Internet-Based Intervention for Occupational Stress Among Medical Professionals (Med-Stress)

University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw

Status: Completed

Conditions: Burnout, Professional; Stress, Psychological, Occupational

Treatments: Behavioral: Personal resources' enhancement: perceived social support; Behavioral: Personal resources' enhancement: self-efficacy; Behavioral: Personal resources' enhancement: self-efficacy and perceived social support; Behavioral: Personal resources' enhancement: perceived social support and self-efficacy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03475290

I.N.16 Med-Stress

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of internet intervention for reduction of occupational stress and its negative consequences (job burnout, depression) among medical professionals through the enhancement of the resources that are critical for coping with stress: self-efficacy and perceived social support.

Full description

Medical professionals are at high risk for job stress and burnout. Research show that the negative effects of stress can be reduced through strengthening personal resources such as self-efficacy and perceived social support. In line with cultivation and enabling hypotheses (Schwarzer & Knoll, 2007; Benight & Bandura, 2004) either self-efficacy cultivates perceived support, or rather perceived support enables self-efficacy. This study aims at testing both hypotheses in experimental design by applying them as a theoretical framework for the Med-Stress: evidence-based, CBT-framed internet intervention to foster resource accumulation among medical professionals.

The effectiveness of intervention will be tested in a four-arm randomized controlled trial comparing the effects of: 1) self-efficacy and perceived support sequential enhancement (cultivation hypothesis), 2) perceived support and self-efficacy sequential enhancement (enabling hypothesis), 3) only self-efficacy, and 4) only social support enhancement (controls). Primary outcomes are job stress and burnout, secondary outcomes include work engagement, depression, and secondary traumatic stress. Self-efficacy and perceived support are expected to mediate the relationships between condition assignment and outcomes. Assessments include baseline (T1), three- or six-weeks post-test (depending on the condition, T2), as well as six- and twelve-months follow-ups (T3, T4). Intervention effect sizes and between-groups comparisons at post-test and follow-ups will be calculated.

This study will contribute to the findings on the role of personal resources in the development of job stress and burnout by demonstrating the cultivation vs enabling effects of self-efficacy and perceived social support.

Enrollment: 1,240 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age of at least 18 years
• Professionally active medical providers
• Internet connection

Exclusion criteria

• No access to a device with Internet connection

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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1,240 participants in 4 patient groups

Self-Efficacy and Perceived Social Support

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Personal resources' enhancement: self-efficacy and perceived social support

Perceived Social Support and Self-Efficacy

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Personal resources' enhancement: perceived social support and self-efficacy

Self-Efficacy

Active Comparator group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Personal resources' enhancement: self-efficacy

Perceived Social Support

Active Comparator group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Personal resources' enhancement: perceived social support