The Effects of Online Single-Session Interventions on College Student Well-being

September 3, 2020 updated by: University of Pennsylvania
This study seeks to investigate the effects of an online single-session intervention on college student mental health and well-being. Undergraduate students from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard will be randomized to a 30-minute single-session intervention or a study skills control group. Students' depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, positive and negative affect, and subjective well-being will be assessed up to 12 weeks post-intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The design of our study is a randomized control trial. After enrollment in the study, participants will randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In each condition, participants will be asked to complete an initial survey of mental health and well-being measures. Following this survey, participants will complete either a well-being skills single-session intervention or control single-session intervention (study skills) depending on which condition they were assigned to. These single-session interventions educate the participant on their focal concept and teach them exercises to improve that skill. Completing the single-session intervention will take approximately 20-30 minutes.

After completing their single-session intervention, all participants will retake the measures of mental health and well-being presented to them at the beginning of the program. Participants will also be asked to complete measures of intervention feasibility, acceptability and appropriateness at this time.

Following this initial intervention, participants will retake the measures of well-being and mental health at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 12 weeks after they completed the intervention. This will allow us to fulfill our first objective by determining how long single-session interventions improve undergraduate mental health and well-being.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
294

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, 01434
        • Harvard University
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • University of Pennsylvania

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 22 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Current undergraduate student at select universities
  • Able to access the internet
  • Can participate in follow-up surveys for three months post sign-up

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unable to access the internet
  • Will not be able to respond to the follow-up surveys post-intervention

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Multi-component Well-being Intervention
Reading and writing activities based on cognitive restructuring (rephrasing automatic negative thoughts), gratitude (noticing and appreciating good things in life), and behavioral activation (identifying and scheduling positive activities)
Behavioral: Multi-component Well-being Intervention
The intervention asks participants to complete exercises based on three different skills. These skills include cognitive restructuring, gratitude and behavioral activation. After completing the program, participants will pick their favorite exercise to complete on a weekly basis for homework. In order to increase compliance with the homework, participants will complete a short plan in which they will identify when, where and with who they will complete the homework. The whole intervention takes approximately 20-30 minutes to complete.
Sham Comparator: Study Skills Control
Reading and writing activities designed to teach evidence-based study strategies.
Behavioral: Study Skills
Participants are taught three different study skills/strategies. They are asked to make a plan to continue using these strategies after completing the intervention. The whole intervention takes approximately 20-30 minutes to complete.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
Time Frame: Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up
Depression Questionnaire. The total score ranges from 0 to 27. Lower scores indicate a better outcome.
Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up
Change in Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener-7 (GAD-7)
Time Frame: Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up
Anxiety Questionnaire. The total score ranges from 0 to 21. Lower scores indicate a better outcome.
Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up
Change in The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale
Time Frame: Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up
Well-being questionnaire. Total score ranges from 14 to 70. Higher values indicate a better outcome.
Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Acceptability of Intervention Measure
Time Frame: Immediately post-intervention (0 weeks)
Questionnaire measuring the acceptability of an intervention. Acceptability refers to the perception that a given treatment is agreeable or satisfactory. The total score ranges from 4 to 20. Higher scores indicate a better outcome.
Immediately post-intervention (0 weeks)
Feasibility of Intervention Measure
Time Frame: Immediately post-intervention (0 weeks)
Questionnaire measuring the feasibility of an intervention. Feasibility refers to the degree to which a treatment can be successfully implemented in a given setting. The total score ranges from 4 to 20. Higher scores indicate a better outcome.
Immediately post-intervention (0 weeks)
Intervention Appropriateness Measure
Time Frame: Immediately post-intervention (0 weeks)
Questionnaire measuring the appropriateness of an intervention. Appropriateness refers to the perceived fit or relevance of an intervention. The total score ranges from 4 to 20. Higher scores indicate a better outcome.
Immediately post-intervention (0 weeks)
Change in Gratitude Questionnaire-6
Time Frame: Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up
Gratitude questionnaire. Total score ranges from 6 to 42. Higher scores indicate more gratitude.
Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up
Change in Beck Hopelessness Scale (4-item version)
Time Frame: Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up
Hope Questionnaire. Total score ranges from 0 to 4. Higher scores indicate less hope (or more hopelessness).
Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up
Change in Perceived Stress Scale-4
Time Frame: Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up
Perceived stress questionnaire. Total score ranges from 0 to 16. Higher scores indicate more stress.
Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up
Change in Positive and Negative Affect Schedule
Time Frame: Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up
Affect Questionnaire. Scores range from 10-50 for positive affect and negative affect subscales. Higher scores represent higher levels of affect.
Change from baseline at 2 week follow-up, 4 week follow-up, 12 week follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Pennsylvania

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Study Director: Robert DeRubeis, PhD, University of Pennsylvania

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 31, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 31, 2020

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
August 31, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
February 24, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 26, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
February 27, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 4, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 3, 2020

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
September 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 834854

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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