The major aim of this pilot study is to evaluate a brief coping skills intervention for college students, based on an evidence-based treatment and delivered remotely via 14 short daily videos. Participants will be 150 Rutgers undergraduates who are enrolled in Fall 2020. Participants in the experimental group (n=100) will receive 4 daily smartphone surveys assessing stress, affect, and other related factors for two weeks before, during, and after the 2-week coping skills intervention. Participants in the control group (n=50) will receive assessments over the same time period with no skills intervention. Both groups will be assessed weekly throughout the Fall semester to monitor the transition to the new semester and longer-term impact of the intervention. The control condition participants will have access to the skills videos at the end of the study.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
153
14 brief videos that teach DBT skills.
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Piscataway, New Jersey, United States
Distress
Distress, as assessed via smartphone Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), 0 through 10 scale, 10 equals more distress.
Time frame: Six week daily monitoring period
Emotion regulation
Assessed with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS); scores range from 36-180, higher scores equal more distress
Time frame: Six week daily monitoring period
Distress (within-person change)
Assessed via EMA in the experimental group, 0 through 10 scale, 10 equals more distress.
Time frame: Six week daily monitoring period
Maintenance of improvement in emotion regulation
Assessed with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), scores range from 36-180, higher scores equal more distress
Time frame: Six week post-daily monitoring period
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