Trial Review

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Trial registered on ANZCTR


Registration number
ACTRN12621000457842
Ethics application status
Approved
Date submitted
2/03/2021
Date registered
19/04/2021
Date last updated
19/04/2021
Date data sharing statement initially provided
19/04/2021
Date results information initially provided
19/04/2021
Type of registration
Retrospectively registered

Titles & IDs
Public title
Learning successfully for study and life ("Life"): Teaching young adolescents about minimising the impact of perfectionism on successful learning.
Scientific title
Investigating the effectiveness of a universal 5-lesson perfectionism program for adolescents in decreasing perfectionism: a randomised controlled trial
Secondary ID [1] 303573 0
Nil known
Universal Trial Number (UTN)
Trial acronym
Linked study record
Current study is a follow-up study linked to the records ACTRN12616000981426 and ACTRN12618000444280

Health condition
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied:
Depression 320946 0
Anxiety 321557 0
Psychological Wellbeing 321558 0
Perfectionism 321559 0
Condition category
Condition code
Mental Health 318750 318750 0 0
Anxiety
Mental Health 318751 318751 0 0
Depression

Intervention/exposure
Study type
Interventional
Description of intervention(s) / exposure
The 5-lesson perfectionism program is based on previous studies that have been described previously in children aged 10-12 (Vekas & Wade, 2017), Trial ID: ACTRN12616000981426, and pilot tested in young gifted adolescents, Trial ID: ACTRN12618000444280. The intervention is delivered in an engaging format with the use of PowerPoint to describe psycho-education to the students, as well as brainstorming activities, small group and whole class discussions, and homework activities. Each participant receives a workbook for the 5 lessons in which they write down answers to questions that are posed in the program i.e., “What are the advantages of making a mistake? What are the disadvantages?”
The intervention will be delivered face-to-face by the individual’s main teacher in a group setting (i.e., year 8 and year 9 homegroup classrooms). The teacher will have received a 2-hour training workshop prior to the delivery of the intervention in order to familiarise themselves with the materials. The workshops will be run by a provisional psychologist who is well-versed in the perfectionism field and has received guidance from the principal investigator Professo, an expert in the field. Teachers will be required to adhere to a strict protocol so the intervention is delivered evenly across classrooms.
The intervention will be delivered 1x per week for 5 weeks, with each lesson 45-50 minutes in length. The location of the intervention will be in the young person’s high school classroom.

Completion of homework activities and amount of time spent on this will be at the participants' discretion and this will be communicated to participants.

A brief summary of session content will now be described

Session 1: Lesson is about how to learn successfully and avoid the pitfalls of perfection.

Small group and class discussion on what they think perfectionism is. Small group and class discussion on advantages and disadvantages of perfectionism.

Education on what perfectionism is based on evidence and how it is related to poor mental and poorer academic achievement.

Students then watch a YouTube clip on JK Rowlings 10 tips for success and write down the tips in their own words. Small group discussion on what tip resonated with them most. Homework: Create a poster of favourite tip to display in classroom.

Session 2: Focuses on 3 elements of good learning.

Number 1: Taking time out will improve your performance. Usain Bolt quote is discussed (with the theme being around taking time out and importance of taking a break). Education provided with the importance of taking time out in the context of physical health, and then transferring to academic health. Group task to rate their belief on the quote: The harder you work the better you perform – true/false. Education is provided on Yerkes Dodson Law, with the emphasis on We all have our zone of optimum performance – the amount of work we need to do to do well – beyond this, performance deteriorates and we will burn out. Small group and individual work to name 5 things they like doing just because it is relaxing.

Number 2: Making mistakes is good for you. Small group and class discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of making mistakes. Education provided on the different styles of learning, with growth mindset being more advantageous and part of it is making mistakes.

Number 3: Celebrating success is good for you. Class brainstorm about how we react when we succeed. Small group activity to brainstorm activities to do to celebrate successes. Homework: Experiment – taking breaks from studying, doing one thing on list to relax, one thing on list to celebrate success, and rate productivity before and after the experiment.

Session 3: Self-compassion

Review Class discussion on experiment – what did they find? Did productivity increase when they celebrated successes and took breaks? Focus on session 3 is self-compassion.

First task: Recall a recent situation when something didn’t go so well. What were your thoughts/feelings/behaviours? Write down, relay in small groups and then ask if anyone would like to share – class discussion.

Then introduce self-compassion – class discuss on what they think self-compassion is.

Students watch a YouTube video (Power of self-compassion) and are asked to discuss in small groups what they thought and feedback to class.

Task individually in-class. Write a letter to a friend who has failed at a test to practice compassion.

Homework: Write a letter to self in a self-compassionate way when things have gone wrong, rate mood before and after.

Session 4: Review self-compassion letter as a class discussion and look at self-compassion vs. self-criticism. Introduce basketball hypothetical to class (listed below)

“Imagine that you are getting coaching sessions to learn to play basketball. This is something you have wanted to do for a long time and are excited and determined to try hard in the lessons.
Now imagine that you have lessons under two different coaches: Coach Critic, and Coach Compassion.

Coach Critic does not say anything to you when you bounce or throw the ball. However, when you drop the ball or miss a catch, Coach Critic calls you names, such as a “you’re a wimp,” “you’re pathetic,” and “you’re useless.” He says that unless you can play perfectly and unless you are the best, you are a bad person and no one in the team will like you.

Coach Compassion is different again. He does not tell you off every time you drop the ball, but instead encourages you and tells you that you are doing well when you catch the ball. He says things like “It is OK to make mistakes because it helps us to learn how to do it better.” He takes time with you at the end of practice and tells you what you did well and what skills you can work on and what can be improved. He gives each player specific skills to work on over the week to make them better.”

Ask students individually and then in small groups: Now, which coach would you choose for your friends? Why?
Which coach do you think would get a better performance out of your friends?

Discuss answers as a class and then provide education on the tripod of balance: we need achievement, threat and self-compassion to be well-rounded. Ask what happens if we remove achievement, threat or self-compassion individually and consequences of this as a class discussion.

Classroom activity: Role play. The scenario is “You spent all week studying for a maths test, but you have just received your result back and you have not done as well in the test as you had hoped. Mr/miss self-critical will start, and Mr/miss self-compassionate will be allowed to respond.

For example, self-critical voice may say “you’re a loser, you should give up on Maths, if you don’t do well no one will like you” and self-compassionate may respond “you can do it, just keep trying, you will get there, you are good at other things”. Allow classroom responses towards the end of the activity (everybody joins in).

Small group activity: Jot down things that will help when feeling self-critical and engage in small group discussion.

Homework: let’s practice what we did today in class by turning self-critical thoughts into self-compassionate thoughts by using a journal. Write down self-critical thoughts, what you did to combat them, and how you felt afterwards. There is an example in the workbook if you get stuck.

Fun clip: Awareness test YouTube video. Elicits fun with key point: we miss a lot in our lives if we are too narrowly focused and self-critical on ourselves– miss a lot of what’s good/fun; life can become a chore; we lose perspective – we are not just our achievements!

Session 5: Social Media and Perfection.
Review Homework: Changing critical thoughts into compassionate thoughts – what did people find?

Small group discussion: What impact does social media have on trying to be perfect?

Classroom to watch Social Media and Perfection video – small group and class discussion on key points elicited from that video.
• What are the main messages of the video?
• Does your real life differ from your online life? How is it different? Why?
• How can this ’perfect ideal’ on social media be problematic?

Small group activity: Review the 5 sessions: what they found most helpful and key messages that stuck. Turn into class discussion.

Homework: An activity to work on until next week when we meet again, is to take a photo of something ‘real’ that happened to you during the week and something you would never post online on social media. You can be as funny and as creative as you like! For example, a ‘post-selfie’ run, perhaps an outfit gone wrong, messy hair when you wake up in the morning but make it as personalised to your ‘real life’ as possible. Print out the photo and stick it in the Instagram template and feel free to add a funny caption. Next week, we will hang them up in the classroom to always have a reminder of funny/not so funny things that happen in our day-to-day lives and to combat the ‘perfect’ life that is projected on social media.

Strategies to monitor adherence: Teachers go around and ensure that students fill in workbook, but participation in out of class activities (i.e., homework) is optional. Session attendance monitored by teacher.

Almost all of the educational materials in this intervention were designed specifically for the study. The exception to this is that four YouTube videos are watched in-session.

JK Rowlings 10 steps to success - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvMtUuedLwU&t=2s
Awareness Test - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubNF9QNEQLA
Social Media and Perfection - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EFHbruKEmw&t=5s
The Power of Self Compassion - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTQP7XzDxjI&t=85s
Intervention code [1] 319862 0
Prevention
Intervention code [2] 320264 0
Treatment: Other
Comparator / control treatment
The control group is a comparator control group, who had lessons-as-usual. They received the intervention following the last wave of data collection.

Intervention will be offered to waitlist control group following the 3-month follow-up data, generally in the following semester when school curricula begins a new well-being module.
Control group
Active

Outcomes
Primary outcome [1] 326697 0
Perfectionionism, measured with:
Discrepancy and High Standards Subscale from the Almost Perfect Scale Revised (Slaney et al., 2001)
Timepoint [1] 326697 0
One week prior to the intervention, one week post intervention, 3 months after the baseline (primary endpoint)
Primary outcome [2] 327182 0
Perfectionionism, measured with: Personal Standards subscale from the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism subscale (Frost et al., 1990)
Timepoint [2] 327182 0
One week prior to the intervention, one week post intervention, 3 months after the baseline (primary endpoint)
Primary outcome [3] 327183 0
Perfectionionism, measured with: Self Oriented Perfectionism subscale from the Hewitt Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Hewitt & Flett, 1991)
Timepoint [3] 327183 0
One week prior to the intervention, one week post intervention, 3 months after the baseline (primary endpoint)
Secondary outcome [1] 392380 0
Depression, Stress, Anxiety: DASS-21 (Lovibond & Lovibond)
Timepoint [1] 392380 0
One week prior to the intervention, one week post intervention, 3 months after the baseline
Secondary outcome [2] 392381 0
Wellbeing: The Warwick Edinburg Mental Well Being Scale (Tennant et al., 2007)
Timepoint [2] 392381 0
One week prior to the intervention, one week post intervention, 3 months after the baseline
Secondary outcome [3] 392382 0
Self-Compassion: 12-item self-compassion scale (Raes et al., 2011)
Timepoint [3] 392382 0
One week prior to the intervention, one week post intervention, 3 months after the baseline
Secondary outcome [4] 392383 0
Academic Motivation: 28-item Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerand et al., 1992)
Timepoint [4] 392383 0
One week prior to the intervention, one week post intervention, 3 months after the baseline

Eligibility
Key inclusion criteria
Schools in South Australia with year 8 and year 9 students within a 1-hour radius of Flinders University, South Australia. all SES
Minimum age
12 Years
Maximum age
16 Years
Sex
Both males and females
Can healthy volunteers participate?
Yes
Key exclusion criteria
Nil

Study design
Purpose of the study
Prevention
Allocation to intervention
Randomised controlled trial
Procedure for enrolling a subject and allocating the treatment (allocation concealment procedures)
Allocation was not concealed.
Methods used to generate the sequence in which subjects will be randomised (sequence generation)
Excel randomisation with a priori rules regarding allocation
Masking / blinding
Open (masking not used)
Who is / are masked / blinded?



Intervention assignment
Parallel
Other design features
Phase
Not Applicable
Type of endpoint/s
Statistical methods / analysis
Power analysis shows that to detect a Cohen's d effect size of 0.30 with a power level of 0.80, and attition of 5% at each time point, 110 participants per group are required (Hedeker, Gibbons, & Waternaux, 1999). Data will be fully powered, with 4 schools expected to participate. Data will be analysed via Linear Mixed Modelling, adjusting for baseline levels of each outcome variable.

Recruitment
Recruitment status
Completed
Date of first participant enrolment
Anticipated
Actual
20/02/2019
Date of last participant enrolment
Anticipated
Actual
1/06/2020
Date of last data collection
Anticipated
Actual
18/09/2020
Sample size
Target
206
Accrual to date
Final
636
Recruitment in Australia
Recruitment state(s)
SA

Funding & Sponsors
Funding source category [1] 307995 0
University
Name [1] 307995 0
Flinders University
Country [1] 307995 0
Australia
Primary sponsor type
University
Name
Flinders University
Address
GPO Box 2100
Adelaide SA 5001
Country
Australia
Secondary sponsor category [1] 308715 0
None
Name [1] 308715 0
Address [1] 308715 0
Country [1] 308715 0

Ethics approval
Ethics application status
Approved
Ethics committee name [1] 307988 0
Social and Behavioural Sciences Research Ethics Committee, Flinders University
Ethics committee address [1] 307988 0
GPO Box 2100
Adelaide SA 5001
Ethics committee country [1] 307988 0
Australia
Date submitted for ethics approval [1] 307988 0
15/01/2018
Approval date [1] 307988 0
23/03/2018
Ethics approval number [1] 307988 0
7901
Ethics committee name [2] 307989 0
SA Department of Education and Child Development
Ethics committee address [2] 307989 0
Level 8, 31 Flinders Street
Adelaide SA 5000
Ethics committee country [2] 307989 0
Australia
Date submitted for ethics approval [2] 307989 0
16/01/2018
Approval date [2] 307989 0
27/03/2018
Ethics approval number [2] 307989 0
2018-0003

Summary
Brief summary
This study builds on pilot work testing 2- and 3-session perfectionism programmes with early adolescents which found improvements in emotional problems, self-imposed perfectionistic standards (sustained at 4-week follow-up), and well-being, sustained at 3-month follow-up (Fairweather-Schmidt and Wade, 2015; Vekas & Wade, 2017). The modified programme for the current research expands the pilot programme to a 5-lesson perfectionism intervention led by teachers which include an emphasis on the difference in pursuing excellence and pursuing perfection to Year 8 and Year 9 students universally. To date no research has examined whether perfectionism interventions can increase intrinsic motivation and there have been no perfectionism interventions led by teachers.

Research objectives
1. To examine the impact of the LIFE curriculum on primary (perfectionism) and secondary (anxiety, depression, wellbeing, self-compassion, academic motivation) outcomes.
2. To test whether improvements in certain outcome factors (anxiety, depression, well-being, academic motivation, self-compassion) are moderated by the following outcome factors: level of perfectionism, self-compassion and sex.

We hypothesize that the intervention group will experience significantly greater decreases in perfectionism, anxiety, and depression, and significantly greater increases in wellbeing, self-compassion and academic motivation at follow-up. We also hypothesize that decreases in perfectionism and increases in self-compassion between baseline and end of treatment will moderate the association between group and follow-up changes in anxiety, depression, well-being and academic motivation.
Trial website
Trial related presentations / publications
Public notes

Contacts
Principal investigator
Name 109146 0
Prof Tracey Wade
Address 109146 0
College of Education, Psychology & Social Work
Flinders University
GPO Box 2100
Adelaide SA 5001
Country 109146 0
Australia
Phone 109146 0
+618 8201 3736
Fax 109146 0
Email 109146 0
tracey.wade@flinders.edu.au
Contact person for public queries
Name 109147 0
Prof Tracey Wade
Address 109147 0
College of Education, Psychology & Social Work
Flinders University
GPO Box 2100
Adelaide SA 5001
Country 109147 0
Australia
Phone 109147 0
+618 8201 3736
Fax 109147 0
Email 109147 0
tracey.wade@flinders.edu.au
Contact person for scientific queries
Name 109148 0
Prof Tracey Wade
Address 109148 0
College of Education, Psychology & Social Work
Flinders University
GPO Box 2100
Adelaide SA 5001
Country 109148 0
Australia
Phone 109148 0
+618 8201 3736
Fax 109148 0
Email 109148 0
tracey.wade@flinders.edu.au

Data sharing statement
Will individual participant data (IPD) for this trial be available (including data dictionaries)?
No
No/undecided IPD sharing reason/comment
sensitivity of children's data


What supporting documents are/will be available?

No Supporting Document Provided



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.