Clinical trial NCT05578755: Evaluation of a Novel Intervention Aimed at Instilling Future-oriented Mindsets and Behaviors Using a Smartphone Application and Immersive Virtual Reality
Official title: Evaluation of a Novel Intervention Aimed at Instilling Future-oriented Mindsets and Behaviors Using a Smartphone Application and Immersive Virtual Reality
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Future Orientation
Self-defeating Behavior
Future Self-identification
Keywords: Smartphone application
Virtual reality
Digital behavior change intervention
Future self-identification
Future orientation
Self-defeating behavior
Goals
Short-term mindsets
Long-term mindsets
Intervention
Randomized Controlled Trial
Engagement
Lead sponsor: Universiteit Leiden
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2022-10-13
Enrollment: 321
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: There are three arms: 1) smartphone-based intervention, 2) immersive virtual reality intervention, and 3) active, goal-setting, control group
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Short-term thinking, or the inability to make informed tradeoffs between immediate benefits and longer-term costs, has been related to a variety of negative or self-defeating behaviors, such as substance use, impulsive decision making, and delinquency, whereas future-oriented thinking tends to be positively associated with positive behaviors, such as self-esteem, planning, and goal-directed behaviors. To bolster people's psychosocial development, the investigators are developing an intervention, FutureU, aimed at instilling future-oriented mindsets and behaviors by strengthening people's identification with who they may be in the future, i.e., their 'future self'. Through the use of a smartphone application (app) and immersive virtual reality (VR), participants interact with a visual representation of their future self. In the present study, the investigators will evaluate the current iteration of this intervention and compare the FutureU app and FutureU VR with each other and with a goal-setting control group. Knowledge and insights gained from this study will be used to further develop the FutureU intervention program and can provide insights for intervention theory building and implementation strategies.

Detailed description: People with a short-term mindset tend be focused on the here-and-now and are inclined to disregard the more distant consequences of their actions. This often results in self-defeating behaviors, i.e., behaviors that provide immediate gains but that may simultaneously incur significant costs in the longer run (e.g., substance use, delinquency, overspending). In contrast, people who are more future-oriented typically balance the immediate gains against the longer-term consequences of their decisions and are more inclined to set goals for the future. The investigators are developing an intervention, FutureU, aiming to promote future-oriented mindsets and behaviors by strengthening people's identification with their 'future self'. The level of identification with the future self depends on the extent to which people are able to vividly imagine their future self (i.e., vividness), feel positively towards their future self (i.e., valence), and feel similar and connected to their future self (i.e., related). During the intervention, participants interact with their future self. This future self is developed on the basis of a digitally aged image of themselves. In order to present the visual representation of the participants' future self, the investigators implement the intervention via a smartphone application (app) and via immersive virtual reality (VR). The present study examines the current iteration of the FutureU intervention, which is developed within an ongoing research program. The findings of this study will be used to further develop and optimize the FutureU intervention.

In a three-armed Randomized Controlled Trial, the investigators will evaluate the FutureU intervention by examining 1) its effectiveness on both proximal and distal outcomes, 2) its working mechanisms, and 3) moderators of intervention effects. It is hypothesized that FutureU will increase participants' future-oriented mindsets and behaviors (e.g., increase future orientation, enhance goal achievement, and reduce self-defeating behaviors). There are no specific expectations regarding differences in effectiveness between the two implementation strategies (app vs. VR). Regarding the working mechanisms, the hypothesis is that intervention effects of FutureU are mediated by increases in future self-identification. Concerning moderators, the investigators will examine the moderating role of personality traits within an intervention context in an exploratory fashion. Furthermore, associations between usage patterns (e.g., length and frequency of use), engagement levels and intervention outcomes will be examined, and the goals set by the participants will be analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* First-year university student
* Dutch speaking

Exclusion Criteria:

* Epileptic symptoms (due to VR condition)

Primary outcomes:
measure: Future self-identification
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 6-months follow-up (assessed at baseline, 1 and 2 weeks after baseline (i.e., during the intervention), 3 weeks after baseline (i.e., post measurement), and 3- and 6-months follow-up)
measure: Future Orientation
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 6-months follow-up (assessed at baseline, 1 and 2 weeks after baseline (i.e., during the intervention), 3 weeks after baseline (i.e., post measurement), and 3- and 6-months follow-up)
measure: Consideration of future consequences
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 6-months follow-up (assessed at baseline, 3 weeks after baseline (i.e., post measurement), and 3- and 6-months follow-up)
measure: Self-defeating behavior
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 6-months follow-up (assessed at baseline, 1 and 2 weeks after baseline (i.e., during the intervention), 3 weeks after baseline (i.e., post measurement), and 3- and 6-months follow-up)
measure: Goal commitment
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 6-months follow-up (assessed at baseline, 3 weeks after baseline (i.e., post measurement), and 3- and 6-months follow-up)
measure: Goal achievement
timeFrame: Assessed during the 3-week intervention.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Self-efficacy
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 6-months follow-up (assessed at baseline, 3 weeks after baseline (i.e., post measurement), and 3- and 6-months follow-up)
measure: Academic results
timeFrame: Up to 10 months after baseline
measure: Impulsiveness
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 6-months follow-up (assessed at baseline, 3 weeks after baseline (i.e., post measurement), and 3- and 6-months follow-up)
Other outcomes:
measure: Thinking about the future
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 6-months follow-up (assessed at baseline, 1 and 2 weeks after baseline (i.e., during the intervention), 3 weeks after baseline (i.e., post measurement), and 3- and 6-months follow-up)
measure: Personality
timeFrame: Assessed at baseline and 6-months follow-up.
measure: Users' engagement and log data of the smartphone application
timeFrame: Assessed during the 3-week intervention.
measure: Users' engagement and log data of the FutureU immersive virtual reality
timeFrame: Assessed during the 3-week intervention.
measure: Participants' goals
timeFrame: Assessed during the 3-week intervention.
Locations:
city: Leiden
country: Netherlands
facility: Leiden University
state: Zuid-Holland
Study officials:
affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security, and Law; Leiden University
name: Jean-Louis van Gelder, Prof.dr.dr.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: