None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
We seek to determine whether an online psychological intervention (positive episodic future thinking, EFT-P) effectively increases positive beliefs about the future and decreases suicidal ideation. Through this, we seek to understand how personality influences the beliefs that one holds and one’s responsiveness to future reward and pleasure over time, and whether these influence one’s propensity to think about suicide. Our first aim is to investigate whether one’s beliefs about the future can be altered by improving one’s ability to mentally simulate positive events in one’s personal future, and whether these increased positive beliefs lead to a reduction in suicidal thinking. A secondary aim was to examine who may benefit most from EFT-P. Specifically, we propose to examine whether EFT-P is more effective for people with schizotypy, a subclinical manifestation of schizophrenia. In addition, we examine whether the EFT-P’s effectiveness is associated with factors such as the individual’s mood, their existing tendency to use mental imagery in everyday scenarios, and their general optimism towards the future.
Interventions
Participants will complete 8 sessions of positive episodic future thinking (EFT-P) every 4 days, over the course of 28 days. In each of the EFT-P sessions, participants will be provided with a series of audio prompts on the Qualtrics platform, each corresponding to a new visualisation exercise where participants will be encouraged to close their eyes and immerse themselves in the described scenario as though they were actively involved and experiencing it through their own eyes. Each of these se
Participants will complete 8 sessions of positive episodic future thinking (EFT-P) every 4 days, over the course of 28 days. In each of the EFT-P sessions, participants will be provided with a series of audio prompts on the Qualtrics platform, each corresponding to a new visualisation exercise where participants will be encouraged to close their eyes and immerse themselves in the described scenario as though they were actively involved and experiencing it through their own eyes. Each of these sessions will last roughly 15 minutes. On Days 0, 12, 28, and 42, participants will be asked to complete pre-, mid-, post-, and follow-up questionnaires. These will each take roughly 20 minutes to complete. In each of the sessions during the first and second weeks (Days 0, 4, 8, and 12), formal training exercises will consist of the imagination of four positive hypothetical events. In each exercise, participants will listen to a recording of a script, verbally guiding them through the imagination of a positive scenario or activity. In each session in the third week (Days 16 and 20), there will be three guided exercises. In each exercise, participants will listen to a recording of a script which will prompt them to imagine a pleasant experience that will really happen to them within the next three days. In each session in the fourth week (Days 24 and 28), there will be three guided exercises. In each exercise, participants will listen to a recording of a script which will ask them to think about an event in the far future that involves their idealised self in a future where everything has worked out in the best possible way. Qualtrics analytics will be used to monitor adherence to the intervention. Completion rates will be tracked for each stage of the intervention, and time spent on activities will be measured to ensure participants are engaging adequately. Response quality will be assessed with manipulation checks after each exercise, evaluating vividness, difficulty, pleasure, and excitement of visualisations. In two open-response spaces, participants will be asked to write down as many details from their visualisation as possible. In addition, psychometric measures in the surveys will incorporate measures of participants' disingenuous responses (e.g., "To show you are reading, select the answer that means strongly disagree").
Sponsors
University of Otago
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 45 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Participants will be undergraduate psychology students from the University of Otago. They will be asked to take part in this study if they had previously indicated experiencing suicidal ideation in the past month.
Exclusion criteria
None
Outcome results
None listed