Effects of an Intervention to Enhance Resilience in Physical Therapy Students

May 10, 2016 updated by: Anne Mejia-Downs, University of Indianapolis

Health professional students experience high levels of psychological stress. Individuals with higher levels of resilience are better equipped to handle stress. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of an 8-hour resilience curriculum on stress levels, resilience, coping, protective factors, and symptomatology on students enrolled in a doctor of physical therapy (DPT) program.

Hypothesis: The curriculum will decrease stress levels, increase resilience, coping flexibility, protective factors (optimism, positive affect, and social support), and reduce symptomatology (negative affect, illness). Research on stress and its consequences experienced by physical therapy students in particular is limited. If the results of this study support this hypothesis, it may establish the benefit of adding a resilience component to the curriculum for students of physical therapy.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The study involves curriculum development and evaluation by randomized controlled trial. Participants will be randomized to the intervention group to receive a Resilience Curriculum or to a wait-list control group to receive a condensed version of the curriculum following the post-intervention assessments.

Pre- and post-intervention assessments will be administered to both groups, with baseline assessments administered in the first two weeks of the semester. The assessments will include measures of stress levels, levels of resilience, coping flexibility, optimism, positive and negative emotions, social support, and symptoms of illness. The intervention, the presentation of a resilience curriculum, will be delivered to the intervention group during the week following the baseline assessments and it will last for four weeks.

The resilience curriculum will provide education for participants about methods to increase protective factors against stress, the use of effective coping strategies, and the importance of accessing social support, with the goal of better managing stress and enhancing resilience. The intervention will include a didactic component, skills-building training, and homework exercises to encourage the application of the skills. The curriculum will be delivered in four 2-hour modules, with one module delivered each week. The follow-up assessments will occur after midterm examinations are concluded. An abbreviated curriculum which will last approximately two hours will be delivered to the wait-list control group.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

43

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
    • Indiana
      • Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 46227
        • University of Indianapolis
      • Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 46202
        • Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis

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

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Current enrollment in Doctor of Physical Therapy program at either Indiana University or the University of Indianapolis

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None

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: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Resilience Curriculum
The intervention is exposure to an 8-hour Resilience Curriculum. It will provide education for participants about methods to increase protective factors against stress, the use of effective coping strategies, and the importance of accessing social support, with the goal of better managing stress and enhancing resilience. The curriculum will include a didactic component, skills-building training, and homework exercises to encourage the application of the skills.
Other: Resilience Curriculum
The Resilience Curriculum consists of 4 modules, with one 2-hour module presented each week.
No Intervention: No Resilience Curriculum
The Waitlist Control group will receive no exposure to the Resilience Curriculum. After the final data is collected, this group will be offered the opportunity to attend a condensed 2-hour version of the curriculum.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline in psychological resilience at 8 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks
The 25-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale measures a variety of constructs of resilience including hardiness, personal competence, social bonds, patience, and spiritual influences.
Baseline and 8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline in perceived psychological stress at 8 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks
The 10-item Perceived Stress Scale was created to assess the perception of stress in the previous month,
Baseline and 8 weeks
Change from baseline in coping flexibility at 8 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks
The Coping Flexibility Scale is a 10-item tool to measure the ability of an individual to effectively modify coping behavior.
Baseline and 8 weeks
Change from baseline in optimism at 8 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks
The Revised Life Orientation Test is a 10-item scale designed to measure optimism in an individual.
Baseline and 8 weeks
Change from baseline in positive and negative emotions at 8 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks
The 20-item Modified Differential Emotion Scale, an adaptation of the original Differential Emotion Scale, measures positive and negative emotions that an individual has experienced in the previous 2 weeks.
Baseline and 8 weeks
Change from baseline in social support at 8 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks
The Social Provisions Scale is a 24-item assessment of six areas of social relationships (guidance, reliable alliance, attachment, social integration, reassurance of worth, and opportunity for nurturance) used to measure perceived social support.
Baseline and 8 weeks

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline in symptoms of Illness at 8 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks
The Symptoms of Illness Checklist is a 33-item tool designed to measure the number, frequency, and severity of physical symptoms experienced in the previous two-week period.
Baseline and 8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Indianapolis

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Anne M Mejia-Downs, PT, MPH, University of Indianapolis

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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

September 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 31, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 1, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

September 4, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

May 11, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 10, 2016

Last Verified

May 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • RARMUoHP063015

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual data will not be shared.

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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