Single Session Intervention for Building Self-Compassion Habits-RCT

University of California (UC), Berkeley

Status: Completed

Conditions: Transdiagnostic Psychopathology

Treatments: Behavioral: Finger-Tapping Active Control; Behavioral: Single Session Intervention Leveraging an Ultra-Brief Self-Compassion Exercise

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05199779

2021-12-14924

Details and patient eligibility

About

The study will test a single session self-compassion intervention that leverages an ultra-brief contemplative exercise. It will evaluate the effect of this intervention on psychopathology, stress, growth mindset, positive affect, self-compassion and the automaticity of self-compassion, as well as the relationships between these constructs and the automaticity of self-compassion. The participants will be undergraduate students at a large public university.

Full description

The broad aims of the proposed research is to examine the outcomes of a single session psychological intervention and to further understand processes and factors associated with habit formation. undergraduate students at a large university will be randomly assigned to a self-compassion intervention (SCI), or an active control (AC), and complete assessments at baseline (pre-treatment) and 4 weeks later (post-treatment).

The investigators seek to examine the following: (A1) Determine whether the group who receives the SCI, relative to the AC, will experience increased self-compassion, growth mindset and positive affect, as well as reduced stress and psychopathology. (A2) Evaluate whether the SCI group shows greater increases in automaticity of self-compassion compared to the AC pre- to post-treatment. (A3) Assess whether greater pre- to post-treatment increases in automaticity of self-compassionate are associated with increased self-compassion, growth mindset, and positive affect, as well as reductions in stress and psychopathology.

The investigators hypothesize the following: (H1) SCI will promote greater increases in self-compassion, growth mindset, and positive affect, as well as greater reductions in stress and psychopathology from pre- to post-treatment, relative to AC. (H2) The SCI group will show greater increases in the automaticity of self-compassion than AC from pre- to post-treatment. (H3) Greater increases in the automaticity of self-compassion from pre- to post-treatment will be predicted by greater increases in self-compassion, growth mindset, and positive affect, as well as greater decreases in psychopathology and stress, from pre- to post treatment. To further understand the results obtained, the investigators will evaluate participants' frequency, adherence, and impressions of using the intervention.

Enrollment: 135 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 18 years of age or older.
• English language proficiency.
• Able and willing to give informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

• Does not have email address or access to email.
• Not able/willing to participate in and/or complete the pre-treatment assessments

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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135 participants in 2 patient groups

Self-Compassion Intervention (SCI)

Experimental group

Description:

First, participants will be taught to implement a 20-second self-compassion induction via video recording. Second, participants will be taught to choose a cue that will precede their daily use of the self-compassion induction. Participants will document the cue they chose, and will be emailed a record of their selected cue, along with the recording and transcript of the self-compassion induction that they can refer back to for reference. Third, participants will be asked to use the self-compassion induction as much as they can and at least once during their daily routine following exposure to their chosen cue.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Single Session Intervention Leveraging an Ultra-Brief Self-Compassion Exercise

Finger-Tapping Active Control (AC)

Active Comparator group

Description:

The active control will receive the same procedures as described above, except for receiving a different video containing different instructions describing a finger-tapping exercise. The videos will be virtually identical in length, quality, instructor/their outfit, and lighting.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Finger-Tapping Active Control