Clinical trial NCT02541240: Effects of an Intervention to Enhance Resilience in Physical Therapy Students
Official title: Effects of an Intervention to Enhance Resilience in Physical Therapy Students
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Psychological Stress
Keywords: resilience
optimism
stress
coping
curriculum
Lead sponsor: University of Indianapolis
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2015-09-04
Enrollment: 43
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Health professional students experience high levels of psychological stress. Individuals with higher levels of resilience are better equipped to handle stress. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of an 8-hour resilience curriculum on stress levels, resilience, coping, protective factors, and symptomatology on students enrolled in a doctor of physical therapy (DPT) program.

Hypothesis: The curriculum will decrease stress levels, increase resilience, coping flexibility, protective factors (optimism, positive affect, and social support), and reduce symptomatology (negative affect, illness). Research on stress and its consequences experienced by physical therapy students in particular is limited. If the results of this study support this hypothesis, it may establish the benefit of adding a resilience component to the curriculum for students of physical therapy.

Detailed description: The study involves curriculum development and evaluation by randomized controlled trial. Participants will be randomized to the intervention group to receive a Resilience Curriculum or to a wait-list control group to receive a condensed version of the curriculum following the post-intervention assessments.

Pre- and post-intervention assessments will be administered to both groups, with baseline assessments administered in the first two weeks of the semester. The assessments will include measures of stress levels, levels of resilience, coping flexibility, optimism, positive and negative emotions, social support, and symptoms of illness. The intervention, the presentation of a resilience curriculum, will be delivered to the intervention group during the week following the baseline assessments and it will last for four weeks.

The resilience curriculum will provide education for participants about methods to increase protective factors against stress, the use of effective coping strategies, and the importance of accessing social support, with the goal of better managing stress and enhancing resilience. The intervention will include a didactic component, skills-building training, and homework exercises to encourage the application of the skills. The curriculum will be delivered in four 2-hour modules, with one module delivered each week. The follow-up assessments will occur after midterm examinations are concluded. An abbreviated curriculum which will last approximately two hours will be delivered to the wait-list control group.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Current enrollment in Doctor of Physical Therapy program at either Indiana University or the University of Indianapolis

Exclusion Criteria:

* None

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change from baseline in psychological resilience at 8 weeks
timeFrame: Baseline and 8 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change from baseline in perceived psychological stress at 8 weeks
timeFrame: Baseline and 8 weeks
measure: Change from baseline in coping flexibility at 8 weeks
timeFrame: Baseline and 8 weeks
measure: Change from baseline in optimism at 8 weeks
timeFrame: Baseline and 8 weeks
measure: Change from baseline in positive and negative emotions at 8 weeks
timeFrame: Baseline and 8 weeks
measure: Change from baseline in social support at 8 weeks
timeFrame: Baseline and 8 weeks
Other outcomes:
measure: Change from baseline in symptoms of Illness at 8 weeks
timeFrame: Baseline and 8 weeks
Locations:
city: Indianapolis
country: United States
facility: Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
state: Indiana
city: Indianapolis
country: United States
facility: University of Indianapolis
state: Indiana
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Indianapolis
name: Anne M Mejia-Downs, PT, MPH
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
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