Brief Mood Enhancement Intervention

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Stress, Psychological; Burnout, Professional
• Interventions: Behavioral: Reward; Behavioral: Approach

• Registration Number: NCT02954965
• Lead Sponsor: Duke University

Brief Summary

The purpose of the current study is to test the efficacy of two brief, behavioral interventions intended to improve burnout among doctoral-level graduate students (n = 102). Specifically, individuals will be randomly assigned to one of three intervention conditions: 1) Reward: a brief intervention to help participants increase engagement in healthy and rewarding values-driven behaviors, 2) Approach: a brief intervention to help participants identify and decrease emotion-driven avoidance of important goals, or 3) Control: a control condition that involves monitoring only. Multilevel modeling will be used to assess changes in burnout, mood, and stress, following the interventions, controlling for participants' individual baseline levels of these variables.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2016-09-30
• Study Start: 2016-11
• Study First Submitted QC: 2016-11-02
• Study First Posted: 2016-11-04
• Primary Completion: 2017-12
• Study Completion: 2017-12
• Status Verified: 2018-02
• Last Update Submitted: 2018-02-21
• Last Update Posted: 2018-02-23

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 66

Inclusion Criteria

• Currently enrolled in any in-person (not online) Ph.D. program in the state of North Carolina
• Demonstrating above average levels of burnout
• Has regular access to the Internet
• Has a Social Security Number
• Is able to read and understand English

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Exclusion Criteria

• Current mania or psychosis
• Current suicidal ideation
• Are currently in psychotherapy, have been in psychotherapy in the past 8 weeks, or are planning to start psychotherapy during the course of the 10-day study
• Have had any changes in psychiatric medications in the past 8 weeks, are not taking medications as prescribed or are planning to change medications during the course of the 10-day study
• Are currently taking benzodiazepines Pro Re Nata (PRN)
• Are under 18 years old

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Reward	Reward	A brief, phone-administered intervention designed to help graduate students increase the number of pleasant and rewarding activities in their daily lives.
Approach	Approach	A brief, phone-administered intervention designed to help graduate students block procrastination and avoidance and to approach important activities they are currently avoiding.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in stress, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale total score	baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)	Self-report questionnaire assessing stress
Change in burnout, as measured by the School Burnout Inventory total score	baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)	Self-report questionnaire assessing burnout

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in avoidance, as measured by the Brief Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire total score	baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)	Self-report questionnaires assessing avoidance
Change in mastery, as measured by the Pearlin Personal Mastery Scale total score	baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)	Self-report questionnaires assessing mastery
Change in mood, as measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule total scores for Positive and Negative Affect	baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)	Self-report questionnaire assessing mood
Change in reward, as measured by the Environmental Reward Observation Scale total score	baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)	Self-report questionnaires assessing environmental reward
Change in behavioral activation, as measured by the Activation sub-scale of the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale	baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)	Self-report questionnaires assessing behavioral activation
Change in functional impairment, as measured by the Modified Work and Social Adjustment Scale total score	baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)	Self-report questionnaire assessing functional impairment
Change in quality of life, as measured by the WHOQOL-BREF total score	baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)	Self-report questionnaire assessing quality of life
Change in depression symptoms, as measured by the General Depression scale of the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms	baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)	Self-report questionnaire assessing depression symptoms
Change in mastery, as measured by the average of the daily Importance ratings of activities (0-10) on the Daily Activities Monitoring Form	baseline (days 0-3) and intervention (days 3-10)	Self-report monitoring form describing activities during the day, how enjoyable they were, and how important they were
Change in avoidance, as measured by the total score of the Avoidance/Rumination sub-scale of the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale	baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10)	Self-report questionnaire assessing avoidance and rumination
Change in environmental reward, as measured by the average of the daily Pleasure ratings of activities (0-10) on the Daily Activities Monitoring Form	baseline (days 0-3) and intervention (days 3-10)	Self-report monitoring form describing activities during the day, how enjoyable they were, and how important they were

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Duke University Medical Center; 🇺🇸 Durham, North Carolina, United States