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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03453437

Mindful Self-compassion and Perfectionism

The study is a randomized controlled study. A total of 200 students will be invited to participate in a 5-session mindful self-compassion course aimed at increasing self-compassion and reducing maladaptive perfectionism, anxiety, depression, and unhealthy body image. Self-compassion is the ability to show oneself kindness in instances of perceived inadequacy, failure, and suffering by attending to distressing experiences with kindness, mindfulness, and the ability to recognize these as a part of a shared humanity. Twelve participants will be randomly selected for pre- and post interviews to qualitatively evaluate outcome. Ten participants with high perfectionistic tendencies will be selected to participate in a narrative life story interview.

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Key information

Conditions

Perfectionism Anxiety Anxiety Disorders Behavior Behavioral Symptoms Body Image Depression Mental Disorders

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Bergen

Bergen, Hordaland, 5020, Norway

About this study

The investigators will test four hypotheses:

  • At baseline, low levels of maladaptive perfectionism, and lower levels of depression, anxiety and body appreciation - reversed, will be related to greater self-compassion. The investigators expect high level of maladaptive perfectionism to be related to lower baseline self-compassion, higher levels of depression and anxiety and lower levels of body appreciation.
  • The intervention, a five session self-compassion intervention, will be sufficient to induce positive changes in perfectionism and psychological symptoms of anxiety, depression and body-appreciation- reversed.
  • Changes in self-compassion will co-vary with changes in maladaptive perfectionism and body appreciation.
  • Higher baseline levels of maladaptive perfectionism will predict greater gains from the intervention, because perfectionistic students will have greater need for a self-compassion intervention.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • College/university students

Exclusion criteria

  • N/A

Treatment and study plan

Mindful Self-Compassion

Behavioral

Mindful self-compassion is a course developed by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer designed to cultivate self-compassion as measured by three subcategories: self-kindness, mindfulness, and a sense of common humanity. This study will shorten the original 8-week course to 5 sessions, and will include interventions and lectures aimed directly toward addressing evaluative concerns perfectionism.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in perfectionism

    Time frame: Baseline (two for control group), one week prior to intervention, every week for four weeks until completion of intervention (including one week after last session), 6 months after intervention

    Adaptive perfectionism as measured by the "Personal Standards" subscale and maladaptive perfectionism/evaluative concerns perfectionism as measured by "Doubts about Actions" and "Concern over Mistakes" subscales of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. Personal Standards consists of seven items (6 items for "pure personal standards"), Doubt about Actions consists of four items, and Concern over Mistakes consists of 9 items. All items are on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to disagree with higher scores indicating most perfectionistic tendencies. Full range: 20-100 with higher scores representing more perfectionistic tendencies. Evaluative concerns perfectionism range: 13-65, higher scores indicate more evaluative concerns perfectionism. Personal standards range: 7-35 with higher scores indicating higher personal standards.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in body image

    Time frame: Baseline (two for control group), one week prior to intervention, one week after last session, 6 months after intervention

    Body image as measured by the 13 item Body Appreciation Scale consisting of a 5-point Likert scale. Range: 13-65, lower scores indicating no body appreciation and higher scores indicating greater body appreciation.

  2. Change in depressive tendencies

    Time frame: Baseline (two for control group), one week prior to intervention, every week for four weeks until completion of intervention (including one week after last session), 6 months after intervention

    Depressive tendencies as measured by the 12 item Major Depression Inventory which measures symptoms of depression on a 6-point Likert scale (not at all to all of the time), range: 12-72, with higher scores indicating more symptoms of depression.

  3. Change in anxiety

    Time frame: Baseline (two for control group), one week prior to intervention, every week for four weeks until completion of intervention (including one week after last session), 6 months after intervention

    Anxiety as measured by the 20 item "trait subscale" of the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory. The Inventory consists of a 4-point Likert scale (almost never to almost always), range: 20-80, higher scores indicating greater anxiety.

  4. Change in self-compassion

    Time frame: Baseline (two for control group), one week prior to intervention, every week for four weeks until completion of intervention (including one week after last session), 6 months after intervention

    Assessment of self-compassion with the Self-Compassion Scale short form.Total score range from 12 (no self-compassion) to 60 (high on self-compassion). Higher values represent greater self-compassion, lower scores indicate no self-compassion.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Bergen

Other

Registry information

Official study title

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Mindful Self-compassion Intervention to Improve Evaluative Concerns Perfectionism, Depression, Anxiety, and Unhealthy Body Image in College Students

Important dates

Study start
2018
Primary completion
2019
Study completion
2019
First posted
Mar 5, 2018
Registry last updated
Aug 17, 2021

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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