Mental Disorders, SevereNCT04881084
Exploring Empathy and Compassion Using Digital Narratives
A study testing Digital storytelling group and Social marketing/fundraising group in people with Mental Disorders, Severe and Mental Illness, run by McGill University at 1 site in Canada.
Trial summary
Stories of suffering and struggle are shared continuously through digital formats such as internet videos, news stories, social marketing, and fundraising campaigns. Digital stories are often created and shared to generate awareness about a problem, impart knowledge on contemporary issues, or promote compassion. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 35 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Mental Disorders, Severe, Mental Illness, Stigma, Social
- What is being tested?
- Digital storytelling group and Social marketing/fundraising group
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 80 participants
- Where
- 1 siteCanada
- Study dates
- 1 Apr 2024to 30 Dec 2024
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 35 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult
Who may be able to join
- 18-35 years of age
- Not currently admitted to a hospital
Who cannot join
- Not in age range (18-35 years of age)
- Currently admitted to a hospital
- Attended the digital storytelling workshop and made a digital story used in the RCT
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
Canada1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
McGill University
Montreal, Quebec, H4H 1R3
Manuela Ferrari, PhD, 4169270075, manuela.ferrari@mcgill.ca
About this study
Official title: Learning to Care: Exploring Empathy and Compassion Using Digital Narratives
Stories of suffering and struggle are shared continuously through digital formats such as internet videos, news stories, social marketing, and fundraising campaigns. Digital stories are often created and shared to generate awareness about a problem, impart knowledge on contemporary issues, or promote compassion. The practice of sharing critical life events and insights provided by these experiences are valuable for tellers and the listeners alike for catharsis, healing, reconciliation, and connectiveness. Portrayals of mental suffering are a matter of cultural and social interest as new media products become available to the public. Studies published since the 1990s overwhelmingly conclude that formal media depictions are biased, promoting the stereotype that people who suffer emotionally are mentally ill, dangerous, violent, or insane. Various agencies, organizations, and corporations are actively working to provide alternative stories/narratives to mainstream media by means of video testimonials in social marketing and fundraising campaigns and, ultimately, by taking advantage of the Internet. The impact of this work is under-researched. However, preliminary evaluations of social marketing campaigns report mixed results and raise questions about their effectiveness. As well, the first-person narrative prepared digitally and shared online is also providing alternative narratives to mainstream media stories. People are increasingly using digital videos to share their stories, viewing this as an opportunity to understand their emotions and thoughts, come to terms with disgrace around sensitive, personal issues and marginalization while providing hope and encouragement to others. This proposed study focuses on the process of creating digital narratives/stories, especially stories of mental and emotional suffering, and their impact in terms of inciting empathy, compassion, and good citizenship among viewers.
Read the detailed description
Digital stories -- first person, self-made 2-3-minute videos -- aim to generate awareness about problems, impart knowledge, or promote compassion. Sharing critical life events and related insights are invaluable for tellers and listeners alike, supporting catharsis, healing, reconciliation, and connectiveness. Digital stories are created and shared among organizations or citizens ( "ordinary" people without a background in filmmaking) to promote awareness of particular problems. They impact peoples' knowledge of contemporary issues, shaping attitudes by stimulating empathy, compassion, and active citizenship.
The proposed study explores digital stories/narratives, particularly those focused on mental health recovery, and how stories elicit empathy and compassion by addressing three main questions: (1) How is mental and emotional suffering depicted in video testimonies presented by social marketing/fundraising campaigns, versus the stories of ordinary people told through digital videos? (2) What impact does digital storytelling have for the creators, as ordinary people willing to revisit difficult life moments and transform them into digital videos? (3) What is the impact of video depictions on viewers in terms of empathy and compassion?
This mixed-method study has 3 phases: In Phase 1 (Preparation), a search will be conducted to identify activities related to Canadian social marketing and fundraising campaigns. Digital storytelling workshops will be held simultaneously, and in-depth interviews conducted before and after each workshop. Social service and community organizations located in Montreal, Canada, will be contacted to promote the digital storytelling workshops, to be implemented in the community and on university campuses. In Phase 2, a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be undertaken and more in-depth interviews conducted. Phase 3 will consist of knowledge dissemination activities.
The knowledge acquired through this study on individual and societal responses to stories of human suffering will have a practical impact on future social marketing campaigns promoted by government agencies, fundraising campaigns launched by nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and the public. Results will consolidate previous knowledge while providing new insights into what prompts citizens to help others.
- Conditions
- Mental Disorders, Severe, Mental Illness, Stigma, Social, Compassion, Empathy
- Being tested
- Digital storytelling group, Social marketing/fundraising group
- Keywords
- Digital Narratives, Digital Testimonials, Digital Stories, Social Marketing, Fundraising campaigns, Stigma, Mental Illness
- Medical subject headings
- Mental Disorders, Social Stigma
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Digital storytelling groupOther
Participants (intervention- group 1) will watch digital stories, short videos describing the experience of recovering from mental illness created as part of this project. Participants in the control group (group 2) will watch social marketing and/or fundraising campaigns on similar topics and complete a few questionnaires. The following standardized scales will be used: The Level of Familiarity Scale (LOF) (which will be used only before exposure to movies); Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (16 items; internal consistency coefficient .79; test-retest reliability coefficient .73), Compassionate Love Scale (21 items; Cronbach's alpha: .95; item-to-total correlations ranging from .46 to .81), Dispositional Positive Emotions Scale (DPES) (5 items; Cronbach's alpha for the compassion subscale: .80; inter-scale correlations: .44), Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale-Short Form (SSMIS-SF) (20 items; Cronbach's alpha: 0.91); Difference and Disdain Scales for Public Stigma (DDSPS) (9 items).
Social marketing/fundraising groupOther
Participants will be randomly assigned to the social marketing/fundraising group (n = 40 participants; 20 Anglophone and 20 Francophone; ages 18-35). Participants will be asked to watch twenty-six social marketing/fundraising videos which will be assessed using a between-subjects design.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Digital storytelling group (Group 1) | Experimental | Participants will be randomly assigned to the digital storytelling group (n = 40 participants; 20 Anglophone and 20 Francophone; ages 18-35). Participants will be asked to watch twenty-six digital storytelling videos which will be assessed using a between-subjects design. Receives: Other: Digital storytelling group |
| Social marketing/fundraising group (Group 2) | Active comparator | Participants will be randomly assigned to the social marketing/fundraising group (n = 40 participants; 20 Anglophone and 20 Francophone; ages 18-35). Participants will be asked to watch twenty-six social marketing/fundraising videos which will be assessed using a between-subjects design. Receives: Other: Social marketing/fundraising group |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Empathy
Change in empathy using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire. The minimum scoring value is 0 and the maximum scoring value is 64. A higher score means a better outcome.
Measured: Baseline, immediately after the intervention
Compassion
Change in compassion using the Compassionate Love Scale. The minimum scoring value is 1 and the maximum scoring value is 7, which comes from the average of all item scores. A higher score means a better outcome.
Measured: Baseline, immediately after the intervention
Secondary outcomes (3)
Positive emotions
Change in positive emotions using the Dispositional Positive Emotions Scale. The minimum scoring value is 5 and the maximum scoring value is 35. A higher score means a better outcome.
Measured: Baseline, immediately after the intervention
Mental health self-stigma
Change in mental health stigma using the Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale-Short Form. The minimum scoring value is 20 and the maximum scoring value is 180. A higher score means a worse outcome.
Measured: Baseline, immediately after the intervention
Mental health public stigma
Change in mental health stigma using the Difference and Disdain Scales for Public Stigma. The minimum scoring value is 9 and the maximum scoring value is 81. A higher score means a worse outcome.
Measured: Baseline, immediately after the intervention
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted11 May 2021
- Study start1 Apr 2024
- Primary completion1 Sep 2024 (estimated)
- Study completion30 Dec 2024 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Mental Disorders, SevereStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Two-armed, parallel-design, individually randomized trial.
- Masking
- Double blind
- Who is masked
- Investigator, Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 80 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- McGill University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04881084
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 254043
- Status last verified
- Jul 2024
- First submitted
- 12 Apr 2021
- Last updated
- 29 Jul 2024
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Publications
Ferrari M, Fazeli S, Mitchell C, Shah J, Iyer SN. Exploring Empathy and Compassion Using Digital Narratives (the Learning to Care Project): Protocol for a Multiphase Mixed Methods Study. JMIR Res Protoc. 2022 Jan 13;11(1):e33525. doi: 10.2196/33525.
PubMed 35023844
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 29 Jul 2024. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Learning to Care: Exploring Empathy and Compassion Using Digital Narratives
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04881084
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 254043
- Conditions
- Mental Disorders, Severe, Mental Illness, Stigma, Social, Compassion, Empathy
- Keywords
- Digital Narratives, Digital Testimonials, Digital Stories, Social Marketing, Fundraising campaigns, Stigma, Mental Illness
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Unknown status
- Enrolment
- 80 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- McGill UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Study start
- 1 Apr 2024 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 1 Sep 2024 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 30 Dec 2024 (estimated)
- First posted
- 11 May 2021 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Stories of suffering and struggle are shared continuously through digital formats such as internet videos, news stories, social marketing, and fundraising campaigns. Digital stories are often created and shared to generate awareness about a problem, impart knowledge on contemporary issues, or promote compassion. The practice of sharing critical life events and insights provided by these experiences are valuable for tellers and the listeners alike for catharsis, healing, reconciliation, and connectiveness. Portrayals of mental suffering are a matter of cultural and social interest as new media products become available to the public. Studies published since the 1990s overwhelmingly conclude that formal media depictions are biased, promoting the stereotype that people who suffer emotionally are mentally ill, dangerous, violent, or insane. Various agencies, organizations, and corporations are actively working to provide alternative stories/narratives to mainstream media by means of video testimonials in social marketing and fundraising campaigns and, ultimately, by taking advantage of the Internet. The impact of this work is under-researched. However, preliminary evaluations of social marketing campaigns report mixed results and raise questions about their effectiveness. As well, the first-person narrative prepared digitally and shared online is also providing alternative narratives to mainstream media stories. People are increasingly using digital videos to share their stories, viewing this as an opportunity to understand their emotions and thoughts, come to terms with disgrace around sensitive, personal issues and marginalization while providing hope and encouragement to others. This proposed study focuses on the process of creating digital narratives/stories, especially stories of mental and emotional suffering, and their impact in terms of inciting empathy, compassion, and good citizenship among viewers.
Detailed description
Digital stories -- first person, self-made 2-3-minute videos -- aim to generate awareness about problems, impart knowledge, or promote compassion. Sharing critical life events and related insights are invaluable for tellers and listeners alike, supporting catharsis, healing, reconciliation, and connectiveness. Digital stories are created and shared among organizations or citizens ( "ordinary" people without a background in filmmaking) to promote awareness of particular problems. They impact peoples' knowledge of contemporary issues, shaping attitudes by stimulating empathy, compassion, and active citizenship.
The proposed study explores digital stories/narratives, particularly those focused on mental health recovery, and how stories elicit empathy and compassion by addressing three main questions: (1) How is mental and emotional suffering depicted in video testimonies presented by social marketing/fundraising campaigns, versus the stories of ordinary people told through digital videos? (2) What impact does digital storytelling have for the creators, as ordinary people willing to revisit difficult life moments and transform them into digital videos? (3) What is the impact of video depictions on viewers in terms of empathy and compassion?
This mixed-method study has 3 phases: In Phase 1 (Preparation), a search will be conducted to identify activities related to Canadian social marketing and fundraising campaigns. Digital storytelling workshops will be held simultaneously, and in-depth interviews conducted before and after each workshop. Social service and community organizations located in Montreal, Canada, will be contacted to promote the digital storytelling workshops, to be implemented in the community and on university campuses. In Phase 2, a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be undertaken and more in-depth interviews conducted. Phase 3 will consist of knowledge dissemination activities.
The knowledge acquired through this study on individual and societal responses to stories of human suffering will have a practical impact on future social marketing campaigns promoted by government agencies, fundraising campaigns launched by nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and the public. Results will consolidate previous knowledge while providing new insights into what prompts citizens to help others.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind (investigator, outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- Two-armed, parallel-design, individually randomized trial.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Digital storytelling group (Group 1) | Experimental | Other: Digital storytelling groupParticipants will be randomly assigned to the digital storytelling group (n = 40 participants; 20 Anglophone and 20 Francophone; ages 18-35). Participants will be asked to watch twenty-six digital storytelling videos which will be assessed using a between-subjects design. |
| Social marketing/fundraising group (Group 2) | Active comparator | Other: Social marketing/fundraising groupParticipants will be randomly assigned to the social marketing/fundraising group (n = 40 participants; 20 Anglophone and 20 Francophone; ages 18-35). Participants will be asked to watch twenty-six social marketing/fundraising videos which will be assessed using a between-subjects design. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 35 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- 18-35 years of age
- Not currently admitted to a hospital
Key exclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Not in age range (18-35 years of age)
- Currently admitted to a hospital
- Attended the digital storytelling workshop and made a digital story used in the RCT
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Digital storytelling groupParticipants (intervention- group 1) will watch digital stories, short videos describing the experience of recovering from mental illness created as part of this project. Participants in the control group (group 2) will watch social marketing and/or fundraising campaigns on similar topics and complete a few questionnaires. The following standardized scales will be used: The Level of Familiarity Scale (LOF) (which will be used only before exposure to movies); Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (16 items; internal consistency coefficient .79; test-retest reliability coefficient .73), Compassionate Love Scale (21 items; Cronbach's alpha: .95; item-to-total correlations ranging from .46 to .81), Dispositional Positive Emotions Scale (DPES) (5 items; Cronbach's alpha for the compassion subscale: .80; inter-scale correlations: .44), Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale-Short Form (SSMIS-SF) (20 items; Cronbach's alpha: 0.91); Difference and Disdain Scales for Public Stigma (DDSPS) (9 items). | Other | Digital storytelling group (Group 1) |
| Social marketing/fundraising groupParticipants will be randomly assigned to the social marketing/fundraising group (n = 40 participants; 20 Anglophone and 20 Francophone; ages 18-35). Participants will be asked to watch twenty-six social marketing/fundraising videos which will be assessed using a between-subjects design. | Other | Social marketing/fundraising group (Group 2) |
Primary outcome
Empathy
Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention
Change in empathy using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire. The minimum scoring value is 0 and the maximum scoring value is 64. A higher score means a better outcome.
Compassion
Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention
Change in compassion using the Compassionate Love Scale. The minimum scoring value is 1 and the maximum scoring value is 7, which comes from the average of all item scores. A higher score means a better outcome.
3 secondary outcomes
Positive emotions
Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention
Mental health self-stigma
Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention
Mental health public stigma
Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention
Results and safety
Results are not available in the source record.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 29 Jul 2024.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 35023844Ferrari M, Fazeli S, Mitchell C, Shah J, Iyer SN. Exploring Empathy and Compassion Using Digital Narratives (the Learning to Care Project): Protocol for a Multiphase Mixed Methods Study. JMIR Res Protoc. 2022 Jan 13;11(1):e33525. doi: 10.2196/33525.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Digital storytelling group and Social marketing/fundraising group in people with Mental Disorders, Severe and Mental Illness, run by McGill University at 1 site in Canada.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: status not confirmed, as of the sponsor's last update on 29 Jul 2024. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Canada. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
Results are not available in the source record.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Manuela Ferrari, PhD (4169270075, manuela.ferrari@mcgill.ca), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Empathy (time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04881084, which also lists 1 linked publication.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 29 Jul 2024.