In It Together: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Treat Distress Among Older Adults With Sensory Loss and Their Spouses

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Sensory Loss (Impairment of Sight and/or Hearing)

• Registration Number: NCT04781608
• Lead Sponsor: University of Copenhagen

Brief Summary

Impairments in hearing and/or vision are common in older age. Having lived one's life as a fully sighted and hearing individual, older adults with sensory loss must come to terms with their declining capacity to interact with others and waning independence. There is ample research evidence showing that sensory loss (i.e., loss of hearing, vision or both) can be a distressful experience for older adults and their spouses, yet little has been done to understand what works in alleviating this distress or develop scalable cost-effective interventions to counter this distress or associated outcomes like depression, anxiety, poor quality of life, and lower relationship quality. In this project, the investigators will design and test an easy-to-administer, online intervention aimed at reducing emotional and marital distress in older adults with sensory loss and their spouses. The goal of the intervention will be to develop acceptance of the sensory loss through a series of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy inspired educational, self-compassion, and therapeutic activities. In prior research, acceptance has been flagged as a promising factor on which to intervene to assist older couples' emotional and marital recovery in the context of sensory loss. Thus, the investigators expect that the intervention should show encouraging results regarding the alleviation of distress in this group and contribute significantly to the psychosocial rehabilitation of older adults with sensory loss and their spouses.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2021-01-18
• Study First Submitted QC: 2021-03-01
• Study First Posted: 2021-03-04
• Study Start: 2021-11-22
• Primary Completion: 2022-05-16
• Study Completion: 2022-06-30
• Status Verified: 2022-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-11-03
• Last Update Posted: 2022-11-04

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 662

Inclusion Criteria

• Be 60 years of age or older
• Be able to read and write in Danish
• Be in a romantic relationship of at least 1 year
• Live together with the partner (share housing)
• Feel either one self or one's partner has a sensory loss (hearing and/or sight) that affects day-to-day life. This sensory loss does not need to be confirmed by a health care provider.

Exclusion Criteria

• Less than 60 years of age
• Cannot read or write in Danish
• Not in a romantic relationship
• Relationship length of less than 1 year
• Not living together with the partner (not share housing)
• Currently receiving psychological help (therapy/intervention)

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Couple Satisfaction Index	Follow-up 1: During the last 6 weeks	4-item measure of satisfaction with one's romantic relationship (Funk \& Rogge, 2007)
WHO-5 well-being	Within the last 2 weeks	5-item measure of general well-being (Bech, 1999, 2012)
Depression	Within the last 2 weeks	9-item measure of depressive symptoms (PHQ-9; Kroenke, Spitzer, \& Williams, 2001; Kroenke; \& Spitzer, 2002)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Communication	Follow-up 1: During the last 6 weeks	12-item measure of satisfaction with communication with partner (Jones, Jones, \& Morris, .018)
Psychological flexibility	Follow-up 1: During the last 6 weeks	7-item measure of psychological flexibility (AAC-II; Bond, Hayes, Baer, Carpenter, Guenole, Orcutt, Waltz, \& Zettle, 2011).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Copenhagen; 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark