Positive Emotions Training (PoET) as an Online Intervention to Improve Mental Health: a Feasibility Study

Mental Health Clinical Trial

Official title:

Positive Emotions Training (PoET) as an Online Intervention to Improve Mental Health: a Feasibility Study

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05737251
• Other study ID #: PoET101
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: March 18, 2022
• Est. completion date: June 20, 2022

Study information

• Verified date: February 2023
• Source: Ruhr University of Bochum
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Positive psychology interventions are known to have an impact on mental health as well as on a number of beneficial characteristics like optimism, gratitude and self-efficacy. The new developed Positive Emotions Training (PoET) is one of the first holistic training programs covering eleven positive psychology constructs. The goal of this study was to test PoET's feasibility in the general population and to assess possible effects on positive and negative mental health factors. Additionally, possible effects on optimism, gratitude, happiness, resilience, and self-efficacy were examined.

Hypotheses:

1. It was hypothesized that participants receiving PoET would show a significant increase in positive mental health factors one month after the second training day.

2. It was expected to find a significant decrease in depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms one month after the second training day.

3. It was hypothesized that participants in a control group would not show any significant changes in this regard.

Methods:

The sample (n = 101) was allocated to PoET (n = 55) or control (n = 46) which did not receive any treatment. The allocation was neither randomized nor matched. Participants in the PoET group completed a whole of two training sessions (3.5 hours each) that were conducted in an online format (via Zoom) with groups of about 30 people. These sessions included the following positive psychology constructs: happiness, hope, humour, optimism, gratitude, self-efficacy, flow, meaningfulness, forgiveness, spirituality, resilience.

All participants completed positive and negative mental health measures at the beginning of the first training session and at the beginning of the second one as well as 30 days after the second session. Additionally, they had to complete two short items regarding stress and mood after each training session. They were given an exercise booklet with descriptions and explanations for all exercises during the training and at home. The week between the two sessions was called "7-day-challenge" to motivate the participants to try out several exercises at home.

Data was collected pseudonymised via Socisurvey. Data analysis was conducted with RStudio. Two-factorial repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted to test for possible effects of PoET on mental health.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 174
• Est. completion date: June 20, 2022
• Est. primary completion date: June 20, 2022
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• legal age (18)

• ability to use Zoom and all associated technology

Exclusion Criteria:

• none

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Mental Health

Intervention

Behavioral:
• PoET
PoET consists of two online-sessions, each 3.5 hours within groups of 30 people. The following lessons regarding positive psychology constructs were conducted (including short information on each construct and specific exercises): happiness, hope, humour, optimism, gratitude, self-efficacy, flow, meaningfulness, forgiveness, spirituality and resilience.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Germany	Ruhr-University Bochum	Bochum	North Rhine-Westphalia

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Ruhr University of Bochum

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Germany, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Changes in Positive Mental Health Scale (3 assessment points)	9 items, 4-point-scale from 0 ("I do not agree ") to 3 ("I agree"), assessing emotional and psychological aspects of wellbeing, higher scores reflect better positive mental health	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session
Primary	Changes in Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 (3 assessment points)	21 items, 4-point-scale from 0 ("did not apply to me at all") to 3 ("applied to me very much or most of the time"), assessing negative emotional states, higher scores reflect more symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session
Secondary	Changes in Life Orientation Test-revised (3 assessment points)	10 items, 5-point-scale from 0 ("strongly disagree") to 4 ("strongly agree"), assessing dispositional optimism, higher scores reflect higher dispositional optimism	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session
Secondary	Changes in Gratitude Questionnaire (3 assessment points)	5 items, 7-point-scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 7 ("strongly agree"), assessing gratitude, higher scores reflect a more pronounced sense of gratitude	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session
Secondary	Changes in Satisfaction With Life Scale (3 assessment points)	5 items, 7-point-scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 7 ("strongly agree"), assessing global subjective happiness, higher scores indicate a happier person	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session
Secondary	Changes in New General Self-Efficacy Scale (3 assessment points)	8 items, 5-point-scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 5 ("strongly agree"), assessing how much participants believe in their own abilities, higher scores represent higher self-efficacy	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session
Secondary	Changes in Brief Resilience Scale (3 assessment points)	6 items, 5-point-scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 5 ("strongly agree"), assessing participants' ability to recover from stress despite significant adversity, higher scores reflect higher resilience	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session