Clinical trial NCT02493439: A Positive Activity Intervention to Promote Wellbeing in Romanian Immigrants
Official title: A Positive Activity Intervention to Promote Optimism and Psychological Wellbeing in Romanian Immigrants
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Immigrants
Keywords: Best Possible Self
Positive Psychology
Romanian Immigrants
Optimism
Future Thinking
Lead sponsor: Universitat Jaume I
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2015-07-09
Enrollment: 80
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: This study aims to test the efficacy of an intervention focused on promoting positive emotions (Best Possible Self - BPS) to improve the psychological wellbeing of Romanian immigrants living in Spain. It is hypothesized that the BPS intervention will significantly improve a series of positive mental health outcomes, i.e., optimism, future expectancies, and affect, compared to the Control group.

Detailed description: Previous studies have shown that groups of immigrants may face a series of problems unique to the process of immigration, such as working, legal, social, and mental and physical health problems.

BPS is a guided imagery exercise that requires participants to envision themselves in the future, achieving desired goals in different areas of their lives. This exercise has shown efficacy improving optimism, future expectancies and positive affect compared to a control condition, in general population. Taking into account the prior literature, the aim of the present study is to carry out a randomized controlled study in order to replicate the findings about the effects of BPS on optimism, mood and affect in an immigrant population. The design employed in this study is similar to the used in other studies.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Romanian immigrant in Spain
* Sign a consent form stating their willingness to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

* Presence of severe physical illness
* Presence of severe psychological disorder
* Be currently involved in another psychological treatment

Primary outcomes:
measure: Subjective Probability Task
timeFrame: 1 month
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Positive and Negative Affect Scale
timeFrame: 1 month
measure: Beck Depression Inventory II
timeFrame: 1 month
measure: Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale
timeFrame: 1 month
measure: Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale
timeFrame: 1 month
measure: Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale
timeFrame: 1 month
measure: Life Orientation Test
timeFrame: 1 month
measure: Hope Scale
timeFrame: 1 month
measure: Quality of Life Index
timeFrame: 1 month
measure: Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being
timeFrame: 1 month
Other outcomes:
measure: Self Concordance Motivation
timeFrame: baseline
measure: Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Discrimination
timeFrame: baseline
measure: Social Support
timeFrame: baseline
Locations:
city: Castellón de la Plana
country: Spain
facility: University Jaume I
state: Castellón
Study officials:
affiliation: Universitat Jaume I
name: Azucena García-Palacios, 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: Peters ML, Flink IK, Boersma K, Linton SJ. Manipulating optimism: can imagining a best possible self be used to increase positive future expectancies? Journal of Positive Psychology 5: 204-211, 2010.
citation: MacLeod, Byrne, & Valentine (1996). Affect, emotional disorder, and future-directed thinking. Cognition & Emotion 10: 69-86.
citation: Molero, F., Recio, P., García-Ael, C., Fuster, M. J., & Sanjuán, P. (2013). Measuring dimensions of perceived discrimination in five stigmatized groups. Social indicators research, 114(3), 901-914.
citation: Gonzalez-Castro JL, Ubillos S. Determinants of psychological distress among migrants from Ecuador and Romania in a Spanish city. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2011 Jan;57(1):30-44. doi: 10.1177/0020764009347336.
citation: Renner F, Schwarz P, Peters ML, Huibers MJ. Effects of a best-possible-self mental imagery exercise on mood and dysfunctional attitudes. Psychiatry Res. 2014 Jan 30;215(1):105-10. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2013.10.033. Epub 2013 Nov 1.
citation: Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). 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.