Trial Review

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Trial registered on ANZCTR


Registration number
Help: Registration number
ACTRN12625001041448
Ethics application status
Help: Ethics application status
Approved
Date submitted
Help: Date submitted
4/09/2025
Date registered
Help: Date registered
22/09/2025
Date last updated
Help: Date last updated
23/06/2026
Date data sharing statement initially provided
Help: Data sharing statement date
22/09/2025
Type of registration
Help: Type of registration
Prospectively registered

Titles & IDs
Public title
Mental Fitness in the Law: A Resilience Training and Research Program for Legal Professionals
Scientific title
Strengthening Resilience in Lawyers: Evaluating the Efficacy of Self-Reflection Training and the Influence of Reflection Perspective on the Development of Resilient Beliefs.
Additional trial identifiers [1] 314601 0
Nil
Universal Trial Number (UTN)
Trial acronym
Related trial records

Health condition
Health condition(s) studied:
Depression 337724 0
Anxiety 337725 0
Burnout 337730 0
Condition category
Condition code
Mental Health 334055 334055 0 0
Depression
Mental Health 334056 334056 0 0
Anxiety
Mental Health 335147 335147 0 0
Other mental health disorders

Intervention/exposure
Study type
Interventional
Description of the intervention or exposure
Intervention: Self-Reflective Resilience Training (Mental Fitness in the Law)

The intervention will run over six weeks and combines structured workshops, weekly guided self-reflection activities, and fortnightly check-in calls.

Week 1: An initial workshop (1.25 hours, delivered face-to-face or via Zoom) introduces the program, provides lecture-style training, and guides participants through their first written reflection activity.

Weeks 2–5: Participants complete one written reflection activity per week (15 minutes, during a scheduled Zoom session). Weeks 2 and 4 also include a scripted check-in call (20 minutes via Zoom).

Week 6: Participants attend a debriefing session (1 hour, online) and complete the T2 survey.

The self-reflection activities are completed in a Reflection Booklet and involve responding to eight structured questions about a recent stressor, evaluating initial coping responses, and identifying alternative strategies for future situations. These Reflection Booklets have been developed for this study. The check-in calls are supportive conversations guided by a trial-specific script.

The two intervention conditions are identical except for the reflection perspective:

Condition 1 (Intervention): Participants complete reflections from a self-distanced (observer/third-person) perspective.

Condition 2 (Comparator): Participants complete reflections from a self-immersed (first-person) perspective.

All materials have been developed for this study.

Workshops and writing sessions will be delivered by a psychologist.

Check-in calls will be conducted by trained provisional psychologists under the supervision of the lead researchers. Provisional psychologists will need to have completed Masters of Organisational Psychology Coursework Units in Counselling and Coaching before assisting with the study. Provisional Psychologists will be provided with additional training by the lead researchers to provide support during assessment. This training will take place 2 weeks before the trial commences and the provisional psychologists will also be provided with supervision by lead researchers throughout the program.

Sessions will take place either at participating law firm offices, Macquarie University’s City Campus, or online.

Adherence will be monitored through attendance checklists and completion of scheduled activities.
Intervention code [1] 331224 0
Behaviour
Intervention code [2] 331974 0
Prevention
Description of the comparator or control
The self-immersed condition will be the comparator condition for the trial. This comparator group will be identical to the intervention condition with the exception of the perspective of the self-reflection activities. In the comparator (self-immersed condition), participants will engage in all written reflection activities, check-in calls and debrief workshops from the first-person perspective rather than a third-person perspective.
Control group
Active

Outcomes
Primary outcome [1] 341716 0
Depression
Timepoint [1] 341716 0
Baseline (T1), Post Intervention (T2) and 3 months post intervention(T3). T3 is the primary time point of interest.
Primary outcome [2] 341717 0
Anxiety
Timepoint [2] 341717 0
Baseline (T1), Post Intervention (T2) and 3 months post intervention(T3). T3 is the primary time point of interest.
Primary outcome [3] 342700 0
Burnout
Timepoint [3] 342700 0
Baseline (T1), Post Intervention (T2) and 3 months post intervention(T3). T3 is the primary time point of interest.
Secondary outcome [1] 448499 0
Coping Self-Insight
Timepoint [1] 448499 0
Baseline (T1), Post Intervention (T2) and 3 months post intervention(T3).
Secondary outcome [2] 448500 0
Coping Self-Efficacy
Timepoint [2] 448500 0
Baseline (T1), Post Intervention (T2) and 3 months post intervention(T3).
Secondary outcome [3] 448501 0
Hope
Timepoint [3] 448501 0
Baseline (T1), Post Intervention (T2) and 3 months post intervention(T3).
Secondary outcome [4] 451865 0
Optimism
Timepoint [4] 451865 0
Baseline (T1), Post Intervention (T2) and 3 months post intervention(T3).

Eligibility
Key inclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria: Participants must meet each of the following criteria:
(1) Be currently working as either (a) a practising Australian lawyer holding a valid practising certificate, or (b) a graduate lawyer who has completed a law degree and is currently undertaking practical legal training but has not yet been admitted to the profession.
(2) Possess sufficient reading, writing, and conversational English skills to comprehend study instructions, complete questionnaires, and participate in training activities without the need for translation or additional language support.
(3) 18 years or older
Minimum age
18 Years
Maximum age
No limit
Sex
Both males and females
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Key exclusion criteria
Participants will be excluded if they do not meet the above criteria. In addition, practising lawyers (excluding graduate lawyers) who are not working in a role requiring a valid practising certificate, or who are on extended periods of leave (e.g., parental leave, medical leave), will be excluded, as the study is designed to measure coping with the current demands of legal practice.

Study design
Purpose of the study
Educational / counselling / training
Allocation to intervention
Randomised controlled trial
Procedure for enrolling a subject and allocating the treatment (allocation concealment procedures)
Participants will be assigned to either the self-distanced or self-immersed condition based on the initial session they register into, with conditions pre-allocated to session times by random draw to minimise allocation bias.
Methods used to generate the sequence in which subjects will be randomised (sequence generation)
Simple randomisation using a randomisation table created by computer software (i.e. computerised sequence generation)
Masking / blinding
Open (masking not used)
Who is / are masked / blinded?



Intervention assignment
Parallel
Other design features
Phase
Not Applicable
Type of endpoint/s
Efficacy
Statistical methods / analysis
Longitudinal changes in primary outcomes and secondary outcomes will be compared within subjects over time and between the two conditions using generalised estimation equation (GEE) . The GEE methodology permits the testing of nonlinear, piecemeal rates of change over time, while accounting for within-subject variance between time points (Liang & Zeger, 1986). . Pairwise comparisons will be derived from the marginal models, seeking to test specific interaction effects, such as specific comparison between intervention conditions within specific time points. Estimates such as Cohens d will be calculated to convey the magnitude of both within and between-subjects effects. To address missing values data, replacement values will be generated for all dependent variables following an analysis of missing values assumptions (Little, et al., 2012).

Recruitment
Recruitment status
Active, not recruiting
Date of first participant enrolment
Anticipated
3/11/2025
Actual
2/12/2025
Date of last participant enrolment
Anticipated
1/06/2026
Actual
1/05/2026
Date of last data collection
Anticipated
30/09/2026
Actual
Sample size
Target
240
Accrual to date
Final
222
Recruitment in Australia
Recruitment state(s)
ACT,NSW,NT,QLD,SA,TAS,WA,VIC

Funding & Sponsors
Funding source category [1] 319160 0
University
Name [1] 319160 0
Macquarie University
Country [1] 319160 0
Australia
Primary sponsor type
University
Name
Macquarie University
Address
Country
Australia
Secondary sponsor category [1] 322405 0
None
Name [1] 322405 0
Address [1] 322405 0
Country [1] 322405 0

Ethics approval
Ethics application status
Approved
Ethics committee name [1] 317739 0
Macquarie University Human Research Ethics Committee Medical Sciences
Ethics committee address [1] 317739 0
Ethics committee country [1] 317739 0
Australia
Date submitted for ethics approval [1] 317739 0
08/09/2025
Approval date [1] 317739 0
24/10/2025
Ethics approval number [1] 317739 0

Summary
Brief summary
Trial website
Trial related presentations / publications
Public notes

Contacts
Principal investigator
Name 141994 0
Prof Monique Crane
Address 141994 0
The Australian Hearing Hub, Level 2, 16 University Avenue, Macquarie University, NSW, 2109
Country 141994 0
Australia
Phone 141994 0
+61 400920862
Fax 141994 0
Email 141994 0
[email protected]
Contact person for public queries
Name 141995 0
Lucy Chapple
Address 141995 0
The Australian Hearing Hub, Level 2, 16 University Avenue, Macquarie University, NSW, 2109
Country 141995 0
Australia
Phone 141995 0
+61 411280108
Fax 141995 0
Email 141995 0
[email protected]
Contact person for scientific queries
Name 141996 0
Monique Crane
Address 141996 0
The Australian Hearing Hub, Level 2, 16 University Avenue, Macquarie University, NSW, 2109
Country 141996 0
Australia
Phone 141996 0
+61 400920862
Fax 141996 0
Email 141996 0
[email protected]

Data sharing statement
Will the study consider sharing individual participant data?
Yes
Will there be any conditions when requesting access to individual participant data?
Persons/groups eligible to request access:
• Researchers
Conditions for requesting access:
• Yes, conditions apply:
• Requires review on a case-by-case basis by the trial custodian, sponsor or data sharing committee
• Requires a scientifically sound proposal or protocol
• Requires approval by an ethics committee
• Requires a data sharing agreement between data requester and trial custodian or sponsor
What individual participant data might be shared?
• All de-identified individual participant data
What types of analyses could be done with individual participant data?
• Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
• Studies exploring new research questions
When can requests for individual participant data be made (start and end dates)?
From:
After publication of main results
To:
No end date
Where can requests to access individual participant data be made, or data be obtained directly?
• Email of trial custodian, sponsor or committee: Access to data is subject to approvals by Principal Investigator. Interested parties should contact the PI on [email protected]

Are there extra considerations when requesting access to individual participant data?
No


What supporting documents are/will be available?

TypeCitationLinkEmailOther DetailsAttachment
Study protocol  [email protected] Available once ethical approval is received
Informed consent form  [email protected] Once ethical approval has been received
Ethical approval  [email protected] Once Ethical Approval is received


Results publications and other study-related documents

Documents added manually
No documents have been uploaded by study researchers.

Documents added automatically
No additional documents have been identified.