Emotional Dysregulation
Conditions
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel online single-session intervention (SSI) designed to improve emotion regulation abilities in young adults (ages 18-29). The active intervention condition, titled "Project WAVE," uses mindfulness skills training and an emotion exposure to teach participants how to cope with distressing emotions. Project WAVE will be evaluated in comparison with another online activity that controls for nonspecific aspects of single-session interventions.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALProject WAVE (Wise Awareness of Visiting Emotions)
Project WAVE is an online, self-directed single-session intervention designed to foster emotional nonreactivity skills in young adults aged 18-29.
BEHAVIORALEmotionally Neutral Writing Control
The control condition is an online, self-directed single-session activity that includes an emotionally neutral writing task.
Sponsors
Northwestern University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Masking description
The measures and intervention will be self-administered, so there is no direct interaction between personnel and participants.
Intervention model description
This study uses a two-group between-subjects design.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 29 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Between the ages of 18 and 29, inclusive * Self-report comfort in reading and writing in English * Have access to the Internet through computer, laptop, smartphone, etc. * Live in the United States or U.S. territories, per IP address * Provide an endorsement of either "disagree" or "strongly disagree" on at least one of the following three items adapted from the Nonreactivity subscale of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire: "I was aware of my feelings and emotions without having to react to them"; "I watched my feelings without getting lost in them"; "When I had distressing emotions, I 'stepped back' and was aware of the emotion without getting taken over by it" * Commit to providing thoughtful answers to the questions asked * Pass the attention check / bot detection question, "Are you taller than 10 feet?" ("yes," "no," or "unsure") in the initial screener survey
Exclusion criteria
* Fail to meet the above-listed inclusion criteria * Exit the study prior to condition randomization * Fail to pass data integrity measures
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Emotion Intolerance Beliefs. | Data will be collected in both conditions at all time points (pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, and two-week follow-up). | Emotion intolerance beliefs will be measured using the Emotion Avoidance Questionnaire (EAQ) Beliefs subscale, a five-item self-report measure of a participant's beliefs about their inability to tolerate emotions (Taylor et al., 2004). Participants will rate their agreement with each statement reflecting how they feel "right now" on a five-point scale. A higher score indicates greater levels of negative beliefs about their ability to tolerate emotions. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Perceived Intervention Utility | Data will be collected only in Project WAVE and only at immediate post-intervention. | Perception of the intervention's utility in teaching nonreactivity will be assessed with the items: "During this activity, to what extent were you able to observe your emotions without getting caught up in them?"; "How much did this activity help you learn how to be nonreactive to distressing emotions?"; "How much do you think being nonreactive to distressing emotions could help you in the future?" (each on a five-point Likert scale ranging from "not at all" to "very much"); and "How likely are you to try being nonreactive to distressing emotions in the future?" (on a five-point Likert scale ranging from "very unlikely" to "very likely"). Participants will also be asked a multi-select question: "Did anything get in the way of being able to complete the nonreactivity practice?" with response options including "It was too hard," "It was confusing," "I didn't find it interesting," "I got distracted," "Something else \[write-in\]," or "Nothing got in the way." |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed