NCT05945992

How to Optimally Train Emotional and Social Skills

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 240 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare different well-being intervention components in healthy individuals. The main question it aims to answer is how an optimal emotional and social learning program should be composed. Participants will participate in one of 16 courses over 14-weeks which will have a varying combination of four components: * emotion regulation, * mindfulness, * self-acceptance and * resource activation. For each of these components there will be a control component. Further, there will be a waitlist-control-group included.

Detailed description

Background: Social-emotional skills are of great importance for academic and professional success and are a huge protective factor of mental health. Objectives: The aim of the study therefore is to examine the optimal combination of different well-being intervention components to foster mental health and subjective well-being in a student and trainee population. The investigators draw on current concepts like mindfulness which already proved to be empirically effective and try to compare their effectiveness and understand how they work together, whether they strengthen or complement each other. Methods: In a factorial design trial with 16 different intervention conditions, up to 240 students or trainees will participate in a 14-week well-being-intervention. This intervention with a maximum of 15 participants per course consists of weekly 1,5h sessions plus 3 full-day appointments using psycho-educational elements, practical exercises and group discussion on various topics. Participants will complete online surveys on subjective and psychological well-being, mental health, and several resilience factors pre-, during and post-intervention as well as 5 months after completion as follow-up assessments. Implications: The study will contribute to an evidence-based and easily accessible and scalable well-being intervention, supporting health promotion and stress prevention in the general population.

Conditions

• Mental Health

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Emotion regulation	Psycho-education elements concerning the emergence and functions of emotions, progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), analysis of emotional situations and group exercises
BEHAVIORAL	Self-acceptance	Exercises and guided self-experience targeting heightened knowledge about oneself and acceptance of all personal strengths and weaknesses, exercises based on the internal family systems by R. Schwartz.
BEHAVIORAL	Mindfulness	Guided mindfulness-exercises, different meditation techniques like body scan, breathing meditation. Reflection and exchange within the group
BEHAVIORAL	Resource activation	Exercises focusing on developing positive emotions and fostering personal strengths, based on the Positive Psychology movement of Martin Seligman, working on individual values, life goals and sense of life.
BEHAVIORAL	Control component 1_social behaviors in groups	Control component for emotion regulation
BEHAVIORAL	Control component 2_communication skills	Control component for self-acceptance
BEHAVIORAL	Control component 3_stress management	Control component for mindfulness
BEHAVIORAL	Control component 4_constructive conflict resolution	Control component for resource activation

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-07-01
• Primary completion: 2024-07-01
• Completion: 2024-07-01
• First posted: 2023-07-14
• Last updated: 2023-07-14