None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Writing is a cost-efficient intervention that has been shown to help people cope with negative life events by expressively writing about that particular experience. This study investigates if a self-compassionate attitude influences the way in which we provide self-advice regarding our experiences, and to understand if this approach is more helpful than a relaxed mindset. Despite the growing evidence regarding self-compassion, there is a paucity of research on our understanding of the perceived usefulness of self-compassionate writing, and the likelihood of participants engaging in this treatment. The present study aims to examine the acceptability and effectiveness of self-compassionate writing to cope with personal problems. A randomised controlled design with longitudinal follow up was adopted for this study. Participants will be randomly assigned into either the self-compassion writing condition or the relaxation breathing control writing condition, with outcome measures administered at three intervals (pretest, post-test, and 1-week follow-up). In the initial phase, participants will be encouraged to write about a personal problem which caused them to feel failure, humiliation, or rejection. They will then be directed to listen to a 10 minute audio recording, either a self-compassionate or relaxation breathing recording dependant on random group assignment. and provide self-advice related to the problem previously described. All participants will be administered the Positive and Negative Affect Scale, the Compassion Motivation and Action Scale, and other questionnaires related to problem intensity, helpfulness of their self-advice, and the likelihood that would use this approach to address future personal problems.
Interventions
Self-Compassionate Writing Task
1. The intervention comprises of a pre-intervention writing task, listening to a 10 minute compassion audio recording, and a post intervention self-advice writing task.
2. After initial questionnaires have been completed, participants will be invited to write about a personal problem that generated feelings of failure, humiliation, or rejection.
3. Participants will then be directed to listen to a 10-minute compassion-meditation to induce a self-compassionate
Self-Compassionate Writing Task 1. The intervention comprises of a pre-intervention writing task, listening to a 10 minute compassion audio recording, and a post intervention self-advice writing task. 2. After initial questionnaires have been completed, participants will be invited to write about a personal problem that generated feelings of failure, humiliation, or rejection. 3. Participants will then be directed to listen to a 10-minute compassion-meditation to induce a self-compassionate attitude before commencing the self-advice writing exercise. The compassion-meditation audio recording was created by Dr James Kirby of the University of Queensland to be used in this study. The audio is not a readily available resource. 4. After listening to the compassion audio, participants will be encouraged to complete an adapted version of the writing exercise developed by Leary et al. (2007). The writing tasks directs the participant to provide self-advice for the problem they wrote about previously, using prompting questions such as "What do you tell yourself about this problem?" and "What advice would you give yourself about this problem?". 5. Participants will then be asked to complete post intervention questionnaires related to affect, self-compassion behaviour, and other questions related to problem intensity, helpfulness of their self-advice, how they new feel about their problem. 6. The study is conducted over two time points, one week apart. Participants are advised that the part one questionnaires, audio, and writing exercises will take approximately 30-40 minutes, however, there is no time limit. Part two, consisting of questionnaires only, will be completed one week after part one and will take approximately 10 minutes. 7. Participants will complete the study on-line from a location of their choice. They will require a computer and access to the internet.
Sponsors
Curtin University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Eligible participants include individuals who are over the age of 18-years, fluent in English, have access to the internet, and of any nationality.
Exclusion criteria
Nil
Outcome results
None listed