Art-based Beauty Appreciation Intervention (ABBA-vention)

August 15, 2025 updated by: Radboud University Medical Center

RCT Pilot Study: Art-based Beauty Appreciation Intervention

This study is a randomized controlled trial with an active control condition evaluating the impact of an art-based beauty appreciation (ABBA) intervention on trait appreciation of beauty as a primary outcome and well-being and psychological distress as secondary outcomes. The central hypothesis is that the primary and secondary outcomes will increase more in the intervention than in the control condition.

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

This study is a randomized controlled trial with an active control condition evaluating the impact of an art-based beauty appreciation (ABBA) intervention on trait appreciation of beauty as a primary outcome and well-being and psychological distress as secondary outcomes. These two programs have been designed and validated in a qualitative pilot study as matched in credibility, intensity, and enjoyment. There are three measurement points for primary and secondary outcomes, including (1) enrollment, (2) a post-test after the intervention/control program, and (3) a 4-week follow-up measure. N = 114 participants will be randomized after baseline into either the intervention or control group (N = 57/group). In addition, to investigate perceived mechanisms, barriers, and facilitators, participants will be selected using purposive sampling and invited to a semi-structured interview until data saturation is reached (expected N = 15).

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.
114

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 Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • Netherlands
      • Nijmegen, Netherlands, 6525 GA
        • Radboudumc

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

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Participants must be between 18-28 years of age,
  2. indicate that they have a smartphone to support our data collection and program components,
  3. have the ability and interest to make a trip to a museum or new location (i.e., new part of the city),

(3) be willing to complete short activities every day for two weeks, (4) and be fluent in English, (6) be based in Amsterdam, (7) are willing to share postal address to receive materials.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Participants must not currently be in clinical treatment for a mental health disorder, assessed via self-report, or
  2. indicate that they are currently experiencing severe psychological symptoms (i.e., depression, suicidal ideation, severe anxiety) via self-report.

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

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.
Active Comparator: Active Control Condition
Behavioral: Observation Program (Learning to Observe Life)
The active, matched control group will focus on developing pragmatic observation skills. Participants will be instructed to pay attention to and identify objects and elements in their surroundings without emphasizing their aesthetic value. For example, they should pay attention and count objects of the same colour they encounter, social behaviour, the people they pass on the street, or the types of buildings. The 14-day program includes a tourist trip with guided audio instruction, watching instructional videos about increasing observation skills and completing daily written or photo journals to document their observations. Further, participants will take an observation walk and plan to include more observation in their lives.
Other: Intervention Condition
Behavioral: Art-based Beauty Appreciation Intervention Program (Learning to See Beauty)
The goals of the intervention program are to help individuals develop an aesthetic mindset, practice observation and appreciation skills, learn how to apply these skills to their day-to-day lives, practice emotion regulation with beauty, and incorporate more beauty into their lives. The program is designed to create a slow skill transfer from appreciation in art contexts to natural beauty and to everyday life. In the 14-day program, participants visit an art museum with guided audio, watch instructional videos about observing and appreciating beauty, and complete daily written or photo beauty journals that document the beauty they see. In addition, participants will watch video art showing how to find beauty in mundane objects, practice this in a beauty walk, and complete a planning session to include more beauty in their lives.

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
Engagement with Beauty
Time Frame: From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)
The Engagement with Beauty Scale Revised (EBS-R) is an 18-item self-report scale designed to assess cognitive and emotional engagement with natural beauty, artistic beauty, moral beauty, and beautiful ideas. Participants respond on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (very unlike me) to 7 (very much like me). Example items include reflections on physiological responses to natural beauty, the spiritual experience elicited by art, and the desire for personal growth through moral beauty appreciation. Subscales measure engagement with moral beauty (scores 6-42) and the other three domains (scores 4-28), contributing to a total score ranging from 18 to 126.
From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)

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
Well-being
Time Frame: From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)
We will measure well-being using the Mental Health Continuum Short Form (MHC-SF). This has 14 items over three subscales: emotional well-being, social well-being (eudemonic well-being), and psychological well-being. The items are scored on a 6-point Likert scale (0-5), then sum-scored.
From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)
Psychological Distress
Time Frame: From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)
The DASS-21 will be used to measure psychological distress. It has 21 items divided over three subscales of 7 items each. These capture emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress. The items are assessed using a four-point Likert scale (0-3), summed together, and multiplied by two. This results in three subscales and a total score.
From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Emotion Regulation via Beauty
Time Frame: From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)
The Emotion Regulation Strategies for Artistic Creative Activities Scale (ERS-ACA; Fancourt et al., 2019) will be used with slight modification to the question stem. While the initial purpose of this scale was geared towards creative pursuits, it has been rooted in the principles of emotion regulation theory and designed to be applied to various activities. We anticipate that it will be a valuable instrument in evaluating how appreciating beauty can regulate emotions. This change in the question stem concerns the use of the prompt, "When I am appreciating beauty…". Items can be added up to avoidance strategies (i.e., I can block out unwanted thoughts or feelings), approach strategies (i.e., it makes me reflect on my emotions), and self-development strategies (i.e., it reaffirms my identity).
From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)
Attention Regulation
Time Frame: From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)
Attention regulation will be assessed using the 20-item Attention Control Scale (ACS) (Derryberry & Reed, 2002). The questionnaire consists of 2 subscales: (1) Attention Focusing and (2) Attention Shifting. The items are assessed on a four-point Likert scale (1-4) and will be sum-scored.
From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)
Mindfulness Skills
Time Frame: From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)
Mindfulness will be assessed using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire Short Form (FFMQ-15), with 15 items (Baer, Carmody, & Hunsinger, 2012), with five facets: (1) observing, (2) describing, (3) acting with awareness, (4) non-judging, and (5) non-reactivity (Baer et al., 2006). The items are assessed on a five-point Likert scale (1-5) from rarely to always. Scores will be summed for each facet and the total score.
From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)
Burnout
Time Frame: From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)
Burnout will be measured using the Burnout Assessment Tool-12 (BAT-12), consisting of 12 items (Redelinghuys & Morgan, 2023; Schaufeli et al., 2020). This questionnaire measures burnout with four subscales: (1) Exhaustion, (2) Mental Distance, (3) Emotional Impairment, and (4) Cognitive Impairment (Schaufeli et al., 2020). The items are assessed on a five-point Likert scale (1-5). A total score can be obtained by calculating all items' average scores. Additionally, subscale scores are obtained by calculating the average of the items per subscale.
From baseline to the follow-up period (up to 2 months)
Qualitative Interview
Time Frame: After timepoint 3 (8-9 weeks after enrollment)
Semi-structured interview focusing on the impacts of intervention, mechanisms, barriers and facilitators.
After timepoint 3 (8-9 weeks after enrollment)

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.
Radboud University Medical Center

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
University of Vienna
University of Amsterdam

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: MacKenzie D Trupp, PhD Candidate, RadboudUMC, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour and University of Vienna
  • Principal Investigator: Corina Greven, Prof. Dr., RadboudUMC, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour

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.
November 22, 2024

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.
July 18, 2025

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.
July 18, 2025

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).
December 22, 2024

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.
January 22, 2025

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.
January 23, 2025

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.
August 17, 2025

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.
August 15, 2025

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.
December 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • NL87597.091.24

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

All identifying information will remain in storage within the RadboudUMC storage systems at the Donders Institute and will not be shared. Data will not be published; however, it will be stored in the Radboud Repository, where further researchers can request access to pseudonymized data after signing a data-access agreement.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

The study pre-registration will be embargoed on Open Science Framework (OSF) until the publication of the results in an academic journal.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

After the release from the embargo, anyone can access the pre-registration on OSF.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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