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Intervention ConditionEduSocHealthNCT07407413

Online Socio-emotional Dyad Training for Healthcare Students' Well-being and Social Skills

A study testing Experimental: Empathy- and compassion-based socio-emotional mental training (EmCo) in people with Intervention Condition and Control (Delayed Training) Condition, run by Max Planck Social Neuroscience Lab at 1 site in Germany.

Active, not recruiting

Under way, not looking for participants. Everyone needed has enrolled. The study is still running.

Official record
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Trial summary

In this Edu:Social Health Care project, a randomized controlled trial with a socio-emotional intervention and a waitlist control group will be conducted to evaluate the effects of a partner-based empathy-compassion Dyad mental training (EmCo) intervention on healthcare students with regard to the following primary… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 65 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
What is being tested?
Experimental: Empathy- and compassion-based socio-emotional mental training (EmCo)
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
360 participants
Where
1 siteGermany
Study dates
16 Feb 2026to 10 Oct 2026
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

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 65 years
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Between 18- and 65-years old.
  • actively enrolled student at the PMU.
  • Proficient in German.
  • Informed consent.
  • No symptoms of psychiatric disease within the past two years.
  • Stable internet access and necessary technical equipment (computer or laptop or tablet, and mobile phone with internet access).
  • No regular contemplative practice (≤ 50 hours total within the past six months); healthy population, non-clinical population.

Who cannot join

  • Insufficient German proficiency.
  • Lack of stable internet access or required devices (computer or laptop or tablet, and mobile phone with internet access).
  • No informed consent.
  • Not actively enrolled at PMU.
  • Regular contemplative practice (> 50 hours in the past six months (e.g., dyad, mindfulness, compassion-based practices).
  • Current psychiatric diagnosis or therapy, or reaching screening cutoffs on:
Show all 11Show fewer
  • Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9; Martin et al., 2006; Löwe et al., 2004; Cutoff ≥ 10),
  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7; Löwe et al., 2007; Spitzer et al., 2006; Cutoff ≥ 10),
  • Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20; Bagby et al., 1994; Ritz \& Kannapin, 2000; Cutoff ≥ 61)
  • Standardized Assessment of Personality - Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS; Moran et al., 2003; Söchtig et al., 2012, Cutoff ≥ 4).
  • Moreover, participants endorsing suicidality on the PHQ-9 will be excluded.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Germany1 site

  • Social Neuroscience Lab, Max Planck Society

    Berlin

Other trials in Germany

About this study

Official title: The Edu:Social Health Care Project: Investigating the Effects of an Online Socio-emotional Dyad Intervention on Healthcare Students' Mental Health, Resilience, Social Competencies and Behaviors

In this Edu:Social Health Care project, a randomized controlled trial with a socio-emotional intervention and a waitlist control group will be conducted to evaluate the effects of a partner-based empathy-compassion Dyad mental training (EmCo) intervention on healthcare students with regard to the following primary outcome domains: 1) mental health, 2) resilience, 3) social cohesion and support, 4) social skills, 5) coping and emotion regulation, and 6) social behaviors.

One main goal is to examine the effects of such adapted 8-week EmCo Dyad intervention within the health care context, with a particular focus on strengthening students' mental health, resilience, social skills and behaviors, and social cohesion as well as fostering interprofessional attitudes by pairing every week study partners across different healthcare disciplines with each other for practicing their daily Dyads (e.g., nursing students will practice daily via app with medical students).

Read more

A further aim is to validate the novel Dyad Voice Assessment (DYVA) task, which explores the use of app-based voice recordings as indicators of students' emotional states during their daily partner-based Dyad practice. By combining students' self-reported practice-related emotions with partner-based evaluations, this approach aims to generate new and innovate, more objective markers of training-induced changes in emotional processing and regulation over time in a real-live applied setting.

The final aim is to investigate the cognitive and affective mechanisms and factors underlying observed changes in students' mental health, resilience, social cohesion, social skills and social behaviors, that may explain observed training-related effects in primary outcome domains. Based on previous research, we expect the socio-emotional EmCo Dyad training to activate evolutionary old care- and affiliation-based motivational systems that foster positive affect and motivation, acceptance, trust social capacities and behavioral tendencies. These processes should go along with reduction in loneliness, stress and other mental vulnerabilities (anxiety, depression, burn-out etc.) and foster social skills such as empathy, compassion as well as social cohesion and resilience.

Read the detailed description

One-quarter to one-third of university students experience a common mental health disorder each year, with evidence indicating rising distress and declining well-being over time. Healthcare students appear particularly vulnerable, showing increasing levels of burnout associated with poorer academic engagement and impaired professional development. Mindfulness- and compassion-based interventions, as well as socio-emotional learning programs, have shown promise in improving mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, stress, and burnout, and in strengthening resilience among healthcare students.

In recent years, classic mindfulness-based interventions focusing on individual mental practices have been expanded to include partner-based social practices, known as Dyads, which particularly target social skills such as empathy, (self-)compassion, and social cohesion. However, despite growing research on student well-being, partner-based Dyadic interventions have not yet been systematically investigated in healthcare student populations. Available evidence suggests that Dyads may be more effective than solitary mindfulness practices in reducing loneliness and social stress, strengthening social connection and cohesion, and enhancing resilience and optimism. Moreover, findings indicate that dyadic social practices engage mechanisms that differ from those underlying traditional mindfulness-based interventions.

Empathy, (self-)compassion, and deep listening are core socio-emotional skills in healthcare, supporting effective communication and emotional understanding. However, empathy can lead to empathic distress when individuals are repeatedly exposed to others' suffering, whereas compassion is considered more protective, as it relies on altruistic and care-based motivational systems associated with positive affect and regulatory processes that buffer emotional overwhelm. Despite this distinction, empathy and compassion have not yet been systematically taught to healthcare students in an evidence-based manner. To address this gap, the Edu:Social Health Care project implements the empathy-compassion Dyad training program (EmCo), which trains students to distinguish between empathy and empathic listening and empathy regulation to avoid moving into empathic distress during the first four weeks, and (self)compassion and compassionate listening during the subsequent four weeks.

The EmCo program builds on the Affect Dyad developed in the ReSource project and the online Dyad coaching format implemented in the CovSocial project, both of which demonstrated the effectiveness of partner-based dyadic mental training in inducing brain plasticity, reducing stress, enhancing psychological resilience, and strengthening social cohesion across multiple indicators of biopsychosocial health. In contrast, to the ReSource and CovSocial projects, the present program, includes a novel empathy versus compassion listening component to it. Further, compared with earlier 10-week online Dyad programs, EmCo reduces the intervention duration to eight weeks, aligning with standard mindfulness-based interventions such as MBSR and MBCT and improving feasibility for implementation in healthcare and educational settings.

Accordingly, the study is implemented as a randomized controlled trial in a sample of healthcare students (target N = 360). A multimethod assessment strategy will be used, including self-report validated trait and state questionnaires, behavioral computer tasks delivered at home through webapp, and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods based on push-notifications by the app. These different assessments are capturing changes across mental health, resilience, social cohesion and support, social skills, coping and emotion regulation, and social behaviors (e.g., listening, attachment behaviors).

After providing informed consent, participants will be randomized to one of two groups: (1) an empathy-compassion training group (EmCo), based on the Affect Dyad mental practice, or (2) a waitlist control group (WCG). All participants will first complete the pre-test assessment phase including baseline psychometrics, computer-based tasks, and EMA measures. The intervention group will then be onboarded into the intervention with two Online onboarding I and II sessions lead by professional Dyad teachers and then complete the EmCo training program delivered via a dedicated web and smartphone application with daily partner-based Dyads as well as weekly 1.5 hours online coaching sessions. During this period, participants will complete brief weekly self-report questionnaires, Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA) and daily pre-post Dyad practice ratings (DPR), to capture changes in key psychological and social processes to be used as mediator variables. At the end of the intervention, all participants will complete a post-test phase similar to the pre-test but with an additional final feedback questionnaire.

Following completion of the initial post-test (T1), participants in the waitlist control group will subsequently receive the same 8-week socio-emotional Dyad intervention (EmCo) and complete an additional post-test assessment (T2).

The study was preregistered on the Open Science Framework (OSF) and is publicly available at https://osf.io/3t8s4.

Being tested
Experimental: Empathy- and compassion-based socio-emotional mental training (EmCo), Waitlist Control Group (WCG)
Keywords
Mental Training, Dyad Training, Compassionate-Listening, Empathic-Listening, Empathy, Compassion, Mental-Health, Online & App-based Training, Resilience, Social Cohesion, Social Kills, AI-based Voice Assessment, Healthcare students
Medical subject headings
Psychological Well-Being

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Experimental: Empathy- and compassion-based socio-emotional mental training (EmCo)Behavioural

    1. Participants engage in a structured 13-minute partner-based contemplative exercise. Each dyad reflects on two experiences from the previous 24 hours: one involving a difficult emotion and one involving gratitude. Partners take turns speaking while the other listens non-judgmentally. During weeks 1-4, the practice emphasizes empathic listening; during weeks 5-8, compassionate listening. Participants are instructed to attend to bodily sensations associated with the emotions described. The practice aims to improve coping with difficult emotions, empathic and compassionate listening, (self)acceptance, compassion, gratitude, resilience.
    2. Participants also attend eight 1.5-hour online group sessions led by Expert Dyad teachers. The coaching sessions help deepen the Dyad practice and educate teachers about body language, coping better with difficult emotions/stress, the benefits of empathy versus compassion and the act of listening from a mindset of empathy versus compassion.

  • Waitlist Control Group (WCG)Other

    Participants in the control group will not receive the intervention. They will complete pre- and post-test procedures consisting primarily of self-report questionnaires, and behavioral tasks, as well as ecological momentary assessment (EMA) conducted on four days within two weeks at pre-test and post-test 1 \& 2.

Study groups in NCT07407413
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Empathy- and compassion-based socio-emotional mental training (EmCo)ExperimentalThe socio-emotional intervention will consist of two 1.5h online onboarding I and II sessions and then 8 weeks of weekly 1.5-hour online coaching sessions with expert teachers as well as daily dyad practice with a partner over 8 weeks.
Receives: Behavioral: Experimental: Empathy- and compassion-based socio-emotional mental training (EmCo)
Waitlist Control Group (WCG)OtherInitially, participants in the waitlist control group will not receive the intervention and will be offered the EmCo training only after the intervention group has completed the EmCo training program.
Receives: Other: Waitlist Control Group (WCG)

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21)

    A scale measuring depression, anxiety, and stress (Henry \& Crawford, 2005; Nilges \& Essau, 2021). Higher scores indicate more depression, anxiety, and stress.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-test 1 & 2)

  2. Maslach Burnout Inventory-Students Survey (MBI-SS)

    A scale measuring burnout (Gumz et al., 2013; Maslach \& Jackson, 1981). Higher scores indicate more burnout.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-test 1 & 2)

  3. UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA)

    A scale measuring loneliness severity (Döring \& Bortz, 1993; Russell et al., 1980). Higher scores indicate more loneliness.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-test 1 & 2)

  4. Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC)

    A scale measuring psychological resilience (Connor \& Davidson, 2003; Sarubin et al., 2015). Higher scores indicate more resilience.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-test 1 & 2)

  5. Social closeness (IOS per profession)

    A scale measuring the felt closeness between persons or groups/communities using a visual representation (Aron et al., 1992; Kinnunen \& Windmann, 2013). Higher score indicates more social closeness.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-test 1 & 2)

  6. Interprofessionalism Scale (IPAS-D)

    A scale (Norris et al., 2015; Pedersen et al., 2020) measuring attitudes that relate to the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPEC Report, 2011). Higher scores indicate more positive attitudes toward collaborative practice.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-test 1 & 2)

  7. Social Support Scale (F-SozU K-6)

    A scale measuring the subjective feeling of having support available (Kliem et al., 2015). Higher scores indicate greater perceived social support.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-test 1 & 2)

  8. Socio-Affective Video Task (SoVT)

    This task assesses behavioral empathy and compassion using emotional video clips (Klimecki et al., 2014). Higher scores indicate more empathy or more compassion.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test), after 4 weeks of empathic listening training (mid-intervention) and after the 4 weeks of compassionate listening training (post-test 1 & 2)

  9. Sussex-Oxford Compassion Scale for Self and Others (SOCS)

    A scale measuring self-compassion (SOCS-S) and compassion for others (SOCS-O; Gu et al., 2020). Higher scores indicate more compassion.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test), after 4 weeks of empathic listening training (mid-intervention) and after the 4 weeks of compassionate listening training (post-test 1 & 2)

  10. Mentalization Scale (MENTS)

    A scale measuring the capacity of envisioning one's and others' behaviors with reference to the underlying mental states (Dimitrijević et al., 2018). Higher scores suggesting a more sophisticated capacity for mentalizing.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-test 1 & 2).

  11. Prosodic Features of Vocalized Emotional Expressions

    Acoustic assessment of prosodic speech features during participants' daily Dyad practice, analyzed using audEERING devAIce software. The following parameters will be assessed: pitch (Hz), loudness (unitless), speaking rate (syllables per second), and intonation (unitless).

    Measured: Assessed weekly from week 1 to week 8, as part of the Dyad Voice Assessment (DYVA)

  12. Affect Dimensions of Vocalized Emotional Expressions

    Assessment of continuous affective dimensions of vocalized emotional expressions during participants' daily Dyad practice using audEERING devAIce software. The following parameters will be assessed: arousal, valence, and dominance (each ranging from -1 to 1). Based on arousal-valence scores, the following affect quadrant values will be calculated: high-arousal-high-valence, low-arousal-high-valence, low-arousal-low-valence, and high-arousal-low-valence.

    Measured: Assessed weekly from week 1 to week 8, as part of the Dyad Voice Assessment (DYVA)

  13. Affect Categories of Vocalized Emotional Expressions

    Classification of vocalized emotional expressions into affect categories during participants' daily Dyad practice using audEERING devAIce software. The following categories will be assessed: angry, happy, and sad, expressed as unitless values ranging from 0 to 1 representing category likelihood.

    Measured: Assessed weekly from week 1 to week 8, as part of the Dyad Voice Assessment (DYVA)

  14. Stress intensity

    Custom items based on the Stress Appraisal Measure (SAM; Delahaye et al., 2015; Peacock \& Wong, 1990) measuring stress intensity. Higher scores indicate more intense stress.

    Measured: Assessed using an EMA design with five push-notification measurements per day, distributed across five 3-hour intervals, on four days within a two-week period, at pre-test (Baseline) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-intervention).

  15. Coping strategies

    Custom items based on the Brief-COPE (Carver, 1997; Knoll et al., 2005) and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ; Garnefski et al., 2001; Loch et al., 2011) measuring Coping Strategies (Acceptance, Positive Reinterpretation, Social Support, Rumination, Self-Blame, Distraction). Higher scores indicate a higher use of the specified coping strategies.

    Measured: Assessed using an EMA design with five push-notification measurements per day, distributed across five 3-hour intervals, on four days within a two-week period, at pre-test (Baseline) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-intervention).

  16. Active Empathic Listening Scale (AELS)

    A scale measuring active empathic listening (Bodie, 2011). Higher scores indicate more active empathic listening.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test), after 4 weeks of empathic listening training (mid-intervention) and after the 4 weeks of compassionate listening training (post-test 1 & 2)

  17. Attachment behavior (ASQ)

    A self-report questionnaire measuring attachment-related behaviors in interpersonal relationships, including proximity seeking, avoidance, and security (Hexel, 2004). Higher scores indicate more pronounced attachment-related behaviors.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-test 1 & 2)

Secondary outcomes (20)

  1. Positive Affect (Affect Grid) (explanatory mechanism)

    Assessment of emotional state (valence) and arousal (Russell et al., 1989). Higher scores on valence and arousal indicate more positive affect and higher arousal.

    Measured: Assessed weekly during the course of 8 weeks of intervention

  2. Emotion Acceptance (EAQ) (explanatory mechanism)

    A self-report questionnaire measuring emotional awareness, and acceptance of emotions (Beblo et al., 2011; Kisley et al., 2025). Higher scores indicate greater emotion awareness and acceptance

    Measured: Assessed weekly during the course of 8 weeks

  3. Gratitude Questionnaire-6 (GQ-5-G) (explanatory mechanism)

    A scale measuring gratitude (Hudecek et al., 2021; McCullough et al., 2002). Higher scores indicate more gratitude.

    Measured: Assessed weekly during the course of 8 weeks

  4. Self-Kindness Scale (SCS-SF) (explanatory mechanism)

    A self-report questionnaire measuring self-kindness and compassionate attitudes toward oneself (Hupfeld \& Ruffieux, 2011; Raes et al., 2011). Higher scores indicate greater self-kindness.

    Measured: Assessed weekly during the course of 8 weeks

  5. Positive Interpretation Bias (ERT) (explanatory mechanism)

    This task assesses the tendency to judge persons' facial expressions more positively using morphed sequences of facial expressions (DeBruine \& Jones, 2017; Griffiths et al., 2015). Higher scores indicate a stronger positive interpretation bias.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-test 1 & 2)

  6. Mentalizing (MENTS) Scale (explanatory mechanism)

    A self-report questionnaire measuring the capacity to understand one's own and others' mental states (Dimitrijević et al., 2018). Higher scores indicate greater mentalizing ability.

    Measured: Assessed weekly during the course of 8 weeks

  7. Short Loneliness Scale (SLS) (explanatory mechanism)

    A short scale measuring frequency, intensity, and duration of loneliness (Hughes et al., 2004; Qualter et al., 2021). Higher scores indicate more loneliness.

    Measured: Assessed weekly during the course of 8 weeks

  8. Perceived Stress (PSS-10) (explanatory mechanism)

    A self-report questionnaire measuring the degree to which situations in one's life are appraised as stressful (Cohen et al., 1983; Klein et al., 2016). Higher scores indicate greater perceived stress.

    Measured: Assessed weekly during the course of 8 weeks

  9. Depression (PHQ-2) (explanatory mechanism)

    A brief self-report screening measure assessing core depressive symptoms, including depressed mood and anhedonia (Kroenke et al., 2003). Higher scores indicate greater depressive symptom severity.

    Measured: Assessed weekly during the course of 8 weeks

  10. Empathic Concern & Distress (IRI) (explanatory mechanism)

    A scale measuring different facets of social emotions, including personal distress and empathic concern (Davis, 1980; Paulus, 2009). Higher scores indicate higher personal distress or empathic concern.

    Measured: Assessed weekly during the course of 8 weeks

  11. Trust (KUSIV3) (explanatory mechanism)

    A self-report questionnaire measuring generalized interpersonal trust, including trust in others' reliability and integrity (Beierlein et al., 2012). Higher scores indicate greater interpersonal trust.

    Measured: Assessed weekly during the course of 8 weeks

  12. In-group-Out-group bias (ERT) (explanatory mechanism)

    This task assesses the tendency to judge persons from one's own group to be more positive in facial emotion recognition using morphed sequences of facial expressions (DeBruine \& Jones, 2017; Griffiths et al., 2015). Higher scores indicate a stronger in-group-out-group bias.

    Measured: Assessed at baseline (pre-test) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-test 1 & 2)

  13. Coping strategies (explanatory mechanism)

    Custom items based on the Brief-COPE (Carver, 1997; Knoll et al., 2005) and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ; Garnefski et al., 2001; Loch et al., 2011) measuring Coping Strategies (Acceptance, Positive Reinterpretation, Social Support, Rumination, Self-Blame, Distraction). Higher scores indicate a higher use of the specified coping strategies.

    Measured: Assessed weekly during the course of 8 weeks

  14. DPR-Affect (Affect Grid; explanatory mechanism)

    Assessment of emotional state (valence) and arousal (Russell et al., 1989) just before starting the Dyad. Higher scores on valence and arousal indicate more positive affect and higher arousal.

    Measured: Assessed for 8 weeks during intervention period, before the daily exercise

  15. DPR-involvement (explanatory mechanism)

    Assessment of listening involvement (1 custom item; only post-Dyad exercise). Higher scores indicate more listening involvement.

    Measured: Assessed for 8 weeks during intervention period, only in the intervention group, after the daily exercise

  16. Dyad closeness - Inclusion of Other in Self Scale (explanatory mechanism)

    Assessment of how close participants felt to their Dyad partner (post-Dyad exercise). Higher scores indicate more closeness (Aron et al., 1992; Kinnunen \& Windmann, 2013).

    Measured: Assessed for 8 weeks during intervention period, only in the intervention group, after the daily exercise

  17. Dyad listening quality (DPR- listening-quality)

    Custom items (self-generated) measuring the quality of listening to the Dyad partner. Higher scores indicate a higher degree of active, attentive listening

    Measured: Assessed weekly from week 1 to week 8, after the Dyad practice

  18. DPR-Emotions

    Emotion intensities (of e.g., happiness, gratitude, sadness, anger) rated by the speaker and by the listener of a Dyad directly after the Dyad.

    Measured: Assessed weekly from week 1 to week 8, as part of the Dyad Voice Assessment (DYVA)

  19. DPR-Listening-Affect

    Custom items (self-generated) measuring the self-rated affective state during listening to the Dyad partner's telling of the difficult situation and the event that they are grateful for. Higher scores indicate a more positive affect.

    Measured: Assessed weekly from week 1 to week 8, after the Dyad practice

  20. Dyad empathic and compassionate listening skills (DPR-listening-skills)

    Custom items (self-generated) measuring the self-rated skill of listening empathically and compassionately to the Dyad partner's telling of the difficult situation and the event that they are grateful for. Higher scores indicate a higher degree of empathic or compassionate listening respectively.

    Measured: Assessed weekly from week 1 to week 8, after the Dyad practice

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted12 Feb 2026
  2. Study start16 Feb 2026
  3. Primary completion10 Jul 2026
  4. Study completion10 Oct 2026 (estimated)

Resources

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
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Double blind
Who is masked
Investigator, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
360 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT07407413
Sponsor's protocol ID
Edu:Social Health Care Project
Acronym
EduSocHealth
Status last verified
Dec 2025
First submitted
12 Jan 2026
Last updated
13 Oct 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • 1. Aron, A., Aron, E. N., & Smollan, D. (1992). Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63(4), 596-612. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.63.4.596

  • Auerbach RP, Mortier P, Bruffaerts R, Alonso J, Benjet C, Cuijpers P, Demyttenaere K, Ebert DD, Green JG, Hasking P, Murray E, Nock MK, Pinder-Amaker S, Sampson NA, Stein DJ, Vilagut G, Zaslavsky AM, Kessler RC; WHO WMH-ICS Collaborators. WHO World Mental Health Surveys International College Student Project: Prevalence and distribution of mental disorders. J Abnorm Psychol. 2018 Oct;127(7):623-638. doi: 10.1037/abn0000362. Epub 2018 Sep 13.

    PubMed 30211576

  • Auerbach RP, Alonso J, Axinn WG, Cuijpers P, Ebert DD, Green JG, Hwang I, Kessler RC, Liu H, Mortier P, Nock MK, Pinder-Amaker S, Sampson NA, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Al-Hamzawi A, Andrade LH, Benjet C, Caldas-de-Almeida JM, Demyttenaere K, Florescu S, de Girolamo G, Gureje O, Haro JM, Karam EG, Kiejna A, Kovess-Masfety V, Lee S, McGrath JJ, O'Neill S, Pennell BE, Scott K, Ten Have M, Torres Y, Zaslavsky AM, Zarkov Z, Bruffaerts R. Mental disorders among college students in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. Psychol Med. 2016 Oct;46(14):2955-2970. doi: 10.1017/S0033291716001665. Epub 2016 Aug 3.

    PubMed 27484622

  • Bagby RM, Parker JD, Taylor GJ. The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale--I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure. J Psychosom Res. 1994 Jan;38(1):23-32. doi: 10.1016/0022-3999(94)90005-1.

    PubMed 8126686

  • Barbosa P, Raymond G, Zlotnick C, Wilk J, Toomey R 3rd, Mitchell J 3rd. Mindfulness-based stress reduction training is associated with greater empathy and reduced anxiety for graduate healthcare students. Educ Health (Abingdon). 2013 Jan-Apr;26(1):9-14. doi: 10.4103/1357-6283.112794.

    PubMed 23823667

  • 6. Beblo, T., Scheulen, C., Fernando, S. C., Griepenstroh, J., Aschenbrenner, S., Rodewald, K. & Driessen, M. (2011). Psychometrische Analyse eines neuen Fragebogens zur Erfassung der Akzeptanz von unangenehmen und angenehmen Gefühlen (FrAGe). Zeitschrift Für Psychiatrie, Psychologie Und Psychotherapie, 59(2), 133-144. https://doi.org/10.1024/1661-4747/a000063

  • Beck RS, Daughtridge R, Sloane PD. Physician-patient communication in the primary care office: a systematic review. J Am Board Fam Pract. 2002 Jan-Feb;15(1):25-38.

    PubMed 11841136

  • 8. Beierlein, C., Kemper, C. J., Kovaleva, A., & Rammstedt, B. (2012). Kurzskala zur Messung des zwischenmenschlichen Vertrauens: die Kurzskala Interpersonales Vertrauen (KUSIV3). (GESIS-Working Papers, 2012/22). Mannheim: GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-312126

  • 9. Bodie, G. D. (2011). The Active-Empathic Listening Scale (AELS): Conceptualization and Evidence of Validity Within the Interpersonal Domain. Communication Quarterly, 59(3), 277-295. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2011.583495

  • Bullock G, Kraft L, Amsden K, Gore W, Prengle B, Wimsatt J, Ledbetter L, Covington K, Goode A. The prevalence and effect of burnout on graduate healthcare students. Can Med Educ J. 2017 Jun 30;8(3):e90-e108. eCollection 2017 Jun.

    PubMed 29098051

  • Carver CS. You want to measure coping but your protocol's too long: consider the brief COPE. Int J Behav Med. 1997;4(1):92-100. doi: 10.1207/s15327558ijbm0401_6.

    PubMed 16250744

  • 12. Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). Perceived Stress Scale [Database record]. APA PsycTests. https://doi.org/10.1037/t02889-000

  • Connor KM, Davidson JR. Development of a new resilience scale: the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Depress Anxiety. 2003;18(2):76-82. doi: 10.1002/da.10113.

    PubMed 12964174

  • Curran T, Hill AP. Perfectionism is increasing over time: A meta-analysis of birth cohort differences from 1989 to 2016. Psychol Bull. 2019 Apr;145(4):410-429. doi: 10.1037/bul0000138. Epub 2017 Dec 28.

    PubMed 29283599

  • 15. Davis, M. H. (1980). A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 1980, 10, p. 85. https://www.uv.es/friasnav/Davis_1980.pdf

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Experimental: Empathy- and compassion-based socio-emotional mental training (EmCo) in people with Intervention Condition and Control (Delayed Training) Condition, run by Max Planck Social Neuroscience Lab at 1 site in Germany.

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 7 inclusion and 11 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: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 13 Oct 2026. 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 Germany. 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?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

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?

Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) (time frame: Assessed at baseline (pre-test) and after the 8-week intervention period (post-test 1 & 2)). The study lists 17 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 NCT07407413, which also lists 78 linked publications.

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 13 Oct 2026.

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