The Effect of an Intervention Based on Implicit Theories of Personality on the Prevention of Adolescent Dating Violence

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study evaluates the efficacy of an intervention based on the Implicit Theories of Personality (ITP) to prevent dating violence in Spanish adolescents. Half of participants received the ITP intervention, while the other half received an educational intervention.

Detailed Description
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Intimate partner violence is a problem arising in adolescence, which causes severe suffering. Since the first romantic relationships are established during adolescence, implementation of preventive interventions during this developmental stage opens a window of opportunity for the prevention of partner aggression. Previous prevention programs have shown efficacy in modifying cognitions and attitudes related to dating violence, although behavioral changes have been reported in very few cases. Recent innovative brief interventions based on changing entity theories of personality (i.e., the belief that people cannot change and personal characteristics are fixed; Miu & Yeager, 2015) have provided good results for preventing depression and other behavioral problems in adolescents. Therefore, the principal aim of this study is to examine whether a brief one-hour intervention based on promoting the idea that people can change shows efficacy in the prevention of perpetration and victimization of dating aggressive behaviors (both online -cyber dating abuse- and traditional -face-to-face dating aggression-) in adolescents. Additionally, other objective of the project is to examine whether gender moderates the effects of the intervention in changes in dating violence. The study involves the evaluation of the intervention in a sample of around 400 adolescents (13-18 years), randomly allocated to experimental and control conditions. It is a field experiment conducted in high schools and involves multiple measures over time (self-reports and parent reports). In summary, the project aims to respond to the challenge of health and wellness in the population through a randomized controlled trial with multiple sources of measure and from a biopsychosocial perspective. The ITP intervention has the potential to become a universal intervention to help reduce the rates of adolescent dating violence.

Official Title
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Prevention of Aggressive Behavior in Adolescents by Means of an Intervention Based on Implicit Theories of Personality

Conditions
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Dating Violence

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Incremental theory of personality
* Other: Educational Intervention


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Informed consent by the adolescents and their parents. To be fluent in Spanish.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 13 Years
Maximum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Participants were randomized in a 1:1 ratio blocked by gender to one of two groups: experimental condition (ITP intervention) versus control condition (educational intervention) in parallel for the duration of the study.
Masking: Double


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Incremental theory of personality<br>1 hour behavioral intervention (based on ITP) consisting on several tasks to be completed on paper individually. | Behavioral: Incremental theory of personality<br>* The experimental intervention (originally developed by David S. Yeager and colleagues) teaches that individuals have the potential to change. It has three main parts. First, participants are asked to read scientific studies that provide evidence that behaviors are controlled by thoughts and feelings in brains, and that pathways in the brain have the potential to be changed under the right circumstances. Second, participants read several testimonials purportedly written by upperclassmen to bring credibility to the ITP. Finally, participants are asked to write their own version of such a narrative. This self-persuasive writing exercise has been shown to facilitate the internalization of the intervention message, building on a long line of research on cognitive dissonance.<br>|
| Other: Educational intervention<br>1 hour educational intervention (about the human brain) consisting on several tasks to be completed on paper individually. | Other: Educational Intervention<br>* The educational intervention involved scientific information about the human brain. It was designed to be parallel to the experimental intervention and, hence, it has also three main parts. First, participants are asked to read scientific information about the different areas of the brain and their specialties. Second, participants read several testimonials written by upperclassmen about their transition to high school and how their brains help them to adapt to the new space and all the physical differences of the building and the classes. Finally, participants are asked to write a letter to another student explaining the main things he or she has learned about the brain and thinks are important for adapting to the new physical environment in high school.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change from baseline scores of the Dating Violence Questionaire (developed by the research team) at 2 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months. | Self reported dating aggressive behaviors during the last 6 months (last week in the 1 week follow-up) measured by 25 items scored 0-3 (0 = never; 3 = often), yielding a total between 0 and 75. | Baseline, 2 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months. | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Adolescence, Prevention, Aggressive behavior, Dating Violence