Effects and Mechanisms of Smartphone-Based Stress Management Training on Well-Being in College Students

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Studying can be a difficult time, and some students can find it challenging to deal with stress. This research project at Virginia Commonwealth University aims to understand how two different online stress management training programs affect students' daily experiences and activities. This research project will help us understand how those training programs help students to improve their emotional well-being.

Detailed Description
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Participants will be randomly assigned (like the flip of a coin) to one of the two online stress management training programs. For two weeks, participants will receive daily online lessons that will teach you how to deal with stress. To investigate how this program affects mood, researchers will monitor participant's daily activities and experiences combining brief daily surveys with activity tracking via smartphones. The activities and experiences will be tracked for a week before the training, two weeks of the training, and one week after. Shortly after the training, researchers will also reach out to participants for a phone interview where they will ask about the training experience in more detail. Afterwards, researchers will check in with participants at the end of the semester for one more week of experience and activity tracking.

Official Title
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Effects and Mechanisms of Smartphone-Based Stress Management Training on Well-Being in College Students

Conditions
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Emotion Regulation

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Experimental intervention
* Behavioral: Comparison intervention


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: 18-25 years old; Enrollment as a full-time student; Studying in-person; Reduced emotional well-being; Absence of major depressive, generalized anxiety, and panic disorder diagnoses; Little or no experience of the intervention; Ownership of a smartphone with an OS no older than iPhone 5 or Android 5 and an active data plan. Exclusion Criteria: • Diagnosis of major depression, generalized anxiety, and panic disorder

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 25 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: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Online emotion regulation training version 1<br> | Behavioral: Experimental intervention<br>* Daily lessons received by email to be completed the same day<br>|
| Active Comparator: Online emotion regulation training version 2<br> | Behavioral: Comparison intervention<br>* Daily lessons receive by email to be completed the same day<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in loneliness | Loneliness will be measured with the UCLA Loneliness Scale an instrument assessing frequency of felt social disconnection. | Baseline to the end of the semester, up to 15 weeks | 
| Change in social connection | Connection to others will be measured with the Two-Way Social Support Scale | Baseline to the end of the semester, up to 15 weeks | 
| Change in depression | Depressive symptoms will be measured using Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale | Baseline to the end of the semester, up to 15 weeks | 
| Change in anxiety | Anxiety symptoms will be measured using Beck's Anxiety Inventory | Baseline to the end of the semester, up to 15 weeks | 
| Changes in daily experiences | Smartphone passive sensing will be accomplished through AWARE which will record frequency (but not content) of short message service (SMS) text messaging and calls, location and mobility (to assess out-of-home departures), and nearby Bluetooth addresses (to assess social proximity). A conversation plugin will make surrounding sound inferences (without retaining audio recordings), including presence of other voices. | Baseline to the end of the intervention, 4 weeks | 
| Changes in daily well-being | Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) will include items to measure mood, loneliness, felt social connection and school belonging, and interactions with others. EMA surveys will be administered through the AWARE app. | Baseline to the end of the intervention, 4 weeks |