An interventional study of Virtual Sequential Emotional Processing Task and Virtual Control Task in Distress, Emotional, sponsored by Boise State University. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-03-21.
Sponsored by Boise State University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a virtual task can reduce distress in college students. The main questions it aims to answer are:
Researchers will compare the virtual task to a control task (another virtual task that we expect will not impact distress) to see if distress differs.
Participants will spend 20 minutes engaging in the virtual task (or the control task) on 3 different days all within one week. They will complete a survey about their well-being before starting the first virtual task and again \~6 weeks afterward.
Easily accessible and cost effective strategies for reducing emotional distress and improving stress tolerance in college students and the population generally are desired. The scalability and feasibility of virtual interventions hold promise for reaching segments of the population that find one-on-one psychotherapy aversive. Males in particular have higher perceived treatment stigma relative to women and find may typical traditional therapeutic processes incongruent with their masculine identity and values. The research team has designed an innovative, self-directed, virtual intervention to reduce distress and stress intolerance. The intervention consists of a set of virtual tasks which reflect the Sequential Model of Emotional Processing presented with language, imagery and content that engages men.
Using a randomized clinical trials design, this pilot project will compare the effects of the virtual intervention with a virtual control task on emotional well-being outcomes in college students.
Exclusion Criteria:
Behavioral: Virtual Sequential Emotional Processing Task
Behavioral: Virtual Control Task
A 20-minute interactive session delivered 3 times over a one week period.
A time-matched (ie., 20 minute) interactive session delivered 3 times over a one week period.
Change from baseline Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) scores to 6wks post intervention
The scale ranges from 0-6 where higher scores indicate more dysfunction.
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of the ~6wk follow up period.
Change from baseline Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 scores to 6wks post intervention
The scale ranges from 0-6 where higher scores indicate more dysfunction.
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of the ~6wk follow up period.
Change from baseline Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-2 scores to 6wks post intervention
Possible scores range from 0-10 where higher scores indicate higher resilience.
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of the ~6wk follow up period.
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
Contact study teamGet an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Boise State University