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CompletedNCT05676554Updated Jun 4, 2024

The Efficacy of a Growth-Mindset Intervention for Adolescents: A Randomised Controlled Trial

An interventional study of An Enhanced Psychological Mindset Session for Adolescents in Anxiety Disorders and Symptoms, Depression, Anxiety and Adolescent - Emotional Problem, sponsored by University of East Anglia. Completed at 1 site in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 14 Years to 18 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-06-04.

Sponsored by University of East Anglia · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
104
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
14 Years to 18 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study is exploring an animated learning resource that could be used online to promote mental health. It is computer based and delivered in a single session, lasting 30 minutes. It teaches young people about thoughts, feelings, personality and the brain, it includes ideas about "mindsets" - or beliefs about the brain - which may be helpful in day-to-day life.

The investigators will use social media to recruit 14-18-year-olds to take part in our research. They will be randomly put into one of two groups - either a group who receive the online session first or a group who receive the session later (at the end of the study).

The animated learning resource aims to promote and protect mental health. The investigators predict it might have some benefits for emotional wellbeing, though the investigators do not know for certain. Young people who take part might learn something new or find it rewarding to know they have been part of research which could be used to help promote mental health.

It is important to know that this is a research study and not a form of treatment for mental health problems.

Read the detailed description

The study will be advertised on different social media platforms and shared online by the researcher. Participants will be able to click the link for more information where detailed study information will be provided and a link to the study on Qualtrics. The participants will then be able to tick to consent to taking part in the research, then allocated a research identification number which will be linked to their email address.

Once consented demographic information will be collected and baseline measures will be administered (RCADS-11; AFQ-Y8; IPTQ 3 items). Once baseline measures are completed the participants will be randomised by an independent source (via Qualtrics) to either treatment or control (so neither participants or researchers know until after enrolment).

Following randomisation, those who are allocated to the treatment arm will complete 'An Enhanced Psychological Mindset Session for Adolescents' online. A feasibility randomised control trial by Perkins et al. (2021) demonstrated that their enhanced psychological mindset session for adolescents (which is used in this current study) is feasible, acceptable, and potentially scalable. Their single session intervention (SSI) was developed specifically for adolescents and aims to promote emotional wellbeing through encouraging a "growth mindset" as research suggests those with growth mindsets who believe personal traits can change are less likely to experience mental health problems (Schleider et al., 2015).

In total the intervention (watching the video, questions and letter task) takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and the feasibility study took a maximum of 2 hours (including to go through information sheet, consenting process, measures and follow ups). Once the intervention has been completed participants will then be contacted four weeks later for a follow up and asked to complete all measures again. At the end of the trial when all the treatment arm participants have completed the intervention, the control group will be given the link to access it. There will also be a prize draw for those who complete the follow up with a chance to win an amazon voucher (15 £10 vouchers).

02

Conditions studied

  • Anxiety Disorders and Symptoms
  • Depression, Anxiety
  • Adolescent - Emotional Problem

Keywords

  • Growth Mindset
03

In context

Anxiety Disorders

5,065 studies on the registry are indexed under Anxiety Disorders; 1,408 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 104 is above the median of 80 across 4,339 interventional studies indexed under Anxiety Disorders.

Browse Anxiety Disorders studies →

Lead sponsor

University of East Anglia is the lead sponsor of 79 studies on the registry; 4 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
14 Years to 18 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Ages 14-18 years old
  • Currently in the United Kingdom

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not currently in the United Kingdom
  • Participants who cannot read/write English (by self-selecting to take part in the research they will be able to read English sufficiently to continue),
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Investigator)
Enrollment
104 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Intervention

    This arm will watch the growth mindset session

    Other: An Enhanced Psychological Mindset Session for Adolescents

  • No intervention
    Waitlist

    This arm will receive the intervention once they have completed the follow up at 4 weeks.

Interventions

  • OtherAn Enhanced Psychological Mindset Session for Adolescents

    It is a ten-minute psychoeducation video (animation) delivered on the internet, followed by five minutes of stories from fictional students about how they used the concepts. Participants then complete three multiple choice questions aimed to assess their understanding and ability to apply concepts from the video, followed by 'letter of advice' task where participants have to give advice to a fictional younger student based on the information presented in the animation and videos. The intervention itself was developed by Perkins et al (2021) based on promoting a growth mindset. It was deemed to be a feasible and acceptable tool to promote mental health (Perkins et al., 2021) in their feasibility trial.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. 11-item Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) (Radez et al., 2021)

    Measures anxiety and depression symptoms. It contains six items addressing anxiety symptoms and five addressing depression symptoms, with the option of a two-item impact supplement. It is an 11 item self-report measure using a Likert scale from 0 (Never) to 3 (Always). Higher scores indicate higher reported symptoms with cut off scores provided to indicate clinically significant scores. The measure should take less than five minutes to complete

    Time frame: Baseline

  2. 11-item Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) (Radez et al., 2021)

    Measures anxiety and depression symptoms

    Time frame: 4 week follow up

Secondary outcomes

  1. Three items from the Implicit Personality Theory Questionnaire (IPTQ) (Yeager et al., 2013)

    Three items from the Implicit Personality Theory Questionnaire (IPTQ) will be used to assess participants views on whether personality is fixed or malleable (Yeager et al., 2013) these items are identical to the ones used in the feasibility study. The self-report three items are: "You have a certain personality, and it is something that you can't do much about," "Your personality is something about you that you can't change very much," and "Either you have a good personality or you don't, and there is really very little you can do about it." The items are rated on a Likert scale from 1 (really disagree) to 6 (really agree), with a higher score suggesting a more fixed mindset. This measure should take less than a few minutes to complete.

    Time frame: Baseline

  2. Three items from the Implicit Personality Theory Questionnaire (IPTQ) (Yeager et al., 2013)

    Used to assess participants views on whether personality is fixed or malleable

    Time frame: 4 week follow up

  3. The Acceptance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth-Short Form (AFQ-Y8; Greco et al., 2008)

    Used to assess psychological flexibility (being present, aware, and accepting of our thoughts and emotions and acting on values rather than short-term impulses \[(Hülsheger et al., 2013\]), which captures third-wave cognitive behavioural (e.g., Neff, 2003; Hayes et al., 2011) constructs such as acceptance and values-accordant behaviour. This measure was also used in the feasibility study. The AFQ-Y8 is an eight item self-report measure which uses a Likert scale from 0 (not at all true) to 5 (very true). Possible scores range from 0 to 32. There are no clinical cut off scores, but lower total scores indicate greater psychological flexibility.

    Time frame: Baseline

  4. The Acceptance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth-Short Form (AFQ-Y8; Greco et al., 2008)

    Used to assess psychological flexibility

    Time frame: 4 week follow up

07

Study locations

1 site
  • University of East Anglia
    Norwich, United Kingdom
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Ran from Feb 2023 to primary completion in May 2024, 15 months.

Of 2,720 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Anxiety Disorders, half reached primary completion within 13 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 31. This study's 15 months is above that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 2,789 studies reached it within 12 months; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 30.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Dec 20, 2022
First posted
Jan 9, 2023
StartActual
Feb 3, 2023
Primary completionActual
May 23, 2024
CompletionActual
May 23, 2024
Last update
Jun 4, 2024
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 4, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05676554
Lead sponsor
University of East Anglia
Collaborators
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jan 9, 2023
Start date
Feb 3, 2023
Primary completion
May 23, 2024
Completion
May 23, 2024
Last update
Jun 4, 2024

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Jun 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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