Just-in-time delivered planning intervention to reduce stress at the workplace among apprentices
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN12865220 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN12865220 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | 16.6.2 |
- Submission date
- 03/08/2017
- Registration date
- 08/08/2017
- Last edited
- 23/06/2021
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Interventions to reduce stress include several elements from models of health behaviour change, such as motivation, self-efficacy, and planning processes. However, the effectiveness of these single components within comprehensive programs has not been addressed so far, but could give valuable insights for the development of future digital health behaviour change interventions. Just-in-time interventions provided via mobile devices (i.e., text messages) are intended to help people to make healthy decisions “in the moment”, and thus have a near-future impact. Implementation intentions (i.e. if-then-plans) are a promising intervention component within digital interventions to reduce stress at the workplace. However, the effectiveness of this single element within a comprehensive life skills program has not been addressed so far, but could give valuable insights for the development of future interventions. The aim of this study is to test the impact of such just-in-time delivered interventions on stress reduction at the workplace among apprentices.
Who can participate?
Adolescents aged 16 or over who attend vocational training and feel stressed at workplace
What does the study involve?
On six working days, 1 hour before apprentices are on their way to work, participants are randomly allocated to receive either an intervention or no intervention. The intervention includes two text messages: one text message where they choose one of two predetermined if-then plans to reduce stress at the workplace, and another text message prompt to visualize the chosen plan. Perceived stress at the workplace is assessed 11 hours later in both groups.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Stress may be lower after receiving the stress-reducing text message. No risks of participation are expected.
Where is the study run from?
1. Swiss Research Institute for Public Health and Addiction (Switzerland)
2. University of Zurich, Applied Social and Health Psychology (Switzerland)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
August 2017 to December 2018
Who is funding the study?
1. Swiss Research Institute for Public Health and Addiction (Switzerland)
2. University of Zurich, Applied Social and Health Psychology (Switzerland)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Theda Radtke
theda.radtke@psychologie.uzh.ch
Contact information
Scientific
Health, Work & Organizational Psychology
School of Psychology and Psychotherapy
Witten/Herdecke University
Alfred-Herrhausen-Str. 44
Witten
58455
Germany
 ORCID ID |
0000-0003-1228-1834 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +49 2302 9267908 |
| Theda.Radtke@uni-wh.de |
Study information
| Study design | Micro-randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised cross over trial |
| Study setting(s) | Other |
| Study type | Prevention |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use the contact details to request a patient information sheet |
| Scientific title | Efficacy of a just-in-time delivered planning intervention to reduce stress at the workplace among apprentices: a micro-randomized controlled trial |
| Study acronym | MRCT Stress |
| Study hypothesis | Current study hypothesis as of 07/07/2020: 1. On days adolescents receive the just-in time delivered planning intervention, adolescents report lower levels of stress during vocational training compared to days without the just-in time delivered planning intervention 2. Adolescents with lower levels of work-related vigor will benefit from just-in-time delivered planning intervention to a higher degree compared to adolescents with higher levels of work-related vigor 3. Adolescents with higher levels of work-related exhaustion will benefit from just-in-time delivered planning intervention to a higher degree compared to adolescents with lower levels of work-related exhaustion Previous study hypothesis: 1. On days adolescents receive the just-in time delivered planning intervention, adolescents report lower levels of stress during vocational training compared to days without the just-in time delivered planning intervention 2. Adolescents with higher levels of work-related vigor will benefit from just-in-time delivered planning intervention to a higher degree compared to adolescents with lower levels of work-related vigor 3. Adolescents with higher levels of work-related exhaustion will benefit from just-in-time delivered planning intervention to a higher degree compared to adolescents with lower levels of work-related exhaustion |
| Ethics approval(s) | Ethics committee of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Zurich, 26/09/2016, ref: 16.6.2 |
| Condition | Stress |
| Intervention | Participants receive the just-in-time delivered planning intervention to reduce stress on their typically indicated most stressful working day (or a randomly chosen working day in case no most stressful day can be identified) during a week. The intervention is delivered 1 hour before apprentices are on their way to work. In case of shift work the intervention is delivered at 6am. The study has an AB/BA crossover design, in which each participant receives the intervention and the control in a randomized order. The randomization sequence will be created using computerized random numbers. There is a period of at least 2 weeks between the intervention and control. Intervention points in time include: 1. Assessment of state of receptivity via SMS text message question (“Are you working today?”) on one of their typically indicated working days, one hour before apprentices are on their way to work (or at 6am). 2. Confirmation of receptivity by a text message reply (“Yes”) from the participant. 3. The digital micro intervention where participants can choose one of two predetermined if-then plans to reduce stress at the workplace via SMS text messaging and another text message prompt to visualize the chosen plan. Control points in time only include 1 and 2. Follow-up assessments will be conducted in both intervention and control points in time 11 hours after the assessment of state of receptivity and the random allocation to one of the two intervention conditions. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | Perceived stress at the workplace, assessed with one item measure 11 hours after the assessment of state of receptivity and the random allocation to one of the two intervention conditions |
| Secondary outcome measures | No secondary outcome measures |
| Overall study start date | 01/05/2017 |
| Overall study end date | 31/12/2018 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Healthy volunteer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Mixed |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 130 per condition (including a dropout rate of 30%) |
| Total final enrolment | 3759 |
| Participant inclusion criteria | 1. Ownership of a mobile phone 2. A perceived stress level at the workplace that is above 3, measured on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (not stressful) to 5 (extremely stressful) 3. Aged 16 or over |
| Participant exclusion criteria | 1. A perceived stress level at the workplace that is below 3, measured on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (not stressful) to 5 (extremely stressful) 2. Age < 16 3. No vocational training at intervention day |
| Recruitment start date | 09/08/2017 |
| Recruitment end date | 31/12/2017 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Switzerland
Study participating centre
Zurich
8031
Switzerland
Sponsor information
University/education
Konradstrasse 32
Zurich
8031
Switzerland
| Phone | +41 (0)44 448 11 74 |
|---|---|
| severin.haug@isgf.uzh.ch | |
| Website | www.isgf.ch |
University/education
Applied Social and Health Psychology
Binzmühlestr.14/14
Zurich
8050
Switzerland
| Phone | +41 (0)44 635 72 55 |
|---|---|
| theda.radtke@uzh.ch | |
| Website | http://www.psychologie.uzh.ch/de/fachrichtungen/angsoz.html |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/02crff812 |
Funders
Funder type
University/education
No information available
Government organisation / Universities (academic only)
- Alternative name(s)
- University of Zurich, Switzerland, University of Zurich, UZH
- Location
- Switzerland
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/08/2022 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a psychological or medical peer-reviewed journal around one year after the overall trial end date. No other documents will be available. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are/will be available upon request from Dr Severin Haug (severin.haug@isgf.uzh.ch). Individual participant data will be available (including data dictionaries). Individual participant data that underlie the results reported in our article, after deidentification (text, tables, figures, and appendices) will be shared. Data will be available beginning 9 months and ending 36 months following article publication. Researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal will be able to get access to the data. Data will be provided for analyses to achieve aims in the approved proposal and for individual participant data meta-analysis. To gain access, data requestors will need to sign a data access agreement. |
Editorial Notes
23/06/2021: Total final enrolment number added.
02/06/2021: The intention to publish date was changed from 31/12/2020 to 01/08/2022.
07/07/2020: The study hypothesis (2) was changed due to a typographical error to: “Adolescents with lower levels of work-related vigor will benefit from just-in-time delivered planning intervention to a higher degree compared to adolescents with higher levels of work-related vigor.”
06/01/2020: The following changes have been made:
1. The intention to publish date has been changed from 31/12/2019 to 31/12/2020.
2. The scientific contact was updated.
