Testing the Effectiveness of an Online Behavioral Intervention in Reducing Loneliness
Study Details
Study Description
Brief Summary
This study will use a longitudinal randomized experimental design. Participants will be randomly assigned to either a positive affect skills intervention or a psychoeducation control group and assessed with questionnaires at baseline and immediately post 8-week intervention.
| Condition or Disease | Intervention/Treatment | Phase |
|---|---|---|
|
N/A |
Detailed Description
Participants will be randomly assigned to either a positive affect skills intervention or a psychoeducation control group, with each intervention lasting 8-weeks. Participants in the positive affect skills intervention will have full access to the unchanged Happify platform.
The psychoeducation control group participants will use a version of the Happify platform that encourages thinking about well-being through quizzes and polls without providing any instructions for promotion (i.e., Wait-list Control). Participants will be asked to complete questionnaires before and after the 8-week program, at which point study participation will end.
Study Design
Arms and Interventions
| Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
|---|---|
| Active Comparator: Positive affect condition Participants use Happify as it is currently available to consumers on the main site, including all engagement elements. Users may access a wide variety of 4-week programs and use them in any way they desire for the entire study period. |
Behavioral: Happify
An online platform for conveying techniques from positive psychology, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and mindfulness-based stress reduction.
|
| Sham Comparator: Psychoeducation condition Participants complete a series of quizzes and polls on Happify designed to engage them in thinking about well-being topics, but without giving any specific instructions for how to promote well-being. Participants gain access to 8 weeks worth of content, but may repeat the content as often as they like in the follow-up period. |
Behavioral: Happify
An online platform for conveying techniques from positive psychology, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and mindfulness-based stress reduction.
|
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcome Measures
- Loneliness (Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale; Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1980) [From start of 8-week intervention (baseline) to immediately post-intervention]
A 20-item scale designed to measure one's subjective feelings of loneliness as well as feelings of social isolation.
Secondary Outcome Measures
- Depression Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9; Kroenke, Spitzer, & Williams, 2001) [From start of 8-week intervention (baseline) to immediately post-intervention]
A 9-item measure of depressive symptoms
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7; Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams, & Löwe, 2006) [From start of 8-week intervention (baseline) to immediately post-intervention]
A 7-item measure of anxiety symptoms
- Perceived Stress Scale (PSS: Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983) [From start of 8-week intervention (baseline) to immediately post-intervention]
10-item measure of perceived stress
- Resilience(composite of Perceived Stress Scale [Cohen et al., 1983], Happify Scale [Carpenter et al., 2016] and Life Orientation Scale, Revised [Scheier & Carver, 1985]) [From start of 8-week intervention (baseline) to immediately post-intervention]
Composite score made of perceived stress, positive emotionality, and optimism. Perceived stress was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983), a 10-item questionnaire that asks users to rate on a scale of 0 (never) to 4 (very often) how frequently they experience various symptoms of feeling stress. Positive emotionality was measured using the emotion subscale of the Happify Scale (HS-E; Carpenter, Crutchley, Zilca, Schwartz, Smith, Cobb, & Parks, 2016), which is a 4-item scale asking participants to rate the extent to which, over the past week, they have experienced positive and negative emotions that are activated or de-activated. Optimism was measured using the Life Orientation Scale, Revised (LOT-R; Scheier & Carver, 1985), a 6-item scale on which participants rate the extent to which they identify with optimistic or pessimistic beliefs.
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
-
No prior experience on the Happify platform (new user registration)
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Located in the United States
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Self reported loneliness/desire to be more connected to others
Exclusion Criteria:
- Participants who are under the age of 18, reside outside of the United States, have previously registered for Happify, or did not self report loneliness/desire to be more connected with others
Contacts and Locations
Locations
| Site | City | State | Country | Postal Code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Happify (an online platform -- study is entirely online) | New York | New York | United States | 10012 |
Sponsors and Collaborators
- Happify Inc.
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Acacia Parks, PhD, Happify Inc.
Study Documents (Full-Text)
None provided.More Information
Publications
None provided.- 16