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Completed

NCT Number: NCT05199779

Single Session Intervention for Building Self-Compassion Habits-RCT

The study will test a single session self-compassion intervention that leverages an ultra-brief contemplative exercise. It will evaluate the effect of this intervention on psychopathology, stress, growth mindset, positive affect, self-compassion and the automaticity of self-compassion, as well as the relationships between these constructs and the automaticity of self-compassion. The participants will be undergraduate students at a large public university.

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Key information

Conditions

Transdiagnostic Psychopathology Behavior Habits

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of California at Berkeley

Berkeley, California, 94720-1650, United States

About this study

The broad aims of the proposed research is to examine the outcomes of a single session psychological intervention and to further understand processes and factors associated with habit formation. undergraduate students at a large university will be randomly assigned to a self-compassion intervention (SCI), or an active control (AC), and complete assessments at baseline (pre-treatment) and 4 weeks later (post-treatment).

The investigators seek to examine the following: (A1) Determine whether the group who receives the SCI, relative to the AC, will experience increased self-compassion, growth mindset and positive affect, as well as reduced stress and psychopathology. (A2) Evaluate whether the SCI group shows greater increases in automaticity of self-compassion compared to the AC pre- to post-treatment. (A3) Assess whether greater pre- to post-treatment increases in automaticity of self-compassionate are associated with increased self-compassion, growth mindset, and positive affect, as well as reductions in stress and psychopathology.

The investigators hypothesize the following: (H1) SCI will promote greater increases in self-compassion, growth mindset, and positive affect, as well as greater reductions in stress and psychopathology from pre- to post-treatment, relative to AC. (H2) The SCI group will show greater increases in the automaticity of self-compassion than AC from pre- to post-treatment. (H3) Greater increases in the automaticity of self-compassion from pre- to post-treatment will be predicted by greater increases in self-compassion, growth mindset, and positive affect, as well as greater decreases in psychopathology and stress, from pre- to post treatment. To further understand the results obtained, the investigators will evaluate participants' frequency, adherence, and impressions of using the intervention.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • 18 years of age or older.
  • English language proficiency.
  • Able and willing to give informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

  • Does not have email address or access to email.
  • Not able/willing to participate in and/or complete the pre-treatment assessments

Treatment and study plan

Single Session Intervention Leveraging an Ultra-Brief Self-Compassion Exercise

Behavioral

This 20-second contemplative exercise includes draws from the science of habit formation and includes elements of self-soothing touch, somatic experiencing, and mindful self-compassion.

Finger-Tapping Active Control

Behavioral

This 20-second finger tapping exercise involves touching each finger to the thumb on one hand and repeating for twenty seconds. This intervention was designed to control for the potential effect of assessment on outcomes, the effect of having an activity to do for the duration of the intervention (4 weeks), regression to the mean, time, or other nonspecific factors.

Primary outcomes

  1. Sussex-Oxford Compassion for the Self Scale (SOCS-S)

    Time frame: Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

    Sum of 20-item, 5-point response scale. Scores can range from 20 to 100 (Higher score means higher compassion for self).

    Sub-scale items included.

  2. Kind of Person' Implicit Theory Scale (KOPITS)

    Time frame: Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

    8 items. 6-point response scale (1 = strongly agree; 6 = strongly disagree) Higher scores indicate a more growth mindset. Lower scores indicate a more fixed mindset.

    Score is sum of all items, with Q3, Q5, Q7, and Q8 reverse-scored. The formula for reverse-scoring an item is: ((Number of scale points) + 1) - (Respondent's answer)

  3. Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)

    Time frame: Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

    10 items with a 6 point response scale. Positive affect sub-scale only.

    Scoring:

    Positive Affect Score: Sum score of 1, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, and 19. Scores range from 10 - 50. Higher scores = higher levels of positive affect.

    Negative Affect Score: Sum score of 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 18, and 20. Scores range from 10 - 50. Lower scores = lower levels of negative affect.

  4. 10-item Perceived-Stress Scale (PSS-10)

    Time frame: Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

    10 items, 5 point response scale (from 0 = Never to 4 = Very Often)

    Scoring: Reverse score (e.g., 0 = 4, 1 = 3, 2 = 2, 3 = 1 & 4 = 0) items 4, 5, 7, & 8 and then summing across all scale items.

  5. DSM-5 Cross-Cutting Measure (DSM-XC)

    Time frame: Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

    22 items (suicidality item Q11 removed). 5-point scale (0=none or not at all; 1=slight or rare, less than a day or two; 2=mild or several days; 3=moderate or more than half the days; and 4=severe or nearly every day).

  6. Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index for Self-Compassion

    Time frame: Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

    20 items. 1-9 scale.

Secondary outcomes

  1. State Self-Compassion Scale Long Form (SSCS-L)

    Time frame: Change from pre-induction to post-induction at baseline and at post-treatment (week 4). Change in pre to post-induction changes in state self-compassion from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

    9 items. 1-5 scale. Scores range from 9-45. Mindfulness, common humanity, and self-kindness sub-scales only.

  2. Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index for Exercise

    Time frame: Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

    4 items. 1-9 scale.

  3. Real Self Overlap Scale

    Time frame: Change from baseline to post-treatment (week 4)

    1 item. 1-8 scale.

Other outcomes

  1. Practice Frequency

    Time frame: Assessed at Post-treatment (week 4)

    Number of times practiced self-compassion exercise per day. 1 item.

  2. Overall Practice Frequency

    Time frame: Assessed at Post-treatment (week 4)

    Number of days in the past two months that did not practice the exercise at all. 1 item.

  3. Practice Duration

    Time frame: Assessed at Post-treatment (week 4)

    1 item, number of days practiced exercise but for less than 10 seconds.

  4. Adherence Report Scale

    Time frame: Assessed at Post-treatment (week 4)

    10 items on a five-point scale, where 5 = never, 4 = rarely, 3 = sometimes, 2 = often and 1 = always. Scores for each item were summed to give a total score, with higher scores indicating higher levels of reported adherence.

  5. General impressions of exercise

    Time frame: Assessed at Post-treatment (week 4)

    Exploratory qualitative assessment.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of California, Berkeley

Other

Registry information

Official study title

A Single Session Intervention Leveraging an Ultra-Brief Exercise for Building Self-Compassion Habits-A Randomized Controlled Trial

Important dates

Study start
2022
Primary completion
2022
Study completion
2022
First posted
Jan 20, 2022
Registry last updated
May 17, 2022

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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