Stress
Conditions
Keywords
stress, health, resilience
Brief summary
Development and feasibility test of an Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI) - Imager, to promote and improve stress resilience, specifically to increase reward sensitivity.
Detailed description
Aim of the current project is to develop and test Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI) - Imager, to promote and improve stress resilience, specifically to increase reward sensitivity. EMIs are mostly smartphone-based applications that deliver interventions to people as they go about in their daily lives. The EMI developed and tested here is based on theoretical and empirical findings and consists of several items and a repeated training using various individual scenarios from participants' life that will be presented to participants via an app on their smartphones. This study tests the feasibility and effects of the EMI on a change in (i) reward sensitivity, (ii) mental imagery, and (iii) indices of perceived stress. One hundred twenty healthy student participants, aged 18-29 will be included in the study. Participants will be screened first and included if they score 5 points or more on the Reward Sensitivity Subscale of Behavioral Avoidance/Inhibition (BIS/BAS) scales. This is necessary in order to avoid a ceiling effect. Then, participants will be randomly assigned to an experimental (reward sensitivity EMI) or two of the control conditions (control EMA or waitlist). The reward sensitivity EMI group will be taught about experiencing rewards in daily life and will be asked to apply the specific techniques to personal situations repeatedly. The control EMA group will use the same app consisting of Ecological Momentary Assessment only, and the waitlist group will not receive any mobile app. The training will last seven consecutive days and the app will send (i) 10 prompts per day to ask about the current mood of the user in control EMA and experimental groups and (ii) three prompts per day resulting in a total of 21 reward training sessions only in the experimental group. Participants will be able to use a special button triggering the intervention or EMA by themselves too. After one week, participants will return to the lab, fill in questionnaires and participate in behavioral tasks.
Interventions
OTHERCognitive- behavioral imagery-based training
The EMI developed and tested here is based on theoretical and empirical findings and consists of several items and a repeated training using various individual scenarios from participants' life that will be presented to participants via an app on their smartphones.
Sponsors
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Radboud University Medical Center
Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven
University of Zurich
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)
Masking description
Participants are informed of the two group design, individual group allocation is released to participants at the end of the study participation.
Intervention model description
Parallel group design with control group completing only EMA, not EMI
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 29 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* being a student * having sufficient knowledge of the German language * being a smartphone user * score of 5 points or more in Reward Sensitivity Subscale of Behavioral Avoidance/Inhibition (BIS/BAS) scales
Exclusion criteria
* having a mental illness or attending the psychotherapy
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioural avoidance/inhibition (BIS/BAS) scales | one week: Pre- to post-intervention/control | Self-reported reward sensitivity, scale range \[0-15\], higher score = worse outcome |
| The Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ) | one week: Pre- to post-intervention/control | Self-reported reward sensitivity, scale range \[0-24\], higher score = better outcome |
| Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) | one week: Pre- to post-intervention/control | Self-reported level of stress, scale range \[0-40\], higher score = worse outcome |
| Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) | one week: Pre- to post-intervention/control | Self-reported depressive symptoms, scale range \[0-63\], higher score = worse outcome |
| State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) | one week: Pre- to post-intervention/control | Self-reported anxiety symptoms, scale range \[20-80\], higher score = worse outcome |
Countries
Switzerland
Outcome results
None listed