The Effects of Interventions Aiming at Optimizing Expectations and Inducing Positive Emotions After an Acute Stressor

The Effects of Interventions Aiming at Optimizing Expectations and Inducing Positive Emotions After an Acute Stressor on Subjective and Objective Stress Paramaters

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02848014

Enrollment

Registered

2016-07-28

Start date

2016-07-31

Completion date

2016-11-30

Last updated

2017-04-06

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Healthy Participants

Brief summary

The purpose of the study is to determine whether a short psychological intervention aiming at optimizing expectations is able to foster positive emotions and whether an intervention inducing positive emotions is able improve participants' expectations. Furthermore, the investigators will examine whether both interventions are effective in buffering the stress response after an acute stressor in a healthy sample compared to a control condition.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALWriting task

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* fluent in German language

Exclusion criteria

* chronic disease * mental disease * the evening before the day of the experiment until end of the experiment (the next day): caffeine, alcohol, intensive physical exercise, chewing gum * acute hay fever * current intake of psychotropic medication

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Change in personal control expectation (Item of the Brief IPQ)	Pre-intervention (baseline; T0) vs. Post-intervention (25 minutes after baseline assessment; T1)

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change in Alpha-Amylase levels (saliva sample)	Pre-intervention (baseline; T0) vs. Post-intervention (25 minutes after baseline assessment; T1), directly (T2), 15 min (T3) and 30 min (T4) after stress induction	directly (T2), 15 min (T3) and 30 min (T4) after stress induction = 50 min, 65 min and 80 min after baseline assessment
Change in emotions (PANAS)	Pre-intervention (baseline; T0) vs. Post-intervention (25 minutes after baseline assessment; T1)	—
Subjective stress ratings	directly after completing the stress induction (approximately 50 minutes after baseline assessment; T2)	Questionnaire items
Change in Cortisol levels (saliva sample)	Pre-intervention (baseline; T0) vs.Post-intervention (25 minutes after baseline assessment; T1), directly (T2), 15 min (T3) and 30 min (T4) after stress induction	directly (T2), 15 min (T3) and 30 min (T4) after stress induction = 50 min, 65 min and 80 min after baseline assessment

Countries

Germany

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026