An Online Compassionate Imagery Intervention for Veterinarian Mental Health

September 21, 2023 updated by: University of Surrey

Investigating the Efficacy of a Two-week, Online Compassionate Imagery Intervention for Improving Mental Wellbeing in Veterinarians: A Randomised Controlled Trial

This randomised control trial aims to determine the efficacy of a two-week, online compassionate imagery intervention on improving veterinarian mental wellbeing. Participants will be randomly allocated to receive the intervention immediately or after a 10-week study period. Self-report questionnaires will be used at four time points to measure change on a range of psychological variables.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Background: Research suggests that veterinarians are high-achievers with self-critical, perfectionist tendencies (Holden, 2020). Perfectionism in veterinarians has been associated with stress, anxiety, negative affect and low resilience (Crane, Phillips & Karin, 2015). However, McArthur et al. (2017) found that veterinarians with higher levels of self-compassion reported greater resilience. A feasibility study by Wakelin, Perman and Simonds (2022) found an online two-week compassion-focused imagery intervention to be acceptible and feasible for a veterinarian sample. Wakelin et al. (2022) also reported indications of preliminary effect as veterinarians illustrated a reduction in perfectionism, work-related rumination and self-criticism over the intervention period.

Aim: This study aims to extend Wakelin et al.'s (2022) research, to determine the efficacy of a two-week, online compassionate imagery intervention on improving veterinarian mental wellbeing.

Design: The study will use a mixed-methods, repeated measures, randomised controlled trial design.

The independent variables will be the intervention group (either treatment or wait list control) and the data collection time point. Six questionnaires will be used to collect quantitative data on the following dependent variables: perfectionism, work- related rumination, fear of compassion, resilience, self-compassion, self- criticism and self-reassurance.

Method: Participants will complete questionnaire measures at four time points: prior to randomisation (baseline), two weeks post-randomisation (post-intervention), six-weeks post-randomisation (one-month intervention follow-up) and ten-weeks after randomisation (two-month intervention follow up). Participants in the treatment group will be asked to watch a 10-15 minute compassionate imagery video every day for two weeks (14 in total). Participants in the control group will gain access to intervention materials upon study completion but their engagement in the videos will not be monitored.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

162

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 Kingdom
    • Middlesex
      • Guildford, Middlesex, United Kingdom, GU2 7XH
        • University of Surrey

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

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Any student, recent graduate or qualified veterinary surgeon will be eligible for participation in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Veterinarians who participated in Wakelin et al.'s (2022) feasibility trial.
  • Veterinarians who are currently receiving a compassion- or cognitive-based therapy.

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: Intervention group
Participants given immediate access to two-week, online compassionate imagery course.
Other: Online Compassionate Imagery Intervention
The intervention comprises 14 pre-recorded, 10-15 minute videos. Participants will be asked to watch one video per day over a two-week period. The videos initially focus on providing psychoeducation about what self-compassion is, before delivering a series of guided Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) informed exercises to cultivate self-compassion. The first week of the intervention will teach key compassion skills, with the second week focusing on skill consolidation.
No Intervention: Wait-list control group
Participants will not access intervention during 10-week study period (access will be given to online compassionate imagery course after all outcome measures have been completed).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in 'Functions of Self-Criticising/Attacking and Self-Reassuring Scale' (FSCRS; Gilbert, Clarke, Hempel, Miles & Irons, 2004).
Time Frame: 4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
This 22-item scale will be used to measure self-criticism and self-reassurance. Participants are required to respond to statements on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 0 ('not at all like me') - 4 ('extremely like me'). The FSCRS has 3 subscales (Hated Self, Inadequate Self and Reassured Self) which are used to produce an overall self-criticism score (calculated by summing the Hated Self and Inadequate Self items) and a self-reassurance score (calculated by summing the Reassured Self items).
4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in 'Brief Resilience Scale' (BRS; Smith et al., 2008)
Time Frame: 4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
This 6-item scale will be used to measure resilience. The scale uses a combination of positively and negatively worded statements, which participants must respond to on a Likert Scale ranging from 1 ('strongly disagree') to 5 ('strongly agree'). The scores are summed to produce a total score, with a higher total score reflecting a higher level of resilience.
4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
Change in 'Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales' Self-Compassion scale (CEAS; Gilbert et al., 2017)
Time Frame: 4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
The 13-item CEAS Self-Compassion scale will be used to measure self-compassion. It uses a series of statements, to which the participant must respond on a Likert Scale with responses ranging from 1 ('never') to 10 ('always'). The scale has two subscales, which are aligned with the two dimensions of Gilbert's (2017) model of compassion: 'Compassionate Engagement' and 'Compassionate Action'. A total score can be produced by summing the subscale scores, with a higher score reflecting a higher level of self-compassion.
4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
Change in 'Work-related Rumination Questionnaire' (WRRQ; Cropley, Michalianou, Pravettoni & Millward, 2012)
Time Frame: 4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
This 25-item scale will be used to measure a person's tendency to engage in ruminative thinking about work; participants will be asked to respond in relation to their university, placement, or clinic work. The WRRQ has three subscales (affective rumination, problem-solving pondering, and distraction detachment), and a mean total score is calculated, with higher scores indicating a higher level of rumination.
4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
Change in 'Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale - 24 Items' (FMPS-24; Khawaja & Armstrong, 2005).
Time Frame: 4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
This 24-item scale will be used to measure perfectionism. The scale is scored out of 120, with a higher score indicating stronger perfectionistic tendencies.
4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
Change in 'Fears of Compassion Scale' (FCS; Gilbert, McEwan, Matos & Rivis, 2011).
Time Frame: 4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
This 38-item scale will be used to measure Fears of Compassion and it comprises three subscales: Fears of Compassion-Self, Fears of Compassion- For others, and Fears of Compassion- From others.
4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Surrey

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 (Actual)

November 29, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 14, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

July 14, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 17, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 19, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

October 21, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 22, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 21, 2023

Last Verified

September 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • FHMS 21022 252 EGA

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

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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