Randomised Controlled Trial of a Digital Programme for Procrastination in UK University Students

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of an 8-week self-directed internet based CBT intervention on various psychological outcomes for young students struggling with procrastination in the UK. The psychological outcomes consist of motivation, depressive symptoms, impulsivity and anxiety. More specifically, the study aims to compare the effect of the intervention vs waitlist control at 8 weeks on primary and secondary outcomes. Additionally, the study aims to explore whether changes in primary and secondary outcomes as the result of the intervention are mediated or moderated by key intervention processes.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Procrastination
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Digital intervention through modules

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 140
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Jeffrey Lambert, PhD; Phone Number: +44 (0)1225 384536; Email: jl2426@bath.ac.uk

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Bath, United Kingdom
    • Recruiting
    • University of Bath
    • Contact: Jeffrey Lambert, PhD; Email: jl2426@bath.ac.uk

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Resident in the UK
• Fluent in English
• Aged between 16 and 24 years of age
• Have access to computer or smartphone
• Score at least 40 points on the Pure Procrastination Scale (indicating difficulties with procrastination)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Ongoing psychological treatment
• New course of change in dose of psychotropic medication in the last two months (self-reported)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Procrastinate digital programme; 8-week unternet-based CBT for procrastination; Behavioural Module: Introduction; Behavioural Module: Goal setting techniques; Behavioural Module: Motivation; Behavioural Module: Barriers to action; Behavioural Module: Managing maladaptive thoughts and beliefs; Behavioural Module: Value clarification; Behavioural Module: Moving forward	Behavioral: Digital intervention through modules; Introduction; Goal Setting Techniques; Motivation; Barriers to Action; Managing Maladaptive Thoughts and Beliefs; Value Clarification; Moving Forward
No Intervention: Waitlist control; Wait-list control group. They do not receive the weekly modules though they are asked to complete 4-week and 8-week online surveys. They will be allowed to revive the intervention after 8 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Procrastination: Pure Procrastination Scale (PPS; Rozental, Forsell, et al., 2014)	measures procrastination by using 12 items to detect and determine dysfunctional delay. The higher the score the more likely the individual is to delay an activity or task	Baseline, WK4, WK8

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Demographics	Age, gender, ethnicity, whether they were the first person in their family to attend university, international student status, course type, year of study, and method of recruitment.	Baseline
Clinical Perfectionism Questionnaire (CPQ) (Fairburn et al., 2003)	Assessment of cognitive, behavioural, and affective aspects of setting goals and striving to meet them. This scale has 12 items that assess clinical perfectionism. Items 2 and 8 are reverse-scored.The CPQ items are scored based on the individual's experiences over the past 28 days. The scale utilises a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 with the statement "not at all" to 4 with the statement "all the time". Higher scores on the CPQ indicate higher levels of perfectionism.	Baseline, WK4, WK8
Depressive symptoms: Patient health questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) (Kroenke et al., 2008)	This assessment measures depressive symptoms. The questionnaire asks how often participants have been bothered or felt affected by eight possible issues or symptoms over the past 2 weeks (e.g., "feeling down, depressed, or hopeless,". The scale consists of eight of the nine criteria to determine depression. A score on the PHQ-8 ≥10 represents clinically significant depression.	Baseline, WK4, WK8
Anxiety symptoms: General Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) (Spitzer et al., 2006)	This scale is used to assess anxiety using 7 items relating to worry symptoms in the last 2 weeks. The scores on the scale range from 0 to 21. There are cut off points to indicate different anxiety levels. The scores of 5,10 and 15 show the thresholds for mild anxiety, moderate anxiety, and severe anxiety. participants have been bothered or felt affected by eight possible issues or symptoms over the past 2 weeks (e.g., "feeling down, depressed, or hopeless,". The scale consists of eight of the nine criteria to determine depression. A score on the PHQ-8 ≥10 represents clinically significant depression.	Baseline, WK4, WK8
Impulsivity: Short form Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (Spinella 2009)	Assessment of 15 items for impulsivity. The scale focuses on non planning, motor impulsivity, and attention impulsivity. Higher scores are indicative of more impulsivity.	Baseline, WK4, WK8
International physical activity questionnaire short form (Lee et al., 2011	The questionnaire consists of 9 items and it asks participants about their physical activity in the last 7 days before completing the form. It explores how often participants engaged with physical activity ranging at four levels: vigorous-intensity, moderate-intensity, walking, and sitting.	Baseline, WK4, WK8
Behavioural activation for depression scale (BATDS-SF) (Manos et al., 2011)	Assessment of experienced pleasure from daily activities over the past week. It consists of 9 items on 7 point scales from 0 to 6. 0 being "not at all" to 6 "completely".	Baseline, WK4, WK8
Intervention acceptability and appropriateness using the Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM), acceptability of Interventions Measure (AIM) and feasibility of intervention measure	This scale is used to measure how appropriate the intervention will be on the participants. This assessment uses 4 item measures which focus on how likely it is that the implementation of the intervention will be successful on the participants.	WK4, WK8
Usage data from intervention platform (e.g., time spend on modules, completion of worksheets)	Assessing how far and how much of each module was completed based on time spent and whether worksheets were completed.	Baseline to WK8

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Bath
• Collaborators: Uppsala University; Linkoeping University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 1, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 27, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 27, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): December 6, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 9, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 7, 2024
• Last Verified: May 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: Procrastinate2023

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