An interventional study of Islamic Integrated gratitude intervention in Psychological Well Being, sponsored by Lincoln University College. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 29 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-27.
Sponsored by Lincoln University College · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
Gratitude practices have been shown to improve well-being but nearly all the programs tested so far were designed without reference to Islamic understanding.
This study tests a month-long gratitude program built around the Islamic concept of shukr. Participants complete a short daily journal entry, watch a short video before each day, and attend 5 online group sessions across 4 weeks.
The content covers what Shukr (Islamic gratitude) means, how it is expressed towards Allah and towards other people, and how it works during difficult times.
Participants are Muslim emerging adults aged 18 to 29 from Pakistan. They are randomly assigned either to the experimental or control group. Well-being and gratitude are measured before the program, at the end of the program, and at a follow-up after three months.
The intervention was developed following the Medical Research Council framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions (Skywington et al, 2021). Development drew on a systematic literature review and 2 qualitative studies and interviews. First, with Islamic scholars, which produced a model of shukr covering its theocentric foundation, its expression through heart, tongue, and limbs, its unconditional character, the virtue surrounding it, the humility it produces, and its social outworking. Second, the interviews with practitioners experienced in delivering psychological interventions, which produced design and safeguarding requirements.
Existing gratitude interventions show modest effects, and three limitations recur: gratitude directed at other people can produce a sense of indebtedness rather than appreciation; gratitude exercises perform poorly for people who are currently distressed because the exercise depends on identifying benefits; and interventions transported without cultural adaptation lose effect, particularly when adaptation stays at the surface rather than the emerging population's own framework for making sense of events.
The intervention addresses each of these: gratitude is directed towards Allah, who requires no repayment in kind; shukr is paired with Sabr (patience), which makes gratitude practicable during hardship rather than only after benefit. The daily practice is attached to an existing routine to support habit formation, and content is drawn from Quranic text and prophetic narration rather than from a single scholarly tradition.
The intervention structure: 26 journal entries across 4 weeks, which are accompanied by prerecorded videos (presenting the same teaching and prompt as the workbook) and five facilitated group live sessions delivered online.The first session proceeds before day 1 of journal entries; the remaining sessions fall roughly at the end of each week. Week 3 addresses gratitude during hardship and includes content on adversity, unanswered prayers, and difficult relationships. Participants are informed which days are there before a week begins and may skip any day without explanation.
Safeguards include explicit exclusion of abusive relationships from the content on difficult people, wording that does not require disclosure of private matters, an anonymous well-being check administered roughly mid-intervention, and a defined support and escalation procedures.
2,193 studies on the registry are indexed under Psychological Well-Being; 728 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 160 is above the median of 110 across 1,796 interventional studies indexed under Psychological Well-Being.
Browse Psychological Well-Being studies →Lincoln University College is the lead sponsor of 15 studies on the registry; 5 are open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants receive the Islamic integrated gratitude programme delivered over four weeks. This includes a daily journal entry guided by a workbook, alongside pre-recorded videos (before each journal day, presenting the same teaching and prompt as the journal entry), and five facilitated live online group sessions.
Behavioral: Islamic Integrated gratitude intervention
Participants complete the same outcome measures at the same time points but receive no intervention during the study period. They are offered the full SHUKR programme after the final follow-up assessment is complete.
An Islamically integrated gratitude intervention delivered over four weeks, comprising daily journal prompts, pre-recorded videos, and five facilitated live online group sessions.
Also known as: Shukr
Psychological Well-Being Assessed Using Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scale (18-Item Version)
Psychological well-being is assessed using the 18-item version of Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scale. Items are rated on a 7-point scale from 1 (strongly agree) to 7 (strongly disagree). Items 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 17, and 18 are reverse-scored. The total score ranges from 18 to 126, with higher scores indicating greater psychological well-being. The scale assesses autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations, purpose in life, and self-acceptance.
Time frame: Baseline (before intervention) and immediately after the 30-day intervention and at a 3-month follow-up
Gratitude Questionnaire (Six Item Form)
Gratitude is assessed using the six-item Gratitude Questionnaire-Six Item Form (GQ-6). Items are rated on a 7-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Items 3 and 6 are reverse-scored. The total score ranges from 6 to 42, with higher scores indicating greater gratitude.
Time frame: Baseline (before intervention) and immediately after the 30-day intervention and at a 3-month follow-up
No study locations are listed for this record.
Plan to share: No — Individual participant data will not be shared because participant consent did not include sharing data with other researchers.
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Start is estimated for Sep 2026; primary completion for Oct 2026, 1 month later.
Of 1,259 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Psychological Well-Being, half reached primary completion within 17 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 7 and three quarters within 34. This study's planned 1 month is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 1,302 studies reached it within 16 months; a quarter within 7 and three quarters within 34.
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This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Aug 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Lincoln University College