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Completed

NCT Number: NCT05284123

The Impact of a Self-Compassion Intervention on Shame and Mental Health Treatment-Seeking

Untreated mental health problems can cause lasting harm to self-esteem, relationships, academics, productivity, and health. It is thus highly worrisome that only 18-36% of university students with significant mental health problems seek help. Many university campuses have responded to this mental health crisis by trying to increase students' mental health literacy (MHL), defined as "knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders which aid their recognition, management, or prevention''. Increasing MHL appears to increase knowledge about mental health services, but it does not increase actual treatment-seeking desire or action. One problem with this approach is that it falsely assumes that students struggling with their mental health will want to pursue services once they have learned more about mental disorders and the associated treatments available. However, most people with mental disorders do not initially recognize that they have a disorder and may dismiss information about mental disorders and mental health treatment as irrelevant. Feelings of shame are elevated in individuals with psychological disorders, and these feelings act as one of the strongest barriers to mental health treatment-seeking.Given the low rate of treatment-seeking on university campuses, research is needed to explore how best to facilitate mental health treatment seeking among distressed students, including those who may not self-identity as having a mental health problem. Research has yet to examine the potential role of self-compassion in relation to treatment-seeking behaviours. Self-compassion (SC) is conceptualized as responding to personal distress with gentleness and kindness in order to alleviate it, and it is negatively associated with shame. However, research has not yet explored whether the perceived benefits of SC in mitigating shame can affect mental health treatment-seeking outcomes. We propose that cultivating SC amongst psychologically distressed students will subsequently decrease shame, and thus, indirectly elevate willingness to seek mental health treatment. Thus, this study will examine the effects of a one-session SC workshop/intervention compared to a one-session MHL intervention on shame and mental health treatment-seeking. Participants will be distressed students recruited from the University of Waterloo, and will be randomly assigned to the SC intervention, MHL intervention, or control intervention.

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Key information

Conditions

Psychological Distress

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Waterloo

Waterloo, Ontario, N2L3G1, Canada

About this study

The study will consist of four online surveys. During the first survey (Part 1; baseline), participants will answer a set of questionnaires. During the second survey (Part 2; 1-4 days after Part 1), participants will first answer a set of questionnaires. Then, they will be randomized to a self-compassion intervention, a mental health literacy intervention, or a control intervention. Then, participants will answer more questionnaires immediately after completing the intervention. During the third survey (Part 3; 14-17 days after Part 2) and fourth survey (Part 4; 3 months-3 months+7 days after Part 2), participants will answer a set of questionnaires.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Undergraduate student at University of Waterloo with a SONA account
  • Scored 8+ on Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6; screener scale)

Exclusion criteria

  • None

Treatment and study plan

Self-compassion workshop

Other

The self-compassion workshop instructs participants to reflect on a source of shame, connect with their suffering related to it, and then direct feelings of support and understanding towards their suffering via a few brief writing tasks. This workshop also provides participants with basic information about mental health resources.

Mental health literacy workshop

Other

The mental health literacy workshop provides participants with information about the symptoms and treatment of common mental disorders, and asks participants to reflect on what they learned through a couple brief writing tasks. This workshop also provides participants with basic information about mental health resources.

Control workshop

Other

The control workshop provides participants with basic information about mental health resources.

Primary outcomes

  1. State Shame and Guilt Scale (shame subscale)

    Time frame: Change from pre-intervention to immediately post-intervention

    Self-report questionnaire with 5 questions on a 5-point Likert scale (scored 1-5). Total scores range from 5-25, with higher decrease in score indicative of less momentary shame.

  2. Experience of Shame Scale

    Time frame: Change from baseline to 2 weeks and 3 months post-intervention

    Self-report questionnaire with 25 questions on a 4-point Likert scale (scored 1-4). Total scores range from 25-100, with higher decrease in score indicative of less shame.

  3. Treatment-seeking intention questions (researcher-generated)

    Time frame: Change from baseline to immediately, 2 weeks, and 3 months post-intervention

    4 self-report questions to assess changes in intentions of seeking mental health treatment or resources.

  4. Treatment-seeking behaviours questions (researcher-generated)

    Time frame: Change from baseline to immediately, 2 weeks, and 3 months post-intervention

    5 self-report questions to assess changes in mental health treatment-seeking behaviours.

  5. Distress Disclosure Index

    Time frame: Change from baseline to immediately, 2 weeks, and 3 months post-intervention

    Self-report questionnaire with 12 questions on a 5-point Likert scale (scored 1-5). Total scores range from 12-60, with higher increase in score indicative of greater distress disclosure.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Compassionate Engagement and Action Scale (adapted self-compassion subscale)

    Time frame: Immediately post-intervention

    Self-report questionnaire with 13 questions on a 10-point Likert scale (scored 1-10). Three questions are reverse-scored and not included in scoring. Total scores range from 10-100, with higher score indicative of greater momentary emotional engagement during intervention.

  2. Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6)

    Time frame: Change from baseline to 2 weeks and 3 months post-intervention

    Self-report questionnaire with 6 questions on a 5-point Likert scale (scored 0-4). Total scores range from 0-24, with higher decrease in score indicative of less psychological distress.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Waterloo

Other

Registry information

Official study title

The Impact of a Brief Self-Compassion Intervention on Shame and Mental Health Treatment-Seeking Among Distressed University Students

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2024
Study completion
2024
First posted
Mar 17, 2022
Registry last updated
Jun 4, 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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