NCT05757180: RASPERA

Recalling and Anticipating Specific Positive Events to Boost Resilience in Adolescents

Completed NA Last updated 7 July 2023

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Positive Events Training (PET) in Specific Positive Memories in 191 participants. Completed in 13 May 2023.

Timeline

21 October 2022

Primary endpoint
13 May 2023

13 May 2023

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Prof. dr. Filip Raes
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	none
Primary purpose	prevention
Enrollment	191
Start date	21 October 2022
Primary completion	13 May 2023
Estimated completion	13 May 2023
Sites	5 locations across Belgium

Drugs / interventions tested

• Positive Events Training (PET)
• CREAtive writing Training (CREAT)

Conditions studied

• Specific Positive Memories — all drugs for Specific Positive Memories →
• Specific Positive Future Events — all drugs for Specific Positive Future Events →
• Resilience — all drugs for Resilience →
• Mental Wellbeing — all drugs for Mental Wellbeing →

Sponsor

Prof. dr. Filip Raes

Who can join

Adults 12 to 16, any sex, with Specific Positive Memories or Specific Positive Future Events. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Many young people are experiencing stress-related mental health problems, with some recent studies suggesting this number is increasing. Especially now, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a significant increase in depression and anxiety in adolescents. An important way to help address this challenge is not so much to focus on trying to repair what makes young people vulnerable but to focus on building resilience. Resilience refers to the ability to successfully deal with stressful experiences. Recent research shows that being able to vividly remember and imagine positive events can buffer the negative consequences of stress, and makes a convincing case that training adolescents in recalling and anticipating positive events would promote resilience and thereby improve their mental wellbeing. And this is exactly what the current project sets out to do for the very first time. Adolescents will receive a playful group-training in school to make them better at recalling and anticipating positive events, which is expected to help them to bounce back more swiftly from challenging or otherwise stressful life events. The investigators predict that youngsters who follow our Positive Event Training will experience more positive emotions, will show improved resilience and report better mental wellbeing. The investigators will also develop a free online training protocol for teachers so that schools can provide this resilience program on their own, without the need of external professional trainers.

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of the RASPERA project: recalling and anticipating specific positive events to boost resilience in adolescents.
   Loyen E, Bogaert L, Hallford DJ, D'Argembeau A, et al · · 2023 · PMID 38074707 · DOI 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1216988