The purpose of this study is to establish the clinical efficacy of Mentalizing Imagery Therapy (MIT) for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders (ADRD) family caregivers in terms of mentalizing and elder mistreatment (EM) risk factors of stress, depression, and suicidality and to identify the mechanistic impacts of MIT on ADRD family caregivers' mental health,including stress, depression, and suicidality.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
50
MIT is a 4-week, app-delivered behavioral program integrating guided imagery, mindfulness, and perspective-taking practices designed to enhance mentalizing, emotion regulation, and self compassion. MIT is reinforced by weekly 90-minute virtual group sessions
Mindfulness exercises (ME) is a 4-week, app-delivered program featuring daily self-guided mindfulness practices and reflective exercises aimed at reducing depression and stress.ME is self-guided and does not include group sessions.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Houston, Texas, United States
Change in perceived stress as measured by self-reported daily stress
This is scored on a scale from 0-10, with 0 indicating no stress, and 10 indicating the day was extremely stressful
Time frame: From Baseline through Week 10
Change in perceived stress as measured by Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
The PSS is a 10-item psychological instrument measuring the degree to which situations in one's life are appraised as stressful. Items are scored from 0-4, with total scores ranging from 0-40. Higher scores indicate greater perceived stress.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, Week 6, Week 8, and Week 10
Change in depression as measured by Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
PHQ-9 is a 9-item self-report measure used to assess the severity of depressive symptoms . Each item is scored from 0 ("Not at all") to 3 ("Nearly every day"), resulting in a total score ranging from 0 to 27. Higher scores indicate greater depressive symptom severity.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, Week 6, Week 8, and Week 10
Depression as measured by self-rated daily depression severity
this will be reported as the number of times participant felt feel depressed, sad, or hopeless each day
Time frame: From baseline through Week 10
Suicidality as measured by self-reported daily suicidality
this will be reported as the number of times participant felt they would be better off dead or thinking about hurting themselves each day
Time frame: From baseline through Week 10
Change in Mentalization as Measured by the Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ)
This is a 15 item questionnaire and each is scored on a 5-point Likert scale for a score range from 15-75. Higher scores often indicate greater mentalizing deficits
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Time frame: Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, Week 6, Week 8, and Week 10
Change in Mindfulness as Measured by the Mindfulness Subscale of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS)
The subscale consists of 4 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ("Almost Never") to 5 ("Almost Always"). Scores are calculated as the mean of the item responses, with higher scores indicating greater mindfulness.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, Week 6, Week 8, and Week 10
Change in Self-compassion as measured by the Self-Compassion Scale
This has 26 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ("Almost Never") to 5 ("Almost Always"). Scores are calculated by averaging item responses after reverse-scoring negatively worded items. Total scores range from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating greater self-compassion
Time frame: Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, Week 6, Week 8, and Week 10
Emotion Regulation as measured by self-reported daily emotion regulation
This will be reported as number of times participant felt angry or anxious and how often they lost control over their behaviors each day
Time frame: From baseline through Week 10