NCT04572035

Exercise + Self-Compassion Intervention for Depression

Feasibility, Acceptability and Effectiveness of a Structured Exercise + Psychoeducation Program for Students With Depression - A Proof of Concept Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 60 (actual)
• Sponsor: Western University, Canada · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 17 Years – 30 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

An alarming number of students report depressive symptoms that make it difficult to function academically. Previous research has indicated that exercise can be effective in treating mild-moderate depression. However, individuals with depression may struggle psychologically to adhere to exercise programs. Researchers have highlighted the potential role of self-compassion, a psychological approach that is useful in dealing with personal inadequacies, to facilitate health behaviour regulation. Behavioural coaching is another approach that consists of self-regulatory strategies such as action planning and less emphasis on emotion-focused strategies. The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of a structured exercise and psychoeducation program on improving depressive symptoms among inactive students with depression and to evaluate if the addition of psychological components (self-compassion or behavioural coaching) affects this effectiveness. Students with mild-to-moderate depression will refer themselves to participate or be referred/recommended by Student Health Services at Western University. The study will consist of attending 3 exercise + psychoeducation sessions per week for 10-weeks. Study participants will be randomly allocated to one of three groups; exercise only, exercise + self-compassion, or exercise + behavioral coaching. All will complete questionnaires before, after, and 3-months following the end of their sessions. It is expected that participants in the exercise + self-compassion or exercise + behaviour coaching groups will show greater improvements in their depressive symptoms, program adherence and follow-up exercise behaviour and depression after 3 months than the exercise only group and that the exercise + self-compassion group will be superior to the exercise + behavioural coaching group in those measurements.

Detailed description

This is a 10-week randomized parallel study assessing the effectiveness of exercise in reducing depressive symptoms among students with mild-to-moderate depression. This study has three treatment arms: exercise; exercise + self-compassion; exercise + behavioral coaching. Each participant will be invited to attend 3 supervised group-based sessions each week either virtually through Zoom or in-person at the Exercise and Health Psychology Lab for 10 weeks. Senior undergraduate Kinesiology students will facilitate a personalized exercise program adapted to the participant's abilities, teach participants how to exercise, and gauge exercise intensity in a safe manner. The CANMAT guidelines will be implemented, with the program consisting of supervised moderate-intensity exercise sessions lasting 30-minutes (plus 10-minutes for warm-up and cool-down), 3 times weekly, for a period of 10-weeks. Participants will start exercising at a low intensity and progressively increase until they are consistently exercising at a moderate intensity. The exercise intervention will integrate moderate intensity aerobic and resistance training activities while accounting for the physical abilities and interests of the individual participant and theh group.The exercise + psychoeducation groups will receive equal contact supplemental individual manualized strategies each session (+15-20 minutes) centered either on behaviour change strategies (i.e., action planning, implementation intentions, relapse prevention, and goal setting) or self-compassion strategies (i.e., mindfulness, self-directed kindness meditations, and writing tasks). The manualized psychoeducation sessions will be group-based with the trainer that is supervising the exercise sessions. Participants will fill out surveys before, after and three months following the intervention period.

Conditions

• Depression

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Behavioural Coaching	behaviour change strategies (i.e., action planning, implementation intentions, relapse prevention, and goal setting)
BEHAVIORAL	Self-compassion psychoeducation	self-compassion strategies (i.e., mindfulness, self-directed kindness meditations, and writing tasks)
OTHER	Exercise	aerobic exercise program either delivered in a laboratory setting or via Zoom

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-10-01
• Primary completion: 2022-06-30
• Completion: 2022-06-30
• First posted: 2020-10-01
• Last updated: 2023-04-25

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada