Positive Psychology for Mood Disorders (PPBPAD)

September 1, 2017 updated by: Jeff C. Huffman, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital

Trial of a Positive Psychology Intervention to Reduce Suicide Risk in Patients With Mood Disorders

The investigators are doing this study to see if "positive psychology" can help adults with depression or bipolar disorder.

Positive psychology involves exercises-short tasks-that try to increase good feelings and emotions, like optimism, happiness, personal strengths, and well-being. Positive psychology exercises might include imagining a bright future, being grateful for good events, forgiving others, and doing kind acts for others.

The investigators want to see if practicing positive psychology exercises after leaving the hospital can increase feelings of hope, optimism, and positive thinking. The investigators are asking you to take part in this research study because you are in the hospital for depression or bipolar disorder.

This research study will compare "positive psychology exercises" to "control condition exercises." During the study, you may take part in control condition exercises instead of positive psychology exercises.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

25

Phase

  • 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
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02114
        • Massachusetts General Hospital

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patient admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital Inpatient Psychiatric Unit
  • Age 18 and older
  • Able to read and write in English
  • Admission diagnosis of major depressive disorder or bipolar affective disorder (current depressive episode), confirmed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and inpatient chart review

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Psychotic symptoms, as assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and inpatient chart review
  • Cognitive disorder, assessed using a six-item cognitive screen developed for research
  • Primary admission diagnosis of substance use disorder

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
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Positive psychology intervention
4-week positive psychology intervention of 1 positive psychology exercise per week. Exercises will include 1) recalling 3 good events, 2) writing a letter of thankfulness, 3) using a personal strength, 4) envisioning a best possible future.
Behavioral: Positive psychology intervention
Active Comparator: Recollection intervention
4-week recollection intervention of 1 recollection exercise per week. Exercises will include recalling events related to 1) daily activities, 2) health, 3) social life, 4) morning and evening.
Behavioral: Recollection intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Feasibility of positive psychology exercises
Time Frame: 8 weeks

Feasibility will be measured by:

  1. Completion rate of exercises
  2. Ease of exercises (rated on a 5-point scale)
  3. Helpfulness of exercises (rated on a 5-point scale)
8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Impact of positive psychology exercises on positive affect
Time Frame: 8 weeks

Positive affect will be measured by:

  1. Optimism score on the Life Orientation Test-Revised (scores range from 3 to 30, with higher scores indicating higher levels of optimism)
  2. Gratitude score on the Gratitude Questionnaire-6 (scores range from 6 to 42, with higher scores indicating higher levels of gratitude)
  3. Positive emotion score on the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (scores range from 10 to 50, with higher scores indicating higher levels of positive emotion)
8 weeks
Impact of positive psychology exercises on negative affect
Time Frame: 8 weeks

Negative affect will be measured by:

  1. Hopelessness scores on the Beck Hopelessness Scale (scores range from 0 to 20, with higher scores indicating higher levels of hopelessness).
  2. Suicidal ideation scores on the Concise Health Risk Tracking scale (scores range from 12 to 60, with higher scores indicating higher levels of suicidal ideation)
  3. Depression scores on the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self Report (scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating higher levels of depression)
8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Massachusetts General Hospital

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

March 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 10, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

June 10, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 25, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 27, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

March 28, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 5, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 1, 2017

Last Verified

September 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2012P002294

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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