehabiliation setting*

IV. To what extent are pattern in medical rehabilitation different from the general population?

*Phase 3/students and experiment-based*

VI. Does priming eco-anxiety lead individuals to process eco-health-related decisions more deliberately and to make more decisions beneficial to eco-health?

*Phase 3/students and experiment-based*

VII. Is an intervention leading individuals to make more behavioral decisions beneficial to personal and ecological health?

*Phase 3/students and experiment-based*

VIII. Does environmental anxiety induction interact with ROC-T intervention? How does ecological anxiety initiation or intervention effect manifest through changes in the parameters of the drift-diffusion model to reflect changes in the decision-making process?

*Phase 3/students and experiment-based*

IX. Do the observed effects on personal health decisions extend (transfer) to the ecological choice domain?

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Ability to participate in surveys (e.g., sufficient German or English language skills)

Exclusion criteria

  • Not being of age
  • Illiteracy
  • Massively limited cognitive abilities (linguistic components of the digital offerings must be able to be used and questionnaires completed or interviews participated in)

Treatment and study plan

Regulation Of Craving Training (ROC-T)

Behavioral

Participants read a 5-minute article on food and ecological health describing the environmental impacts of food choices and actions to support planetary health. During a subsequent choice task, participants received prompts to recall article content and self-monitor their selections.

Control Group

Behavioral

Control participants read a time-matched article unrelated to sustainability (no multi-domain pro-environmental behaviors including transportation, consumption, and daily activities; just on the beauty of the German nature) and completed the choice task without recall prompts.

Primary outcomes

  1. Young Consumers' Sustainable Consumption Behaviors (YCSCB) validated scale

    Time frame: This scale will take approximately 2 minutes to fill out completely.

    The primary outcome measure will be the YCSCB validated scale questionnaire. This will be given to participants right after they have completed the intervention section of the survey.

    The answering options range from "Never" (0, minimum score) to "Sometimes" (1) and "Often" (2) up to "Always" (3, maximum score). The items are worded

    • I eat meat (steak, ham, etc.).
    • I eat dairy products (butter, cheese, yoghurt, etc.).
    • I keep a healthy diet.
    • There are times when I discard food products.
    • I buy locally grown food products.
    • I reuse my leftovers for the next meal. and items # 1, 2 and 4 need to be reversed, then all items can be used as single items or as aggregated scales, with higher scores indicating a better outcome in terms of planetary health.

  2. Ethically Minded Consumer Behavior (EMCB) validated scale

    Time frame: This scale will take approximately 2 minutes to fill out completely.

    The second primary outcome measure will be the EMCB validated scale questionnaire. This will be given to participants right after they have completed the intervention section of the survey.

    The answering options range from "Never true" (0, minimum score) to "Rarely true" (1), "Sometimes true" (2), "Mostly true" (3) and "Always true" (4, maximum score). The items are worded (for instance) 1. When there is a choice, I always choose the product that contributes to the least amount of environmental damage.

    • I have switched products for environmental reasons. 3. If I understand the potential damage to the environment that some products can cause, I do not purchase those products.

    ... 10. I have paid more for socially responsible products when there is a cheaper alternative.

    All items can be used as single items or as aggregated scales, with higher scores indicating a better outcome in terms of planetary health.

  3. Loneliness item from the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression-(CES D)-Scale

    Time frame: This item will take less than 1 minute to complete.

    To study some of the research questions unrelated to the intervention, the perceived social isolation is measured with a standardized scale building on the item in the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression-(CES-D)-Scale. The item is worded "How often did you feel lonely?" with the answering options "Daily" (3), "Several times a week" (2), "Once a week" (1) and "Rarely/never" (0).

    The item can be used as single items, with higher scores indicating a worse outcome in terms of more loneliness.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Jacobs University Bremen gGmbH

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Planetary Health and Loneliness: Survey and Mini-intervention to Study the Interrelations of Multiple Behavior Change and Perception of Social Isolation

Acronym: PAL

Important dates

Study start
2024
Primary completion
2024
Study completion
2025
First posted
Aug 22, 2023
Registry last updated
Sep 11, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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