The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel online single-session intervention (SSI) designed to improve emotion regulation abilities in young adults (ages 18-29). The active intervention condition, titled "Project WAVE," uses mindfulness skills training and an emotion exposure to teach participants how to cope with distressing emotions. Project WAVE will be evaluated in comparison with another online activity that controls for nonspecific aspects of single-session interventions.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
545
Project WAVE is an online, self-directed single-session intervention designed to foster emotional nonreactivity skills in young adults aged 18-29.
The control condition is an online, self-directed single-session activity that includes an emotionally neutral writing task.
Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Emotion Intolerance Beliefs.
Emotion intolerance beliefs will be measured using the Emotion Avoidance Questionnaire (EAQ) Beliefs subscale, a five-item self-report measure of a participant's beliefs about their inability to tolerate emotions (Taylor et al., 2004). Participants will rate their agreement with each statement reflecting how they feel "right now" on a five-point scale. A higher score indicates greater levels of negative beliefs about their ability to tolerate emotions.
Time frame: Data will be collected in both conditions at all time points (pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, and two-week follow-up).
Perceived Intervention Utility
Perception of the intervention's utility in teaching nonreactivity will be assessed with the items: "During this activity, to what extent were you able to observe your emotions without getting caught up in them?"; "How much did this activity help you learn how to be nonreactive to distressing emotions?"; "How much do you think being nonreactive to distressing emotions could help you in the future?" (each on a five-point Likert scale ranging from "not at all" to "very much"); and "How likely are you to try being nonreactive to distressing emotions in the future?" (on a five-point Likert scale ranging from "very unlikely" to "very likely"). Participants will also be asked a multi-select question: "Did anything get in the way of being able to complete the nonreactivity practice?" with response options including "It was too hard," "It was confusing," "I didn't find it interesting," "I got distracted," "Something else \[write-in\]," or "Nothing got in the way."
Time frame: Data will be collected only in Project WAVE and only at immediate post-intervention.
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