Increasing Medical Student Well-being Through Gratitude Journaling

Randomised Controlled Trial of Gratitude Reporting vs no Intervention on Well-being of Medical Students During Clerkship

Clerkship causes significant stress to medical students. Some interventions to increase well-being have been described but none have been studied prospectively in this context.

The primary objective of this study is to examine the effects of gratitude journaling on medical clerks' perceived well-being.

Students will be randomised to one of two groups: gratitude journaling or no intervention. The participants of the experimental group will be asked to complete an online gratitude journal 3 times per week and will be compared to the participants in the control group.

The students in both groups will answer a standardised questionnaire evaluating well-being before and after their surgical rotation.

Those randomised to the intervention group will perform gratitude journaling three times a week during their surgical rotation. This activity consists of writing something that made them feel happy during their day.

Those randomised in the control group (no intervention) will proceed with their normal rotation, without additional gratitude journaling.

The main outcome will be evaluated by comparing the well-being at the end of the surgical rotation as evaluated by a composite well-being assessment scale between both groups.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Stress, Psychological
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Gratitude journaling

Detailed Description

Medical education involves 2 years of rotations in different medical and surgical specialties. These cause significant stress to clerks, in particular during the surgery rotation. In other professional fields, mindfulness techniques have shown only small to moderate effect on mental health compared to the control group.

An alternative approach to increasing well-being is gratitude journaling. A study examining this approach in student populations demonstrated enhanced well-being and life satisfaction.

The primary objective of this study is to examine the effects of gratitude journaling on medical clerks' perceived well-being.

Students will be randomised to one of two groups: gratitude journaling or no intervention. The participants of the experimental group will be asked to complete an online gratitude journal 3 times per week and will be compared to the participants in the control group.

The students in both groups will answer a standardised questionnaire evaluating well-being before and after their surgical rotation.

Those randomised to the intervention group will perform gratitude journaling three times a week during their surgical rotation. This activity consists of writing something that made them feel happy during their day.

Those randomised in the control group (no intervention) will proceed with their normal rotation, without additional gratitude journaling.

The main outcome will be evaluated by comparing the well-being at the end of the surgical rotation as evaluated by a composite well-being assessment scale between both groups.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 150
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Quebec
    • Montréal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1J4
      • Recruiting
      • Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Montréal
      • Contact: Samuel Rodriguez-Qizilbash, MD; Email: samuel.rodriguez-qizilbash@umontreal.ca
      • Sub-Investigator: Samuel Rodriguez-Qizilbash, MD
      • Sub-Investigator: Kerianne Boulva, MD, BSc
      • Principal Investigator: Erica Patocskai, MD

Participation Criteria

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:

• Medical students at the University of Montreal about to begin their surgical clerkship rotation.

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Gratitude journaling; Students perform gratitude journaling 3 times per week on a form. This activity consists of writing elements of their day that brought happiness to them. Can be in keyword form or in sentences.	Behavioral: Gratitude journaling; Gratitude journaling 3 times a week during surgical rotation
No Intervention: No intervention; Students proceed with their surgical clerkship as is standard in our institution.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Well-being	Medical student well-being at the end of their surgical rotation. Measured by Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, 1983)	6 weeks after enrollment
Well-being	Medical student well-being at the end of their surgical rotation. Measured by Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, 1985)	6 weeks after enrollment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Well-being before and after comparison	Before and after comparison of well-being by comparing initial and post-intervention questionnaires (Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, 1983))	6 weeks after enrollment in study
Compliance with gratitude journaling	Proportion of empty entries in the student's gratitude journal	6 weeks after enrollment in study

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Cohen S, Kamarck T, Mermelstein R. A global measure of perceived stress. J Health Soc Behav. 1983 Dec;24(4):385-96. No abstract available.
• Diener E, Emmons RA, Larsen RJ, Griffin S. The Satisfaction With Life Scale. J Pers Assess. 1985 Feb;49(1):71-5. doi: 10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13.
• van Dijk I, Lucassen PLBJ, Akkermans RP, van Engelen BGM, van Weel C, Speckens AEM. Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on the Mental Health of Clinical Clerkship Students: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial. Acad Med. 2017 Jul;92(7):1012-1021. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000001546.
• Pettitt BJ. Medical student concerns and fears before their third-year surgical clerkship. Am J Surg. 2005 Apr;189(4):492-6. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2004.09.017.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 16, 2017
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): July 1, 2018
• Study Completion (Anticipated): August 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 29, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 2, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): August 7, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 13, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 8, 2017
• Last Verified: November 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Stress; Medical education
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Stress, Psychological
• Other Study ID Numbers: 16.413

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