Recruiting

Emotion Regulation

Sponsor:

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Code:

NCT06570603

Conditions

Distress, Emotional

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Self-Efficacy

Willingness

Psychoeducation

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn which aspects of distress intolerance (i.e., difficulties withstanding upsetting emotional states) are the most important for improving effective emotion regulation and associated mental health symptoms.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

How are willingness to feel upset and self-efficacy for withstanding distress associated with different emotion regulation strategies used in daily life?

Does targeting willingness to feel upset and/or self-efficacy for withstanding distress help people use more effective emotion regulation strategies in daily life when they feel upset?

Are improvements in emotion regulation strategies in daily life associated with fewer symptoms of mental health problems over time?

Participants will:

Answer questions about their moods, willingness to feel upset, self-efficacy for withstanding distress and emotion regulation strategies for three weeks using a cell phone app

Undergo a willingness, self-efficacy, combined or psychoeducational control intervention in the lab

Be prompted to use the intervention skill via the cell phone app during the second week, after the intervention

Complete weekly reports of mental health symptoms

Conditions

Distress, Emotional

Study ID

NCT06570603

Start date

Oct 3, 2024

Status verified date

Apr, 2025

Completion date

Apr, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Fluent in English
  • Uses Android or iPhone smartphone
  • Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) scores of 42 and higher
  • Distress Intolerance Index (DII) scores of 3 or higher

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Work or School that does not allow consistent access to phone (or is unsafe)
  • No internet access for completing follow-up surveys

Study Design

Enrollment

240 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

placebo comparator: Psychoeducational Control

Participants will receive psychoeducation only

experimental: Self-Efficacy (Only)

Single session intervention focusing on increasing self-efficacy to manage distress. Will include brief psychoeducation about emotion, then a focus on agency and self-criticism, using stressors the participant provided from the previous week, with an aim to teach self-compassion skills that will improve self-efficacy.

experimental: Willingness (Only)

Single session intervention focused on increasing willingness to allow distress. Will include brief psychoeducation about emotion, then a discussion of values and how allowing and experiencing emotions nourishes values, experiencing discomfort enhances growth. Will use stressors from the prior week as examples.

experimental: Combined Willingness and Self-Efficacy

Single session intervention focused on increasing both willingness and self-efficacy. Will include brief psychoeducation about emotion, then a combination of using values and self-compassion to increase both allowing and self-efficacy.

Interventions

Self-Efficacy

Brief skills based psychotherapy session to increase perceived self-efficacy for withstanding distress, giving participants increased beliefs that they \*can\* do it.

Willingness

Brief skills based psychotherapy session to increase perceived willingness to engage with distress for withstanding distress, giving participants increased motivation to try.

Psychoeducation

Psychoeducation about the components and functions of emotion.

Primary outcome measure

  • Engagement behaviors [ Time Frame: Assessed 5x/day via ecological momentary assessment ]
  • Disengagement behaviors [ Time Frame: Assessed 5x/day via ecological momentary assessment ]
  • GAD-7 [ Time Frame: Baseline, weekly for three weeks and then after one month followup ]
  • PHQ-9 [ Time Frame: Baseline, weekly for three weeks and then after one month followup ]
  • AUDIT [ Time Frame: Baseline, weekly for three weeks and then after one month followup ]
  • Binge Eating Disorder Scale [ Time Frame: Baseline, weekly for three weeks and then after one month followup ]
  • DSM Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure [ Time Frame: Baseline, weekly for three weeks and then after one month followup ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Jennifer C Veilleux, PhD

479-575-5329jcveille@uark.edu

Locations

University of Arkansas - Fayetteville

Recruiting

Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States, 72701

More Information

Sponsor

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Last update posted

Jul 10, 2025

Last verified

Apr, 2025

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-10-04. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Arkansas, Fayetteville on 2025-07-10. Recruitment status is synced daily from ClinicalTrials.gov and may not reflect the sponsor's current status. Confirm during your call.