Increasing Medical Student Well-being Through Gratitude Journaling

Stress, Psychological Clinical Trial

Official title:

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

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03240705
• Other study ID #: 16.413
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: August 31, 2017
• Est. completion date: December 22, 2021

Study information

• Verified date: January 2023
• Source: Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

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.

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 53
• Est. completion date: December 22, 2021
• Est. primary completion date: December 22, 2021
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

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

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Stress, Psychological

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Gratitude journaling
Gratitude journaling 3 times a week during surgical rotation

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Canada	Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Montréal	Montréal	Quebec

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Canada, 

References & Publications (4)

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. — View Citation

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. — View Citation

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. — View Citation

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. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Well-being	Medical student well-being at the end of their surgical rotation. Measured by Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, 1983)	6 weeks after enrollment
Primary	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	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
Secondary	Compliance with gratitude journaling	Proportion of empty entries in the student's gratitude journal	6 weeks after enrollment in study