Distress, Emotional
Conditions
Keywords
virtual intervention, men/male, college students, emotional distress
Brief summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a virtual task can reduce distress in college students. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Will those who complete the virtual task have less distress? 2. Will men and women both benefit equally from the virtual task? Researchers will compare the virtual task to a control task (another virtual task that we expect will not impact distress) to see if distress differs. Participants will spend 20 minutes engaging in the virtual task (or the control task) on 3 different days all within one week. They will complete a survey about their well-being before starting the first virtual task and again \ 6 weeks afterward.
Detailed description
Easily accessible and cost effective strategies for reducing emotional distress and improving stress tolerance in college students and the population generally are desired. The scalability and feasibility of virtual interventions hold promise for reaching segments of the population that find one-on-one psychotherapy aversive. Males in particular have higher perceived treatment stigma relative to women and find may typical traditional therapeutic processes incongruent with their masculine identity and values. The research team has designed an innovative, self-directed, virtual intervention to reduce distress and stress intolerance. The intervention consists of a set of virtual tasks which reflect the Sequential Model of Emotional Processing presented with language, imagery and content that engages men. Using a randomized clinical trials design, this pilot project will compare the effects of the virtual intervention with a virtual control task on emotional well-being outcomes in college students.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALVirtual Sequential Emotional Processing Task
A 20-minute interactive session delivered 3 times over a one week period.
BEHAVIORALVirtual Control Task
A time-matched (ie., 20 minute) interactive session delivered 3 times over a one week period.
Sponsors
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Boise State University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* 18 years of age or older * college student
Exclusion criteria
* Younger than 18 years of age
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from baseline Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) scores to 6wks post intervention | From enrollment to the end of the ~6wk follow up period. | The scale ranges from 0-6 where higher scores indicate more dysfunction. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from baseline Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 scores to 6wks post intervention | From enrollment to the end of the ~6wk follow up period. | The scale ranges from 0-6 where higher scores indicate more dysfunction. |
| Change from baseline Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-2 scores to 6wks post intervention | From enrollment to the end of the ~6wk follow up period. | Possible scores range from 0-10 where higher scores indicate higher resilience. |
Countries
United States
Contacts
Primary ContactMatthew Genuchi, PhD
Outcome results
None listed