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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03322397

Adolescent Acts of Kindness Intervention

Adolescents will complete a 4-week intervention, during which they will either complete a kind act for others, complete a kind act for themselves, or report their daily activities three days per week. Psychological and physiological measures will be indexed before and after the intervention.

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Key information

Conditions

Inflammation Behavior Mental Health Wellness 1 Pathologic Processes Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Personal Satisfaction Psychological Well-Being

Age range

14 year–17 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Adolescent Development Lab at UCLA

Los Angeles, California, 90066, United States

About this study

Stress and early adversity have been found to influence immune function via enhanced expression of the conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA) genetic profile. Expression of this genetic profile was reduced in adults who completed a prosocial behavior intervention. This project aims to implement this intervention in adolescents. 90 high school students will be recruited and assigned to one of three groups (30/group). Participants will either conduct 3 acts of kindness for themselves, conduct 3 acts of kindness for others, or report about their day 3 times per week for 4 weeks. During this intervention, they will receive text messages 3 days per week instructing them to complete their respective act. Participants will provide a brief description of this act that evening, as well as complete brief surveys at the end of the week for each week of the intervention. Participants will come into the lab twice, once before and once after the 4-week intervention. During these lab sessions participants will complete survey measures, have their heart rate measured, and have a blood draw conducted by a trained phlebotomist. Participants' parents will also complete a brief survey to provide demographic information and an idea of what prosocial behaviors participants witnessed in their home. The investigators will use these data to assess the effects of prosocial behavior on health and the psychological mechanisms underlying these effects. At the second study visit, participants will be given the opportunity to donate part of their study payment to a charity to measure prosociality. Any donations will be vetted with the psychology department's accounting group prior to making any donations in the university's name. Scott Monatlik, Director, Tax and Information Practices, at [email protected] or (310) 794-6724 will be contacted and information regarding the appropriate steps to take to ensure that the donation is made to an acceptable charity prior to any donations. Actual helping behavior (donations) is measured to provide an ecologically valid experimental evaluation of prosociality rather than traditional metrics of computerized, fictional giving. Conceptual frameworks from developmental and health psychology guide the hypothesis that prosocial behavior will influence adolescents.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Between the ages of 14-17

Exclusion criteria

  • None

Treatment and study plan

Self-Focused Acts of Kindness Intervention

Behavioral

Participants engage in positive behaviors by completing acts of kindness for themselves three times per week. These acts should require effort and be outside of an individual's normal routine.

Other-Focused Acts of Kindness Intervention

Behavioral

Participants engage in positive behaviors by completing acts of kindness for others three times per week. These acts should require effort and be outside of an individual's normal routine.

Daily Reports

Behavioral

Participants will report their daily activities three times per week. Aside from reporting at the end of the day, no changes should be made to the individual's normal routine.

Primary outcomes

  1. Average Positive Affect

    Time frame: Weekly over 5 weeks

    Average Positive Affect as assessed by the positive affect subscale of the Affect Adjective Checklist. An average is taken across four items, and scores range from 1 to 5 with higher scores indicating more positive affect over the week.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Inflammatory Gene Expression

    Time frame: Baseline and one-week post intervention (elapsed time of 5 weeks)

    Change in inflammatory gene expression from baseline to one week following the intervention as assessed by assays of the conserved transcriptional response to adversity profile of gene expression in leukocytes.

  2. Average Psychological Flourishing

    Time frame: Baseline and one-week post intervention (elapsed time of 5 weeks)

    Change in average psychological flourishing from baseline to one week following the intervention as assessed by Mental Health Continuum-Short Form at week 5. An average is taken across 20 items, and scores range from 1 to 6, with higher values representing greater psychological flourishing.

  3. Average Negative Affect

    Time frame: Weekly over 5 weeks

    Average negative affect as assessed by the negative affect subscale of the Affect Adjective Checklist. An average is taken across five items, and scores range from 1 to 5 with higher scores indicating more negative affect over the week.

Other outcomes

  1. Average Stress

    Time frame: Weekly over 5 weeks

    Average stress as assessed by the Perceived Stress Scale. An average is taken across 10 items, and scores range from 1 to 5 with higher scores indicating greater stress.

  2. Sleep Quality

    Time frame: Weekly over 5 weeks

    Sleep quality as assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The assessment has 7 components, each scored from 0 to 3. A sum is taken across these components, such that total scores range from 0 to 21 with higher scores indicating poorer sleep.

  3. Inflammatory Composite

    Time frame: Baseline and one-week post intervention (elapsed time of 5 weeks)

    Change in inflammation from baseline to one week following the intervention as assessed by the concentration of a variety of inflammatory cytokines (e.g., IL-6, IL-1).

  4. Respiratory Sinus Arrythmia (RSA)

    Time frame: Baseline and one-week post intervention (elapsed time of 5 weeks)

    Change in RSA from baseline to one week following the intervention as assessed by high-frequency heart rate variability during paced breathing.

  5. Average Social connection

    Time frame: Weekly over 5 weeks

    Average social connection as assessed by the relatedness subscale of the Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs. An average is taken across 6 items, and scores range from 1 to 5 with higher scores indicating greater social connection.

  6. Donation

    Time frame: 5 weeks

    Donation as assessed by the amount of money participants donated (maximum of $10) to a charity for foster youth.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Study of Daily Life and Health

Important dates

Study start
2017
Primary completion
2019
Study completion
2019
First posted
Oct 26, 2017
Registry last updated
Feb 21, 2019

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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