Brief Mood Enhancement Intervention

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of the current study is to test the efficacy of two brief, behavioral interventions intended to improve burnout among doctoral-level graduate students (n = 102). Specifically, individuals will be randomly assigned to one of three intervention conditions: 1) Reward: a brief intervention to help participants increase engagement in healthy and rewarding values-driven behaviors, 2) Approach: a brief intervention to help participants identify and decrease emotion-driven avoidance of important goals, or 3) Control: a control condition that involves monitoring only. Multilevel modeling will be used to assess changes in burnout, mood, and stress, following the interventions, controlling for participants' individual baseline levels of these variables.

Official Title
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Enhancing Mood Among Graduate Students: Evaluation of a Brief, Phone-Administered Behavioral Intervention

Conditions
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Stress, Psychological, Burnout, Professional

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Reward
* Behavioral: Approach


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Currently enrolled in any in-person (not online) Ph.D. program in the state of North Carolina Demonstrating above average levels of burnout Has regular access to the Internet Has a Social Security Number Is able to read and understand English Exclusion Criteria: Current mania or psychosis Current suicidal ideation Are currently in psychotherapy, have been in psychotherapy in the past 8 weeks, or are planning to start psychotherapy during the course of the 10-day study Have had any changes in psychiatric medications in the past 8 weeks, are not taking medications as prescribed or are planning to change medications during the course of the 10-day study Are currently taking benzodiazepines Pro Re Nata (PRN) Are under 18 years old

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 60 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: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Reward<br>A brief, phone-administered intervention designed to help graduate students increase the number of pleasant and rewarding activities in their daily lives. | Behavioral: Reward<br>* Brief behavioral intervention (administered during a 45-minute phone call) that is designed to improve graduate student burnout by helping participants to identify activities that are rewarding and pleasurable and to integrate these activities into their schedule.<br>|
| Experimental: Approach<br>A brief, phone-administered intervention designed to help graduate students block procrastination and avoidance and to approach important activities they are currently avoiding. | Behavioral: Approach<br>* Brief behavioral intervention (administered during a 45-minute phone call) that is designed to improve graduate student burnout by helping participants to identify activities that are challenging, but important to their long-term goals and values, and to integrate these activities into their schedule.<br>|
| No Intervention: Monitoring<br>Participants will monitor their current behaviors, mood, and burnout with no directed intervention to change behavior | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in burnout, as measured by the School Burnout Inventory total score | Self-report questionnaire assessing burnout | baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10) | 
| Change in stress, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale total score | Self-report questionnaire assessing stress | baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10) | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in mastery, as measured by the Pearlin Personal Mastery Scale total score | Self-report questionnaires assessing mastery | baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10) | 
| Change in avoidance, as measured by the Brief Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire total score | Self-report questionnaires assessing avoidance | baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10) | 
| Change in mood, as measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule total scores for Positive and Negative Affect | Self-report questionnaire assessing mood | baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10) | 
| Change in reward, as measured by the Environmental Reward Observation Scale total score | Self-report questionnaires assessing environmental reward | baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10) | 
| Change in behavioral activation, as measured by the Activation sub-scale of the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale | Self-report questionnaires assessing behavioral activation | baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10) | 
| Change in functional impairment, as measured by the Modified Work and Social Adjustment Scale total score | Self-report questionnaire assessing functional impairment | baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10) | 
| Change in quality of life, as measured by the WHOQOL-BREF total score | Self-report questionnaire assessing quality of life | baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10) | 
| Change in depression symptoms, as measured by the General Depression scale of the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms | Self-report questionnaire assessing depression symptoms | baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10) | 
| Change in mastery, as measured by the average of the daily Importance ratings of activities (0-10) on the Daily Activities Monitoring Form | Self-report monitoring form describing activities during the day, how enjoyable they were, and how important they were | baseline (days 0-3) and intervention (days 3-10) | 
| Change in avoidance, as measured by the total score of the Avoidance/Rumination sub-scale of the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale | Self-report questionnaire assessing avoidance and rumination | baseline (day 0) and post-intervention (day 10) | 
| Change in environmental reward, as measured by the average of the daily Pleasure ratings of activities (0-10) on the Daily Activities Monitoring Form | Self-report monitoring form describing activities during the day, how enjoyable they were, and how important they were | baseline (days 0-3) and intervention (days 3-10) | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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graduate student, burnout, stress, mood