To Increase Psychological Well-being by the Implementation of Forgiveness Education

University of Wisconsin (UW)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Depressive Symptoms; Anger; Anxiety

Treatments: Other: forgiveness education intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04403126

2020-0432

A173000 (Other Identifier)

EDUC/EDUC PSYCH (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This project examines the development of psychological well-being in children and teachers through a 12- week forgiveness education program conducted in three conflict zones of the world, Northern Ireland, Israel/Palestine, and Taiwan.

A 12-week forgiveness education program will be investigated in elementary schools in three conflict zones of the world, Northern Ireland, Israel/Palestine, and Taiwan. The responsibilities of the sub-team in each of the three research sites will be:

• a. recruiting schools, assisting the teacher training before the forgiveness education program starts
• b. shepherding teachers, doing the fidelity checks, administering the instruments and collecting data during the forgiveness education program.

Once a school gives permission to be part of this study, the forgiveness curriculum will be implemented as a 12-week standard curriculum for the grade 5 (US equivalency) students. Teachers of the grade 5 classes will be trained to administer the program. Teachers, students and their parents must give the consent to take part in the measures of the study.

Full description

Classrooms participating in this study will be randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. The experimental group will receive the 1st forgiveness intervention for 12 weeks and then the control group will turn into an experimental group to receive a 2nd forgiveness intervention for 12 weeks.

In order to assess if such education increases psychological well-being in students (children) and teachers (adults), teachers and students in both groups will receive the same measures for four times in the study: within one week before the 1st forgiveness intervention, within one week after the 1st forgiveness intervention, within one week after the 2nd forgiveness intervention, four weeks after the 2nd forgiveness intervention.

The instruments include: for teachers, the assessment data will consist of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory Short Form (EFI-30), the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS): Anger, Anxiety, and Depression scales, the Ethnic Prejudice Scale, the Herth Hope Index, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, a Classroom Cooperation scale, and a Cross-Cultural Exit Interview (written questionnaire). For students, the assessment data will consist of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory for Children (EFI-C), the PROMIS measures for pediatric self-report (ages 8-17): Anger, Anxiety, and Depressive Symptoms scales, the Ethnic Prejudice Scale for children, the Children's Hope Scale, the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (School Form), and academic achievement (likely to be scores/grades of Math, writing and reading in their own language). After the 2nd forgiveness intervention, select participants (teachers and children) will take part in individual interviews.

Enrollment: 1,300 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 10 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Students in 5th grade (US equivalency, aged 10-12)
• Teachers in 5th grade (US equivalency)

Exclusion criteria

• Students who are in grades other than 5th grade
• Teachers who are in grades other than 5th grade

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Quadruple Blind

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1,300 participants in 2 patient groups

Forgiveness curriculum for 5th grade

Experimental group

Description:

Classrooms randomly assigned to the experimental group will receive the forgiveness intervention. The forgiveness intervention will follow the curriculum - "The Journey Toward Forgiveness -A Guided Curriculum for Children Ages 10-12 (Grade 5 in the US)". The Forgiveness Curriculum Guide consists 14 lessons over 12 weeks. Each class meets weekly for 40 to 60 minutes to complete one lesson (in two of the weeks, there will be two lessons).

Treatment:

Other: forgiveness education intervention

Regular school instruction

No Intervention group

Description:

Classrooms randomly assigned to the control group will have instruction as usual.