Clinical trial NCT05637190: A Pilot RCT on the Effect of ExAT on Teacher Burnout and Stress
Official title: The Effect of Expressive Art Therapy on Teacher Burnout and Stress: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Burnout
Stress
Keywords: Expressive Arts Therapy
Teachers
Randomized controlled trial
Lead sponsor: Chinese University of Hong Kong
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2022-12-05
Enrollment: 90
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 60
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The objective of this pilot randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effects of Expressive Art Therapy on reducing burnout and stress symptoms among Hong Kong's primary and secondary school teachers.

The proposed study is a pilot randomized controlled trial. Prior to all study procedures, 90 participants (i.e., primary and secondary school teachers) will be recruited to complete an online informed consent with telephone support. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned to either the Expressive Arts Therapy group (ExAT group) or the waitlist control group (WL group) in a ratio of 1:1. The ExAT group will receive the Expressive Arts intervention via face-to-face workshops for 2 consecutive weeks (2 hours per session). There are a total of 3 batches (around 15 participants per batch) for the intervention. Participants in this group will be in touch with their inner selves and inner resources via body movement, writing and music. There will be visual art creation as a conclusion for integrating the body and mind. The art products would be placed in their workplace for stress regulation. The WL control group will not receive any intervention during the study, but they will receive self-help art therapy materials after the whole study procedure. The outcome measures include burnout, stress, depressive, and anxiety symptoms, as well as insomnia symptoms, physical activity, health-related quality of life, and the intervention acceptability at baseline, immediate post-treatment, and 4-week follow-up assessments by completing the same questionnaire set.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Hong Kong residents aged \>/=18
2. Able to read Chinese (verbal expression in Chinese or English)
3. With qualified teaching cert. (degree holder)
4. Willing to provide informed consent and comply with the trial protocol
5. Teacher work in primary or secondary school in Hong Kong

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Current involvement in psychological treatment program for stress and / or burnout reduction
2. A change in psychotropic drugs or over-the-counter medications that target mood within 2 weeks before the baseline assessment
3. A Patient Health Questionnair-9 (PHQ-9) item 9 score \> 2 indicating a serious level of suicidal risk

Primary outcomes:
measure: Changes in Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM)
timeFrame: baseline (week 0), immediate post intervention (week 3) and 4-week post intervention follow up
measure: Change in Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
timeFrame: baseline (week 0), immediate post intervention (week 3) and 4-week post intervention follow up
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)
timeFrame: baseline (week 0), immediate post intervention (week 3) and 4-week post intervention follow up
measure: Change in The Generalized Anxiety disorder 7-item Scale (GAD-7)
timeFrame: baseline (week 0), immediate post intervention (week 3) and 4-week post intervention follow up
measure: Change in Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)
timeFrame: baseline (week 0), immediate post intervention (week 3) and 4-week post intervention follow up
measure: Change in Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20)
timeFrame: baseline (week 0), immediate post intervention (week 3) and 4-week post intervention follow up
measure: Change in Short Form (Six-Dimension) Health Survey - The Chinese (Hong Kong) Version (SF-6D)
timeFrame: baseline (week 0), immediate post intervention (week 3) and 4-week post intervention follow up
measure: Change in Credibility-Expectancy questionnaire (CEQ)
timeFrame: baseline (week 0), immediate post intervention (week 3) and 4-week post intervention follow up
measure: Change in Treatment Acceptability and Adherence Scale (TAAS)
timeFrame: baseline (week 0), immediate post intervention (week 3) and 4-week post intervention follow up
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Hong Kong
country: Hong Kong
facility: The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Study officials:
affiliation: Chinese University of Hong Kong
name: Fiona YY Ho, Ph.D
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: