Clinical trial NCT03072680: Efficacy of a Positive Psychology Intervention Through a Mobile App
Official title: Efficacy of a Positive Psychology Intervention Through a Mobile App: a Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Not Flourishing Population
Lead sponsor: University of Valencia
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: University of Twente
First posted: 2017-03-07
Enrollment: 361
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The aim of this study is to analyze the efficacy of several variations of an already validated Positive Psychology Intervention (PPI) called Best Possible Self in not flourishing population. This will be done through a mobile app specially designed for this aim.

Concretely, the design will permit to compare the classic intervention (BPS Future), a new variation (BPS Past), and a combination of both components (BPS Past+Future).

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of 3 conditions, in which they will practice the intervention for two weeks:

* BPS-PAST + BPS FUT condition: Participants will practice BPS Past for one week, and then they will switch to BPS future for another week.
* BPS-FUT condition: Participants will practice BPS Future for two weeks.
* CONTROL condition: Participants will practice DAILY ACTIVITIES for two weeks.

Detailed description: The design will permit two comparisons:

After the first week of the intervention, participants will answer the assessment. It will permit to compare BPS PAST, BPS FUTURE and CONTROL conditions (pre-post).

After the second week, participants will answer the assessment and then it will be possible to compare BPS PAST + BPS FUTURE combination, BPS FUTURE, and CONTROL conditions.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Participants must be 18 years old or older.
* Participants must be willing to participate in the study.
* Participants must have a smartphone (Android or Ios).

Exclusion Criteria:

* To suffer from moderate depression or anxiety (scores of 11 or higher) measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS; Zigmond \& Snaith, 1983).
* To have "Flourishing mental health" measured by the Mental Health Continuum Short Form (MHC-SF; Keyes, 2009)

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change of Positive and Negative Affect from baseline to post-intervention
timeFrame: Change from pre-intervention to post-intervention (2 weeks)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Wellbeing
timeFrame: Change from pre-intervention to post-intervention (2 weeks)
measure: Optimism
timeFrame: Change from pre-intervention to post-intervention (2 weeks)
measure: Satisfaction with life
timeFrame: Change from pre-intervention to post-intervention (2 weeks)
measure: Self-efficacy
timeFrame: Change from pre-intervention to post-intervention (2 weeks)
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Enschede
country: Netherlands
facility: University of Twente
state: Overijssel
city: Valencia
country: Spain
facility: University of Valencia
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Valencia
name: Rosa Baños, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Meevissen YM, Peters ML, Alberts HJ. Become more optimistic by imagining a best possible self: effects of a two week intervention. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2011 Sep;42(3):371-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2011.02.012. Epub 2011 Mar 2.
citation: King L. The Health Benefits of Writing About Life Goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 27(7): 798-807, 2001.
citation: Sheldon KM, Lyubomirsky S. How to increase and sustain positive emotion: The effects of expressing gratitude and visualizing best possible selves. The Journal of Positive Psychology 1(2): 73-82, 2006.
citation: Peters ML, Flink IK, Boersma K, Linton SJ. Manipulating optimism: Can imagining a best possible self be used to increase positive future expectancies? The Journal of Positive Psychology 5(3): 204-211, 2010.