Believing People Can Change: A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Incremental Theory Intervention in Adolescence
Condition: Depressive Symptoms; Happiness; Life Satisfaction
MeSH terms: Depression
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study will test the effectiveness of a brief educational intervention that teaches youth
      that they can grow and change, known as "growth mindset." Similar growth mindset
      interventions have improved youths' well-being and academic skills, and reduced risk for
      depression. In this study, youths' depressive symptoms and well-being will be measured before
      the intervention and then again 4 months after the intervention to determine if the
      intervention had a positive impact for youth experiencing transitions (firs and last years of
      high school).
    

Detailed description: 
      Adolescents experience many major life transitions during high school, including changes in
      educational settings, living arrangements, and social and romantic relationships. While these
      transitions may be experienced as positive new beginnings for some youth, others experience
      them as stressful and challenging. Further, the developmental period of adolescence is
      characterized by an increased risk for the development of mental illnesses such as
      depression. In the context of widely-accepted cognitive models of adolescent depression,
      adolescents with pre-existing vulnerabilities for depression (e.g., negative self beliefs)
      may be more prone to experience certain life transitions as especially stressful, and this
      vulnerability/environment combination is likely to bring about depressive symptomatology for
      vulnerable youth. Thus, there is a pressing need to better understand factors that not only
      protect youth from mental illness during transitions, but also factors that promote
      resilience and well-being. Indeed, high schools are eager to address student mental illness
      and find better ways of promoting mental health and well-being in schools.

      This project employs clinical, cognitive, developmental, and positive psychology theories in
      an attempt to better understand factors that may be important for adolescent mental illness
      and mental health during this important time of transition. Specifically, we aim to examine
      the utility of a brief online educational intervention for promoting adolescent mental health
      during important life transitions.

      One important factor that appears to be associated with wellbeing and resilience is that of
      beliefs about growth and response to failure. Individuals often respond to challenge by
      either a) retreating and/or making negative attributions about themselves or others, or b)
      view challenge as an opportunity for learning and growth, and not consider failure to be an
      indication of personal shortcomings. The difference between these two responses to challenge
      reflects beliefs about the malleability of personal characteristics; these beliefs are
      referred to as "implicit theories" or more colloquially "mindset". Those who hold "entity"
      theories (fixed mindset) believe personal characteristics are stable and unchanging, while
      those with a malleable or "incremental theories" (growth mindset) believe personal
      characteristics are changeable and can be developed through effort and learning . Research
      has broadly suggested that those with entity theories may be more prone to experience
      difficulties and be at risk for mental illness, while those with incremental theories
      experience greater resilience and well-being.

      Previous research has indicated that incremental theory can be taught via educational
      interventions, and increasing belief in incremental theory has been associated with positive
      effects. Further, integrating positive psychology into educational institutions to foster
      youth development has been recommended by many researchers. Youth spend substantial amounts
      of time in school, making schools an appropriate setting for interventions that aim to
      promote well-being and prevent mental illness. Thus, this study will test the effects of a
      brief implicit theory intervention on well-being and depressive symptoms.The intervention is
      similar to previous implicit theory interventions and teaches youth an incremental theory of
      socially relevant characteristics (i.e., that people can change and that personal attributes
      are malleable).

      Implicit theory of personality (ie, beliefs about the malleability of personal attributes and
      socially relevant characteristics) has also been associated with depressive symptoms in
      youth. In a study of grade 9 students, researchers found that a brief intervention that
      taught incremental theory of personality (that personal attributes can grow and change) was
      associated with stability of reported levels of depressive symptoms over 9 months. In this
      intervention, students read a compelling article that demonstrated incremental theory of
      either personality (experimental) or athletic ability (control), then students were asked to
      summarize the lesson of the article and apply their own experience. Over time (9 months)
      those in the control condition showed an increase in depressive symptoms while those exposed
      to the incremental theory of personality did not show the same increase, and incidence of
      clinically significant depressive symptoms remained stable. The increase seen in the control
      group was noted to be proportional to that commonly experienced by those transitioning to
      high school, suggesting the intervention may have promise for successfully ameliorating
      developmentally typical increases in depressive symptoms. Although this brief intervention
      was associated with significant positive outcomes, replication and application to other
      samples at risk for depressive symptoms (such as youth transitioning out of high school and
      to post secondary education) is warranted. Towards this end, the current study will examine
      the impact of an intervention that teaches incremental theory on well-being and depressive
      symptoms in students in the first and last years of high school.
    

Intervention name(s): Growth mindset of personality educational intervention; Growth mindset of athletic ability educational intervention
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): This is a brief online educational intervention that teaches growth mindset of personality. The intervention includes pictures, text, videos, and questions administered through Qualtrics survey software.; This is a brief online educational intervention that teaches growth mindset of athletic ability. The intervention includes pictures, text, videos, and questions administered through Qualtrics survey software.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: The current study is a two-wave randomized controlled trial that employs a 2 (group - between participants) by 2 (time - within participants) mixed measures design to assess a brief online implicit theory of personality intervention.
Masking: Double (Participant, Investigator)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Growth mindset; Implicit theory; Adolescence; Mental Health; Well-being; students; Secondary Schools; Educational intervention