Clinical trial NCT05589116: An Online Compassionate Imagery Intervention for Veterinarian Mental Health
Official title: Investigating the Efficacy of a Two-week, Online Compassionate Imagery Intervention for Improving Mental Wellbeing in Veterinarians: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Compassion
Perfectionism
Rumination
Self-Criticism
Resilience
Lead sponsor: University of Surrey
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2022-10-21
Enrollment: 162
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Participants will be randomly allocated to either a treatment or wait-list control group. The study will use a repeated measures, randomised controlled trial design.
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This randomised control trial aims to determine the efficacy of a two-week, online compassionate imagery intervention on improving veterinarian mental wellbeing. Participants will be randomly allocated to receive the intervention immediately or after a 10-week study period. Self-report questionnaires will be used at four time points to measure change on a range of psychological variables.

Detailed description: Background: Research suggests that veterinarians are high-achievers with self-critical, perfectionist tendencies (Holden, 2020). Perfectionism in veterinarians has been associated with stress, anxiety, negative affect and low resilience (Crane, Phillips \& Karin, 2015). However, McArthur et al. (2017) found that veterinarians with higher levels of self-compassion reported greater resilience. A feasibility study by Wakelin, Perman and Simonds (2022) found an online two-week compassion-focused imagery intervention to be acceptible and feasible for a veterinarian sample. Wakelin et al. (2022) also reported indications of preliminary effect as veterinarians illustrated a reduction in perfectionism, work-related rumination and self-criticism over the intervention period.

Aim: This study aims to extend Wakelin et al.'s (2022) research, to determine the efficacy of a two-week, online compassionate imagery intervention on improving veterinarian mental wellbeing.

Design: The study will use a mixed-methods, repeated measures, randomised controlled trial design.

The independent variables will be the intervention group (either treatment or wait list control) and the data collection time point. Six questionnaires will be used to collect quantitative data on the following dependent variables: perfectionism, work- related rumination, fear of compassion, resilience, self-compassion, self- criticism and self-reassurance.

Method: Participants will complete questionnaire measures at four time points: prior to randomisation (baseline), two weeks post-randomisation (post-intervention), six-weeks post-randomisation (one-month intervention follow-up) and ten-weeks after randomisation (two-month intervention follow up). Participants in the treatment group will be asked to watch a 10-15 minute compassionate imagery video every day for two weeks (14 in total). Participants in the control group will gain access to intervention materials upon study completion but their engagement in the videos will not be monitored.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Any student, recent graduate or qualified veterinary surgeon will be eligible for participation in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Veterinarians who participated in Wakelin et al.'s (2022) feasibility trial.
* Veterinarians who are currently receiving a compassion- or cognitive-based therapy.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in 'Functions of Self-Criticising/Attacking and Self-Reassuring Scale' (FSCRS; Gilbert, Clarke, Hempel, Miles & Irons, 2004).
timeFrame: 4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in 'Brief Resilience Scale' (BRS; Smith et al., 2008)
timeFrame: 4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
measure: Change in 'Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales' Self-Compassion scale (CEAS; Gilbert et al., 2017)
timeFrame: 4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
measure: Change in 'Work-related Rumination Questionnaire' (WRRQ; Cropley, Michalianou, Pravettoni & Millward, 2012)
timeFrame: 4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
measure: Change in 'Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale - 24 Items' (FMPS-24; Khawaja & Armstrong, 2005).
timeFrame: 4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
measure: Change in 'Fears of Compassion Scale' (FCS; Gilbert, McEwan, Matos & Rivis, 2011).
timeFrame: 4 time points: baseline, immediate post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Guildford
country: United Kingdom
facility: University of Surrey
state: Middlesex
Study officials:
References:
citation: Wakelin KE, Perman G, Simonds LM. Feasibility and efficacy of an online compassion-focused imagery intervention for veterinarian self-reassurance, self-criticism and perfectionism. Vet Rec. 2023 Jan;192(2):e2177. doi: 10.1002/vetr.2177. Epub 2022 Sep 10.
citation: Holden CL. Characteristics of Veterinary Students: Perfectionism, Personality Factors, and Resilience. J Vet Med Educ. 2020 Jul;47(4):488-496. doi: 10.3138/jvme.0918-111r. Epub 2020 May 15.
citation: Crane MF, Phillips JK, Karin E. Trait perfectionism strengthens the negative effects of moral stressors occurring in veterinary practice. Aust Vet J. 2015 Oct;93(10):354-60. doi: 10.1111/avj.12366.
citation: McArthur M, Mansfield C, Matthew S, Zaki S, Brand C, Andrews J, Hazel S. Resilience in Veterinary Students and the Predictive Role of Mindfulness and Self-Compassion. J Vet Med Educ. 2017 Spring;44(1):106-115. doi: 10.3138/jvme.0116-027R1.