A Single-Session Intervention Fostering Emotional Nonreactivity (Project WAVE)

Northwestern University

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Emotional Dysregulation

Treatments: Behavioral: Emotionally Neutral Writing Control; Behavioral: Project WAVE (Wise Awareness of Visiting Emotions)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07034027

STU00223240

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel online single-session intervention (SSI) designed to improve emotion regulation abilities in young adults (ages 18-29). The active intervention condition, titled "Project WAVE," uses mindfulness skills training and an emotion exposure to teach participants how to cope with distressing emotions. Project WAVE will be evaluated in comparison with another online activity that controls for nonspecific aspects of single-session interventions.

Enrollment: 545 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 29 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

• Between the ages of 18 and 29, inclusive
• Self-report comfort in reading and writing in English
• Have access to the Internet through computer, laptop, smartphone, etc.
• Live in the United States or U.S. territories, per IP address
• Provide an endorsement of either "disagree" or "strongly disagree" on at least one of the following three items adapted from the Nonreactivity subscale of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire: "I was aware of my feelings and emotions without having to react to them"; "I watched my feelings without getting lost in them"; "When I had distressing emotions, I 'stepped back' and was aware of the emotion without getting taken over by it"
• Commit to providing thoughtful answers to the questions asked
• Pass the attention check / bot detection question, "Are you taller than 10 feet?" ("yes," "no," or "unsure") in the initial screener survey

Exclusion Criteria:

• Fail to meet the above-listed inclusion criteria
• Exit the study prior to condition randomization
• Fail to pass data integrity measures

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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545 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Project WAVE (Wise Awareness of Visiting Emotions)

Experimental group

Description:

The active condition, "Project WAVE," (Wise Awareness of Visiting Emotions) includes 1) an introduction to the program's rationale; 2) psychoeducation about emotion dysregulation, avoidance, and exposure; 3) testimonials from others who describe their experience facing a difficult emotion; 4) an emotion exposure task along with an audio-guided nonreactivity practice; and 5) the creation of a personalized "action plan" usable for continued practice. Project WAVE is designed to take approximately 15-20 minutes.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Project WAVE (Wise Awareness of Visiting Emotions)

Emotionally Neutral Writing Condition

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

The control condition is self-administered and structurally similar to Project WAVE (e.g., includes peer narratives and contains a similar number of writing activities). It is designed to control for non-specific aspects of supportive online activities. The activity involves an emotionally neutral writing task (journaling about daily life events). This control condition is designed to take approximately 10-15 minutes.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Emotionally Neutral Writing Control