Psychological StressNCT07845799
Internet Intervention for Well-Being and Work-Family Conflict in Dual-Earner Couples
A study testing Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflict in people with Psychological Stress and Work-Family Conflict, run by University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw at 1 site in Poland.
Trial summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if an online program treats stress in working couples. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does the 3-week online program lower stress for participants? Does doing the program together work better than doing it alone? Does the program lower conflict between work and… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Psychological Stress, Work-Family Conflict, Family-Work Conflict
- What is being tested?
- Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflict
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 564 participants
- Where
- 1 sitePoland
- Study dates
- Oct 2026to May 2027
- 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 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Cohabiting heterosexual couples
- Both partners are adults aged 18 or older,
- Both partners work at least 20 hours per week,
- Both partners have lived together in the same household for at least 1 year,
- Expecting to continue living together throughout the study period,
- Experiencing conflict between work and family life,
- Interested in learning new strategies to manage work and family demands,
- Both partners agree to participate in the study.
Who cannot join
- Either partner lacks access to an internet-connected device,
- Either partner has insufficient Polish language skills to complete the online program and surveys.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Poland1 site
SWPS University
Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, 03-815
Ewelina Smoktunowicz, PhD, +48 22 517 99 21, esmoktunowicz@swps.edu.pl
About this study
Official title: Internet Intervention for Well-being in the Context of Work-family Conflict Among Dual-earner Couples: Protocol for Four-arm Randomized Controlled Trial
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if an online program treats stress in working couples. The main questions it aims to answer are:
- Does the 3-week online program lower stress for participants?
- Does doing the program together work better than doing it alone?
- Does the program lower conflict between work and home life?
- Does the program improve job and family satisfaction? Researchers will compare four groups (both partners, only women, only men, and a waitlist) to see if doing the program together works best to lower stress.
Read more
Participants will:
- Fill out online surveys at the start, after 3 weeks, and 6 months later.
- Use a 3-week online program to manage time and lower stress.
- Read short texts and track their daily habits.
- Talk and plan with their partner if placed in the joint group.
Read the detailed description
Background and theoretical rationale: This study evaluates an internet-delivered psychological intervention for heterosexual dual-earner couples experiencing work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC). Grounded in Greenhaus and Beutell's multidimensional framework and the Spillover-Crossover Model, the intervention targets time-based and strain-based interrole conflict. The dyadic randomized controlled design investigates individual (actor) effects and interpersonal (partner) crossover effects to test whether joint participation yields superior benefits compared to individual delivery or a waitlist control condition.
Study design and randomization: The study is a four-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trial with the couple serving as the unit of recruitment and randomization. Couples are allocated using block randomization via the blockrand package in R with a 1.77:1.77:1 allocation ratio to one of four conditions. The conditions include a dyadic intervention, an individual female-partner intervention, an individual male-partner intervention, and a waitlist control condition.
Digital platform and delivery: The unguided 3-week intervention is hosted on Google Classroom within an institutional Google Workspace for Education environment. To ensure participant privacy, a multiple-classroom architecture assigns each individual or dyad to a private virtual classroom accessible only via individual researcher-managed credentials. Native social communication features are disabled to prevent cross-participant visibility. Built-in automated email notifications serve as digital nudges to promote task engagement.
Intervention structure: The intervention consists of two parallel strands addressing time-based and strain-based conflict. The time-based strand focuses on boundary management, segmentation and integration strategies, implementation intentions, and action planning. The strain-based strand emphasizes recognizing psychological strain transfer, self-distancing, emotional awareness, and behavioral experiments. The dyadic condition incorporates joint activities involving mutual reflection, structured dialogue, and collaborative support planning.
Statistical analysis plan: Efficacy analyses will follow the intention-to-treat principle using linear mixed-effects models to evaluate fixed effects of time, condition, and their interaction. Nested random intercepts will account for repeated observations within participants and non-independence within couples. Dyadic crossover processes will be analyzed using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model to differentiate actor associations from partner associations. Missing data will be handled via maximum likelihood estimation within mixed-effects models or multiple imputation depending on missingness patterns.
- Being tested
- Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflict
- Keywords
- Internet Intervention, Work-Family Conflict, Family-Work Conflict, Perceived Stress, Dual-Earner Couples, Dyadic Intervention
- Medical subject headings
- Stress, Psychological
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflictBehavioural
An unguided, 3-week internet-delivered intervention hosted on Google Classroom. It aims to help dual-earner couples manage time-based and strain-based work-family conflict. The program comprises two parallel strands combining psychoeducation, boundary management strategies, self-compassion, emotional awareness, implementation intentions, and behavioral experiments. In the dyadic condition, it also includes joint exercises involving mutual reflection and communication.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Dyadic intervention condition | Experimental | Both partners in the dual-earner couple actively participate in the 3-week internet-delivered psychological intervention. Both partners complete assessments at all timepoints. Receives: Behavioral: Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflict |
| Individual female-partner intervention condition | Experimental | Only the female partner actively participates in the 3-week internet-delivered psychological intervention during the active trial phase. Both partners complete assessments at all timepoints. Receives: Behavioral: Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflict |
| Individual male-partner intervention condition | Experimental | Only the male partner actively participates in the 3-week internet-delivered psychological intervention during the active trial phase. Both partners complete assessments at all timepoints. Receives: Behavioral: Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflict |
| Waitlist control condition | No intervention | Neither partner receives access to the intervention during the active trial phase. Both partners complete assessments at all timepoints. Participants in this group are offered access to the intervention materials after the final 6-month follow-up assessment. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Perceived Stress
Perceived stress will be assessed using the 4-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4). The scale measures the extent to which participants perceive their lives as unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloaded. Items are rated on a 5-point scale from 0 ("never") to 4 ("very often"). Positively worded items are reverse scored, and item scores are summed. Higher scores indicate greater perceived stress.
Measured: Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).
Secondary outcomes (4)
Work-to-Family Conflict (WFC)
Assessed using the multidimensional measure developed by Carlson et al. (2000). This specific outcome evaluates interference originating in the work domain and affecting family life. It measures time-based, strain-based, and behavior-based dimensions of conflict. Items are rated on a 5-point scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 5 ("strongly agree"). Higher scores indicate greater work-to-family conflict. Both composite scores and separate dimensional scores (time-based and strain-based) will be analyzed.
Measured: Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).
Family-to-Work Conflict (FWC)
Assessed using the multidimensional measure developed by Carlson et al. (2000). This specific outcome evaluates interference originating in the family domain and affecting work. It measures time-based, strain-based, and behavior-based dimensions of conflict. Items are rated on a 5-point scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 5 ("strongly agree"). Higher scores indicate greater family-to-work conflict. Both composite scores and separate dimensional scores (time-based and strain-based) will be analyzed.
Measured: Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).
Job Satisfaction
Assessed using the 3-item Satisfaction with Job Scale (Zalewska, 2003), which evaluates the cognitive appraisal of one's work life. Items are rated on a 7-point scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 7 ("strongly agree"). Higher scores indicate greater job satisfaction.
Measured: Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).
Family Satisfaction
Assessed using a 3-item scale adapted from the Satisfaction with Family Life Scale (Zabriskie \& Ward, 2013) to evaluate cognitive satisfaction with family life. Items are rated on a 7-point scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 7 ("strongly agree"). Higher scores indicate greater family satisfaction.
Measured: Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted29 Sep 2026
- Study startOct 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completionMay 2027 (estimated)
- Study completionMay 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Psychological StressStudies 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
- A four-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trial where dual-earner couples are allocated to one of four conditions: a dyadic intervention, an individual female-partner intervention, an individual male-partner intervention, or a waitlist control condition.
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 564 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Science Centre, Poland
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Ewelina Smoktunowicz, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07845799
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2020/39/D/HS6/02131
- Other IDs
- 2020/39/D/HS6/02131
- Status last verified
- Sep 2026
- First submitted
- 21 Sep 2026
- Last updated
- 29 Sep 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: An anonymized dataset containing individual participant data underlying the study findings will be published in a public repository upon study completion.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 29 Sep 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Internet Intervention for Well-being in the Context of Work-family Conflict Among Dual-earner Couples: Protocol for Four-arm Randomized Controlled Trial
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07845799
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 2020/39/D/HS6/02131
- Keywords
- Internet Intervention, Work-Family Conflict, Family-Work Conflict, Perceived Stress, Dual-Earner Couples, Dyadic Intervention
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 564 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- University of Social Sciences and Humanities, WarsawUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Science Centre, Poland
- Study start
- Oct 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- May 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- May 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 29 Sep 2026 (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.
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if an online program treats stress in working couples. The main questions it aims to answer are:
- Does the 3-week online program lower stress for participants?
- Does doing the program together work better than doing it alone?
- Does the program lower conflict between work and home life?
- Does the program improve job and family satisfaction? Researchers will compare four groups (both partners, only women, only men, and a waitlist) to see if doing the program together works best to lower stress.
Participants will:
- Fill out online surveys at the start, after 3 weeks, and 6 months later.
- Use a 3-week online program to manage time and lower stress.
- Read short texts and track their daily habits.
- Talk and plan with their partner if placed in the joint group.
Detailed description
Background and theoretical rationale: This study evaluates an internet-delivered psychological intervention for heterosexual dual-earner couples experiencing work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC). Grounded in Greenhaus and Beutell's multidimensional framework and the Spillover-Crossover Model, the intervention targets time-based and strain-based interrole conflict. The dyadic randomized controlled design investigates individual (actor) effects and interpersonal (partner) crossover effects to test whether joint participation yields superior benefits compared to individual delivery or a waitlist control condition.
Study design and randomization: The study is a four-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trial with the couple serving as the unit of recruitment and randomization. Couples are allocated using block randomization via the blockrand package in R with a 1.77:1.77:1 allocation ratio to one of four conditions. The conditions include a dyadic intervention, an individual female-partner intervention, an individual male-partner intervention, and a waitlist control condition.
Digital platform and delivery: The unguided 3-week intervention is hosted on Google Classroom within an institutional Google Workspace for Education environment. To ensure participant privacy, a multiple-classroom architecture assigns each individual or dyad to a private virtual classroom accessible only via individual researcher-managed credentials. Native social communication features are disabled to prevent cross-participant visibility. Built-in automated email notifications serve as digital nudges to promote task engagement.
Intervention structure: The intervention consists of two parallel strands addressing time-based and strain-based conflict. The time-based strand focuses on boundary management, segmentation and integration strategies, implementation intentions, and action planning. The strain-based strand emphasizes recognizing psychological strain transfer, self-distancing, emotional awareness, and behavioral experiments. The dyadic condition incorporates joint activities involving mutual reflection, structured dialogue, and collaborative support planning.
Statistical analysis plan: Efficacy analyses will follow the intention-to-treat principle using linear mixed-effects models to evaluate fixed effects of time, condition, and their interaction. Nested random intercepts will account for repeated observations within participants and non-independence within couples. Dyadic crossover processes will be analyzed using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model to differentiate actor associations from partner associations. Missing data will be handled via maximum likelihood estimation within mixed-effects models or multiple imputation depending on missingness patterns.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 4
- Model description
- A four-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trial where dual-earner couples are allocated to one of four conditions: a dyadic intervention, an individual female-partner intervention, an individual male-partner intervention, or a waitlist control condition.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Dyadic intervention condition | Experimental | Behavioral: Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflictBoth partners in the dual-earner couple actively participate in the 3-week internet-delivered psychological intervention. Both partners complete assessments at all timepoints. |
| Individual female-partner intervention condition | Experimental | Behavioral: Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflictOnly the female partner actively participates in the 3-week internet-delivered psychological intervention during the active trial phase. Both partners complete assessments at all timepoints. |
| Individual male-partner intervention condition | Experimental | Behavioral: Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflictOnly the male partner actively participates in the 3-week internet-delivered psychological intervention during the active trial phase. Both partners complete assessments at all timepoints. |
| Waitlist control condition | No intervention | –Neither partner receives access to the intervention during the active trial phase. Both partners complete assessments at all timepoints. Participants in this group are offered access to the intervention materials after the final 6-month follow-up assessment. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (8 listed)
- Cohabiting heterosexual couples
- Both partners are adults aged 18 or older,
- Both partners work at least 20 hours per week,
- Both partners have lived together in the same household for at least 1 year,
- Expecting to continue living together throughout the study period,
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Either partner lacks access to an internet-connected device,
- Either partner has insufficient Polish language skills to complete the online program and surveys.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflictAn unguided, 3-week internet-delivered intervention hosted on Google Classroom. It aims to help dual-earner couples manage time-based and strain-based work-family conflict. The program comprises two parallel strands combining psychoeducation, boundary management strategies, self-compassion, emotional awareness, implementation intentions, and behavioral experiments. In the dyadic condition, it also includes joint exercises involving mutual reflection and communication. | Behavioural | Dyadic intervention condition, Individual female-partner intervention condition, Individual male-partner intervention condition |
Primary outcome
Perceived Stress
Time frame: Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).
Perceived stress will be assessed using the 4-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4). The scale measures the extent to which participants perceive their lives as unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloaded. Items are rated on a 5-point scale from 0 ("never") to 4 ("very often"). Positively worded items are reverse scored, and item scores are summed. Higher scores indicate greater perceived stress.
4 secondary outcomes
Work-to-Family Conflict (WFC)
Time frame: Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).
Family-to-Work Conflict (FWC)
Time frame: Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).
Job Satisfaction
Time frame: Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).
Family Satisfaction
Time frame: Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 29 Sep 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. An anonymized dataset containing individual participant data underlying the study findings will be published in a public repository upon study completion.
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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.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflict in people with Psychological Stress and Work-Family Conflict, run by University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw at 1 site in Poland.
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 8 inclusion and 2 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: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 29 Sep 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 Poland. 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?
Contact Ewelina Smoktunowicz, PhD (+48 22 517 99 21, esmoktunowicz@swps.edu.pl), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Perceived Stress (time frame: Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
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 Sep 2026.