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NCT Number: NCT04881084

Exploring Empathy and Compassion Using Digital Narratives

Stories of suffering and struggle are shared continuously through digital formats such as internet videos, news stories, social marketing, and fundraising campaigns. Digital stories are often created and shared to generate awareness about a problem, impart knowledge on contemporary issues, or promote compassion. The practice of sharing critical life events and insights provided by these experiences are valuable for tellers and the listeners alike for catharsis, healing, reconciliation, and connectiveness. Portrayals of mental suffering are a matter of cultural and social interest as new media products become available to the public. Studies published since the 1990s overwhelmingly conclude that formal media depictions are biased, promoting the stereotype that people who suffer emotionally are mentally ill, dangerous, violent, or insane. Various agencies, organizations, and corporations are actively working to provide alternative stories/narratives to mainstream media by means of video testimonials in social marketing and fundraising campaigns and, ultimately, by taking advantage of the Internet. The impact of this work is under-researched. However, preliminary evaluations of social marketing campaigns report mixed results and raise questions about their effectiveness. As well, the first-person narrative prepared digitally and shared online is also providing alternative narratives to mainstream media stories. People are increasingly using digital videos to share their stories, viewing this as an opportunity to understand their emotions and thoughts, come to terms with disgrace around sensitive, personal issues and marginalization while providing hope and encouragement to others. This proposed study focuses on the process of creating digital narratives/stories, especially stories of mental and emotional suffering, and their impact in terms of inciting empathy, compassion, and good citizenship among viewers.

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Key information

Conditions

Mental Disorders, Severe Behavior Compassion Empathy Mental Disorders Mental Illness Social Behavior Social Stigma Stigma, Social

Age range

18 year–35 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

McGill University

Montreal, Quebec, H4H 1R3, Canada

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Manuela Ferrari, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

4169270075

About this study

Digital stories -- first person, self-made 2-3-minute videos -- aim to generate awareness about problems, impart knowledge, or promote compassion. Sharing critical life events and related insights are invaluable for tellers and listeners alike, supporting catharsis, healing, reconciliation, and connectiveness. Digital stories are created and shared among organizations or citizens ( "ordinary" people without a background in filmmaking) to promote awareness of particular problems. They impact peoples' knowledge of contemporary issues, shaping attitudes by stimulating empathy, compassion, and active citizenship.

The proposed study explores digital stories/narratives, particularly those focused on mental health recovery, and how stories elicit empathy and compassion by addressing three main questions: (1) How is mental and emotional suffering depicted in video testimonies presented by social marketing/fundraising campaigns, versus the stories of ordinary people told through digital videos? (2) What impact does digital storytelling have for the creators, as ordinary people willing to revisit difficult life moments and transform them into digital videos? (3) What is the impact of video depictions on viewers in terms of empathy and compassion?

This mixed-method study has 3 phases: In Phase 1 (Preparation), a search will be conducted to identify activities related to Canadian social marketing and fundraising campaigns. Digital storytelling workshops will be held simultaneously, and in-depth interviews conducted before and after each workshop. Social service and community organizations located in Montreal, Canada, will be contacted to promote the digital storytelling workshops, to be implemented in the community and on university campuses. In Phase 2, a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be undertaken and more in-depth interviews conducted. Phase 3 will consist of knowledge dissemination activities.

The knowledge acquired through this study on individual and societal responses to stories of human suffering will have a practical impact on future social marketing campaigns promoted by government agencies, fundraising campaigns launched by nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and the public. Results will consolidate previous knowledge while providing new insights into what prompts citizens to help others.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • 18-35 years of age
  • Not currently admitted to a hospital

Exclusion criteria

  • Not in age range (18-35 years of age)
  • Currently admitted to a hospital
  • Attended the digital storytelling workshop and made a digital story used in the RCT

Treatment and study plan

Digital storytelling group

Other

Participants (intervention- group 1) will watch digital stories, short videos describing the experience of recovering from mental illness created as part of this project. Participants in the control group (group 2) will watch social marketing and/or fundraising campaigns on similar topics and complete a few questionnaires. The following standardized scales will be used: The Level of Familiarity Scale (LOF) (which will be used only before exposure to movies); Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (16 items; internal consistency coefficient .79; test-retest reliability coefficient .73), Compassionate Love Scale (21 items; Cronbach's alpha: .95; item-to-total correlations ranging from .46 to .81), Dispositional Positive Emotions Scale (DPES) (5 items; Cronbach's alpha for the compassion subscale: .80; inter-scale correlations: .44), Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale-Short Form (SSMIS-SF) (20 items; Cronbach's alpha: 0.91); Difference and Disdain Scales for Public Stigma (DDSPS) (9 items).

Social marketing/fundraising group

Other

Participants will be randomly assigned to the social marketing/fundraising group (n = 40 participants; 20 Anglophone and 20 Francophone; ages 18-35). Participants will be asked to watch twenty-six social marketing/fundraising videos which will be assessed using a between-subjects design.

Primary outcomes

  1. Empathy

    Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention

    Change in empathy using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire. The minimum scoring value is 0 and the maximum scoring value is 64. A higher score means a better outcome.

  2. Compassion

    Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention

    Change in compassion using the Compassionate Love Scale. The minimum scoring value is 1 and the maximum scoring value is 7, which comes from the average of all item scores. A higher score means a better outcome.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Positive emotions

    Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention

    Change in positive emotions using the Dispositional Positive Emotions Scale. The minimum scoring value is 5 and the maximum scoring value is 35. A higher score means a better outcome.

  2. Mental health self-stigma

    Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention

    Change in mental health stigma using the Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale-Short Form. The minimum scoring value is 20 and the maximum scoring value is 180. A higher score means a worse outcome.

  3. Mental health public stigma

    Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention

    Change in mental health stigma using the Difference and Disdain Scales for Public Stigma. The minimum scoring value is 9 and the maximum scoring value is 81. A higher score means a worse outcome.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Manuela Ferrari, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

4169270075

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

McGill University

Other

Collaborators

  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Registry information

Official study title

Learning to Care: Exploring Empathy and Compassion Using Digital Narratives

Important dates

Study start
2024
Primary completion
2024
Study completion
2024
First posted
May 11, 2021
Registry last updated
Jul 29, 2024

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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