PsychopathologyNCT05866718
Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes
A study testing Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention and Habit Formation Tools in people with Psychopathology, run by University of California, Berkeley at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
In the present study, the investigators will conduct a confirmatory efficacy trial to test whether improving practice automaticity (i.e., habit formation) of self-compassionate touch improves outcomes in the predicted direction. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Psychopathology
- What is being tested?
- Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention and Habit Formation Tools
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 497 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 14 Jun 2023to 22 Sep 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 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- 18 years of age or older.
- English language proficiency.
- Able and willing to give informed consent.
- Resides in the United States of America
Who cannot join
- Does not have email address or access to email.
- Does not personally own a smartphone device
- Not able/willing to participate in and/or complete the baseline assessments
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
University of California at Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-1650
About this study
Official title: Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes? A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Single-Session Habit Formation Intervention for Self-Compassionate Touch
In the present study, the investigators will conduct a confirmatory efficacy trial to test whether improving practice automaticity (i.e., habit formation) of self-compassionate touch improves outcomes in the predicted direction. Adults (n=440, including 20% for attrition) will be randomly assigned to: (1) the self-compassionate touch intervention plus habit formation tools ("SCT+HABITS") versus (2) the self-compassionate touch intervention alone ("SCT"). The investigators will conduct assessments at baseline, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up. The SCT+HABITS condition will be used to evaluate whether providing habit formation tools results in superior effects to SCT. The intervention will be delivered entirely online.
Read the detailed description
Specific Aim 1: Evaluate whether SCT+HABITS shows more practice frequency and practice automaticity from baseline to 3-month, and to 6-month follow-up compared to the SCT. Hypothesis 1. The SCT+HABITS group will show greater increases in practice frequency and practice automaticity than SCT from baseline to 3-month, and to 6-month follow-up.
Specific Aim 2: Determine whether SCT+HABITS, relative to SCT, will experience increased self-compassion and self-compassion automaticity, and reduced stress and psychopathology. Hypothesis 2. SCT+HABITS will promote greater increases in self-compassion and self-compassion automaticity, and greater reductions in stress and psychopathology from baseline to 3-month, to 6-month follow-up.
Specific Aim 3: Assess whether greater baseline to 3-month follow-up increases in practice automaticity mediate the association between SCT+HABITS and baseline to 6-month follow-up increases in (a) self-compassion and (b) self-compassion automaticity, as well as reductions in (c) stress and (d) psychopathology. Hypothesis 3. Greater baseline to 3-month follow-up increases in practice automaticity will mediate the association between the SCT+HABITS group and baseline to 6-month follow-up increases in (a) self-compassion and (b) self-compassion automaticity, as well as reductions in (c) stress and (d) psychopathology.
Exploratory Aim: Evaluate the barriers, facilitators, and acceptability of SCT+HABITS and SCT alone. This aim will be addressed via qualitative analyses to characterize barriers and facilitators to habit formation, and the proportion of participants in each condition (SCT+HABITS and SCT alone) who noted each type of barrier and facilitator. Participants will self-report on acceptability and feasibility via questionnaire. Then, the investigators will examine whether SCT+HABITS and SCT alone will meet or exceed the established criteria for acceptability and feasibility.
- Conditions
- Psychopathology
- Being tested
- Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention, Habit Formation Tools
- Keywords
- Self-Compassion, Single-Session Intervention, Transdiagnostic, Intervention, Habits, Habit Formation, Micropractice, Contemplative Micropractice, Contemplative Practice, Self-Compassionate Touch, Compassion
- Medical subject headings
- Habits
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Self-Compassionate Touch InterventionBehavioural
Participants will be taught the micropractice (<20-second/day personal practice) via video recording.
Habit Formation ToolsBehavioural
Participants will receive evidence-based tools for promoting habit-formation.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention Alone | Active comparator | All participants will receive the self-compassion intervention after completing their baseline assessment, which will contain the same instructions used in the initial study (see NCT05199779). Receives: Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention |
| Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention Plus Habit Formation Tools | Experimental | SCT+HABITS participants will receive the abovementioned procedures, and will also receive evidence-based tools for forming habits. Receives: Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention; Behavioral: Habit Formation Tools |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Practice Frequency
Number of times practiced self-compassion exercise per week since last assessment. 1 item. Higher frequency indicates a better outcome.
Measured: Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and to 6-month followup
Practice Automaticity (Practice Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index [SRBAI])
4 items, 1-9 scale. Higher scores indicate a better outcome.
Measured: Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and to 6-month follow-up.
Secondary outcomes (4)
Self-Compassion (Sussex-Oxford Compassion for the Self Scale [SOCS-S])
20-items, 5-point response scale. Scores can range from 20 to 100 (Higher score means higher compassion for self). Sub-scale items included.
Measured: Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and to 6-month followup
Self-Compassion Automaticity (Self-Compassion Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index [SRBAI])
20 items. 1-9 scale. Higher scores indicate a better outcome.
Measured: Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and to 6-month followup.
Perceived Stress (Perceived-Stress Scale [PSS-10])
10 items, 5 point response scale (from 0 = Never to 4 = Very Often). Lower scores indicate a better outcome.
Scoring: Reverse score (e.g., 0 = 4, 1 = 3, 2 = 2, 3 = 1 \& 4 = 0) items 4, 5, 7, \& 8 and then summing across all scale items.
Measured: Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and to 6-month followup
Psychopathology (DSM-5 Cross-Cutting Measure [DSM-XC])
22 items (suicidality item Q11 removed). 5-point scale (0=none or not at all; 1=slight or rare, less than a day or two; 2=mild or several days; 3=moderate or more than half the days; and 4=severe or nearly every day).
Measured: Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and to 6-month followup
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted19 May 2023
- Study start14 Jun 2023
- Primary completion22 Sep 2024
- Study completion22 Sep 2024
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 PsychopathologyStudies 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
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Participants will be randomized to the SCT or SCT+HABITS using the randomizer elements in Qualtrics.
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Participant
- Enrolment
- 497 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of California, Berkeley
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Mind and Life Institute, Hadley, Massachusetts, The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Eli S Susman, Principal investigator, University of California, Berkeley
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05866718
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2021-12-14924-2
- Status last verified
- Dec 2025
- First submitted
- 10 May 2023
- Last updated
- 31 Dec 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: Data will be shared via the Open Science Framework by time of publication.
Publications
Susman ES, Chen S, Keltner D, Harvey AG. Habit-formation strategies enhance long-term outcomes of a self-compassionate touch micropractice: a randomized controlled trial. Sci Rep. 2026 Sep 15;16(1):25100. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-63457-4.
PubMed 42744837
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 31 Dec 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Can Applying the Science of Habit Formation to Contemplative Practice Improve Outcomes? A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Single-Session Habit Formation Intervention for Self-Compassionate Touch
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05866718
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 2021-12-14924-2
- Conditions
- Psychopathology
- Keywords
- Self-Compassion, Single-Session Intervention, Transdiagnostic, Intervention, Habits, Habit Formation, Micropractice, Contemplative Micropractice
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 497 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- University of California, BerkeleyUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Mind and Life Institute, Hadley, Massachusetts, The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley
- Study start
- 14 Jun 2023 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 22 Sep 2024 (actual)
- Study completion
- 22 Sep 2024 (actual)
- First posted
- 19 May 2023 (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.
In the present study, the investigators will conduct a confirmatory efficacy trial to test whether improving practice automaticity (i.e., habit formation) of self-compassionate touch improves outcomes in the predicted direction. Adults (n=440, including 20% for attrition) will be randomly assigned to: (1) the self-compassionate touch intervention plus habit formation tools ("SCT+HABITS") versus (2) the self-compassionate touch intervention alone ("SCT"). The investigators will conduct assessments at baseline, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up. The SCT+HABITS condition will be used to evaluate whether providing habit formation tools results in superior effects to SCT. The intervention will be delivered entirely online.
Detailed description
Specific Aim 1: Evaluate whether SCT+HABITS shows more practice frequency and practice automaticity from baseline to 3-month, and to 6-month follow-up compared to the SCT. Hypothesis 1. The SCT+HABITS group will show greater increases in practice frequency and practice automaticity than SCT from baseline to 3-month, and to 6-month follow-up.
Specific Aim 2: Determine whether SCT+HABITS, relative to SCT, will experience increased self-compassion and self-compassion automaticity, and reduced stress and psychopathology. Hypothesis 2. SCT+HABITS will promote greater increases in self-compassion and self-compassion automaticity, and greater reductions in stress and psychopathology from baseline to 3-month, to 6-month follow-up.
Specific Aim 3: Assess whether greater baseline to 3-month follow-up increases in practice automaticity mediate the association between SCT+HABITS and baseline to 6-month follow-up increases in (a) self-compassion and (b) self-compassion automaticity, as well as reductions in (c) stress and (d) psychopathology. Hypothesis 3. Greater baseline to 3-month follow-up increases in practice automaticity will mediate the association between the SCT+HABITS group and baseline to 6-month follow-up increases in (a) self-compassion and (b) self-compassion automaticity, as well as reductions in (c) stress and (d) psychopathology.
Exploratory Aim: Evaluate the barriers, facilitators, and acceptability of SCT+HABITS and SCT alone. This aim will be addressed via qualitative analyses to characterize barriers and facilitators to habit formation, and the proportion of participants in each condition (SCT+HABITS and SCT alone) who noted each type of barrier and facilitator. Participants will self-report on acceptability and feasibility via questionnaire. Then, the investigators will examine whether SCT+HABITS and SCT alone will meet or exceed the established criteria for acceptability and feasibility.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (participant)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- Participants will be randomized to the SCT or SCT+HABITS using the randomizer elements in Qualtrics.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention Alone | Active comparator | Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Touch InterventionAll participants will receive the self-compassion intervention after completing their baseline assessment, which will contain the same instructions used in the initial study (see NCT05199779). |
| Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention Plus Habit Formation Tools | Experimental | Behavioral: Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention, Behavioral: Habit Formation ToolsSCT+HABITS participants will receive the abovementioned procedures, and will also receive evidence-based tools for forming habits. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (4 listed)
- 18 years of age or older.
- English language proficiency.
- Able and willing to give informed consent.
- Resides in the United States of America
Key exclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Does not have email address or access to email.
- Does not personally own a smartphone device
- Not able/willing to participate in and/or complete the baseline assessments
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Self-Compassionate Touch InterventionParticipants will be taught the micropractice (<20-second/day personal practice) via video recording. | Behavioural | Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention Alone, Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention Plus Habit Formation Tools |
| Habit Formation ToolsParticipants will receive evidence-based tools for promoting habit-formation. | Behavioural | Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention Plus Habit Formation Tools |
Primary outcome
Practice Frequency
Time frame: Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and to 6-month followup
Number of times practiced self-compassion exercise per week since last assessment. 1 item. Higher frequency indicates a better outcome.
Practice Automaticity (Practice Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index [SRBAI])
Time frame: Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and to 6-month follow-up.
4 items, 1-9 scale. Higher scores indicate a better outcome.
4 secondary outcomes
Self-Compassion (Sussex-Oxford Compassion for the Self Scale [SOCS-S])
Time frame: Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and to 6-month followup
Self-Compassion Automaticity (Self-Compassion Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index [SRBAI])
Time frame: Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and to 6-month followup.
Perceived Stress (Perceived-Stress Scale [PSS-10])
Time frame: Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and to 6-month followup
Psychopathology (DSM-5 Cross-Cutting Measure [DSM-XC])
Time frame: Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and to 6-month followup
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 31 Dec 2025.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 42744837Susman ES, Chen S, Keltner D, Harvey AG. Habit-formation strategies enhance long-term outcomes of a self-compassionate touch micropractice: a randomized controlled trial. Sci Rep. 2026 Sep 15;16(1):25100. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-63457-4.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. Data will be shared via the Open Science Framework by time of publication.
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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.
Eli S Susman principal investigator
University of California, Berkeley
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Self-Compassionate Touch Intervention and Habit Formation Tools in people with Psychopathology, run by University of California, Berkeley at 1 site in United States.
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 4 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: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 31 Dec 2025. 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 United States. 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?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Practice Frequency (time frame: Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up, and to 6-month followup). 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 NCT05866718, 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 31 Dec 2025.