Value-Affirmation for Grief
(SAGE Trial)
What You Need to Know Before You Apply
What is the purpose of this trial?
Self-affirmation (SA) theory proposes that people are motivated to maintain a positive self-image of being worthy, stable, and capable. Self-affirmation (SA) manipulations have been shown to effectively increase self-worth as well as reduce cardiovascular reactivity while enhancing cardiovascular recovery in response to stress. While SA is discussed as a way to alleviate grief, its effect on cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) and recovery to grief recall has yet to be studied within laboratory settings. This study proposes an experimental design to examine how an in-lab manipulation promoting self-affirmation can improve patients' cardiovascular responses during and after a grief recall procedure. The investigators hypothesized that grief severity (a continuous variable) interacts with condition (a categorical variable with two levels, i.e., SA intervention vs. control) to predict CV reactivity and recovery as outcomes.
Primary Objective 1: To investigate effects of self-affirmation intervention on cardiovascular responses among grieving participants during and after grief recall.
Secondary Objective 1: To investigate the relationship of grief severity with psychological stress.
Who Is on the Research Team?
Kaiyuan Luo, BS, BA
Principal Investigator
University of South Florida
Kristen Salomon, Ph.D
Principal Investigator
University of South Florida
Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?
This trial is for individuals experiencing grief. It aims to explore if self-affirmation can help with cardiovascular responses during and after recalling a grief event. Participants should be in good general health, willing to discuss their grief experience, and able to perform the tasks required by the study.Inclusion Criteria
Exclusion Criteria
Timeline for a Trial Participant
Screening
Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial
Baseline Assessment
Participants complete questionnaires and have their height and weight measured. Cardiovascular measurement equipment is attached.
Intervention
Participants undergo self-affirmation or control task followed by a grief recall interview. Cardiovascular responses are measured.
Recovery
Participants sit quietly for a recovery period while cardiovascular measures are taken.
Follow-up
Participants are monitored for cardiovascular recovery and complete additional questionnaires.
What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?
Interventions
- Value-affirmation
Trial Overview
The study tests whether a self-affirmation intervention can improve heart health during and after participants remember a sad loss. The experiment compares two groups: one practicing self-affirmation techniques and another without such an intervention.
How Is the Trial Designed?
2
Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
Active Control
Participants will be randomly assigned to either a self-affirming task or a non-affirming neutral task prior to engaging in grief recall.
Participants will be randomly assigned to either a self-affirming task or a non-affirming neutral task prior to engaging in grief recall. Participants in no-affirmation control group will be asked to rank their top 12 favorite jellybean flavors and write about the 3rd and 4th favorite flavor for 10 minutes. This control task has also been tested to propose same amount of workload without promoting participants' self-worth.
Find a Clinic Near You
Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?
University of South Florida
Lead Sponsor
Arizona State University
Collaborator
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