Health TrialsbyHealthPanel

Writing About Experiences and Health in Older Adults II

ConditionSocial Psychology
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phasePhase 1
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age65+
SponsorUniversity of California, Los Angeles

About this trial

UCLA researchers looking for healthy older adults (aged 65+) to participate in a study investigating how writing about experiences can affect your brain and body.

Once a week for 6 weeks, participants will write about their experiences and fill out online questionnaires. Participants will also come to the UCLA campus to complete a neuroimaging session (fMRI), provide a blood spot sample, and fill out questionnaires 2 times: once prior to the 6-week writing period and once immediately after the 6-week writing period.

Eligibility criteria

This trial accepts healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

Healthy adults age 65 years and older

Disqualifiers

current smokers

active, uncontrolled medical disorders

chronic infection (e.g., Hepatitis C, HIV)

use of certain medications (steroid use, opioid use)

Trial design

Design model

Parallel

Treatments tested in this trial

  • Writing Intervention

    Behavioral

    Participants will be asked to write about different kinds of experiences.

Treatment groups

200 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groups
Group A: Writing about ExperiencesExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Writing about PlacesPlacebo comparator 1 intervention

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

1

Change in Psychological Distress

Composite measure of depression, anxiety, stress (Beck Depression Inventory, Spielberger Trait Anxiety, and Perceived Stress Scale)

Time frame
Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks
2

Change in Social Support

measure of perceived social support (Social Provisions Scale)

Time frame
Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks
3

Change in Social Participation

measure of participation in social activities (Lifestyle Activities Questionnaire)

Time frame
Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks
4

Change in Inflammatory Gene Expression

changes in proinflammatory gene expression

Time frame
Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks

Secondary outcomes

1

Change in Memory

changes in recall ability (Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test)

Time frame
Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks
2

Change in Beliefs about Aging

changes in cognitive, affective, and social beliefs about aging (Expectations Regarding Aging survey)

Time frame
Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks

Other outcomes

Sponsors and contacts

Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.

University of California, Los Angeles

Lead sponsor

Source ClinicalTrials.gov
Apply now