Psychosocial Benefits of Gratitude Journals

Psychosocial Benefits of Gratitude Journals: A Randomized Controlled Intervention Trial

This randomized controlled study will examine the effects of different interpersonal gratitude journals compared to a neutral control journal on psycho social outcomes.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Happiness
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Reflective Interpersonal Gratitude; Behavioral: Reflective-Behavioral Gratitude; Behavioral: Neutral Control Journal

Detailed Description

This randomized controlled study will examine the effect of a) a reflective interpersonal gratitude journal, and b) an reflective and behavioral interpersonal gratitude journal, versus (c) an active control journal, on life satisfaction and other secondary outcomes. Explanatory mechanisms will be tested utilizing the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of these three conditions with three week, one month and three month follow-up assessments.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 192
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Ireland
  • Munster
    • Limerick, Munster, Ireland, ROI
      • University of Limerick

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• English language proficiency

Exclusion Criteria:

• under the age of 18

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Reflective Interpersonal Gratitude; An interpersonal gratitude journal, designed to foster gratitude for one's existing social relationships, by writing and reflecting on people and positive daily encounters for which one is grateful.	Behavioral: Reflective Interpersonal Gratitude; Participants were given the following instructions in their journal: Writing is a great way to reflect on your daily events, helping to look back and focus on the good things in our lives. There are many things in our lives, big and small, which we might be grateful for. For the next three weeks, 3 times a week (9 days in total), reflect back on your day and think of the people you met and interacted with and are grateful for. Please write down in the space provided a number of positive social interactions over the day or friendships/relationships you are grateful for…..
Experimental: Reflective-Behavioral Gratitude; An interpersonal gratitude journal, designed to foster gratitude for one's existing social relationships, by writing and reflecting on people and positive daily encounters for which one is grateful. In addition participants are asked to choose a friend express this gratitude to them at the end of each week.	Behavioral: Reflective-Behavioral Gratitude; Participants were given the following identical instructions as the reflective journal in addition to this "At the end of each week, express this gratitude to a friend of your choice face-to-face or through e-mail, facebook, a kind note, tell him/her how much you appreciate something specific that he/she does and reflect on how your friend's reaction and how you feel."
Active Comparator: Neutral Control Journal; Write about and reflect on things that occurred over the course of the day.	Behavioral: Neutral Control Journal; Writing is a great way to reflect on your daily events, helping to look back and reflect on our lives. For the next three weeks, 3 times a week (9 days in total), please write in the spaces provided things that happened during the day.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985).	Used to assess changes in life satisfaction levels over the course of the intervention and follow-ups.	Baseline, immediate post-intervention at three weeks,1 month, 3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
National Institute of Health Social Relationships Companionship Scale which assess Friendship Quality and Loneliness. Cyranowski, J. M., Zill, N., Bode, R., Butt, Z., Kelly, M. A., Pilkonis, P. A., & Cella, D. (2013).	Used to assess changes in social relationships over the course of the intervention and follow-ups.	Baseline, immediate post-intervention at three weeks,1 month, 3 months
The Gratitude Questionnaire-Six Item Form (GQ-6) McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. (2002).	Used to assess changes in gratitude levels over the course of the intervention and follow-ups.	Baseline, immediate post-intervention at three weeks,1 month, 3 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The Expression of Gratitude in Relationships Scale. Lambert, N. M., Clarke, M. S., Durtschi, J. A., Fincham, F. D., & Graham, S. M. (2010).	Used to assess changes in levels of gratitude expression over the course of the intervention and follow-ups.	Baseline, immediate post-intervention at three weeks,1 month, 3 months
The Four- item Relationship Satisfaction Scale. Funk, J. L., & Rogge, R. D. (2007).	Used to assess changes in relationship satisfaction levels over the course of the intervention and follow-ups.	Baseline, immediate post-intervention at three weeks,1 month, 3 months
Depressive symptoms: CES-D 10 (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale 10 item scale) Short Form. Andresen, E. M., Malmgren, J. A., Carter, W. B., & Patrick, D. L. (1994).	Used to assess changes in depressive symptom levels over the course of the intervention and follow-ups.	Baseline, immediate post-intervention at three weeks,,1 month, 3 months
Relationship closeness: Inclusion of other in the Self Scale Aron, A., Aron, E. N., & Smollan, D. (1992).	Used to assess changes in relationship closeness over the course of the intervention and follow-ups.	Baseline, immediate post-intervention at three weeks,1 month, 3 months
Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences , can use the Positive Feelings/affect subscale Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi. D., Oishi, S., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2009).	potential moderator	Baseline, immediate post-intervention at three weeks,1 month, 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Limerick
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Brenda O' Connell, B.A, University of Limerick; Study Director: Stephen Gallagher, PhD, University of Limerick; Study Director: Deirdre O'Shea, PhD, University of Limerick

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: October 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 1, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): March 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 6, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 6, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): October 7, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): March 2, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 1, 2016
• Last Verified: March 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: positive psychology; life satisfaction; friendships; positive emotion; Gratitude Intervention
• Other Study ID Numbers: GratitudeJournal2015