Mini-treatment Experiments to Clarify How to Assist People to Habit Formation

Summary

Habits impact nearly every domain of one's physical and mental health. Evidence-based psychological treatments (EBPTs) are interventions targeting psychological processes that cause and/or maintain mental illness and that have been developed and evaluated scientifically. An implicit goal of EBPTs is to disrupt unwanted habits and develop desired habits. Yet, there has been insufficient attention given to habit formation principles, theory and measures in the development and delivery of EBTPs.

In preparing to conduct a 5-year R01 on this topic, the investigators are conducting this experiment to better understand habit formation. The purpose is to distill, study and clarify key concepts in habit formation before embarking on the 5-year R01. This is necessary as there is surprisingly little research to guide key decisions, particularly for the process of dismantling unwanted habits. Hence, the aim of this experiment is to compare strategies discussed in the scientific literature, which have been minimally studied, to dismantle unwanted habits. The hypothesis tested is that each of the active strategies will be superior to the no intervention group. The study is exploratory as to which of the active strategies will be most effective.

Conditions

• Sleep Disorder
• Circadian Dysregulation
• Habit, Good Sleep

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

RISE-UP Routine

The participants in this condition will be instructed to substitute their current sleep habits with the RISE-UP routine that has been developed by our team (Kaplan, Talavera, \& Harvey, 2018). This involves instructing participants to devise an individually tailored routine that will help them get up each morning (e.g., open blinds, make the bed, head for the shower).

BEHAVIORAL

Awareness Training

The participants in this condition will be instructed in dismantling/disrupting the association between the cue and the habit via awareness training from habit reversal approaches (Azrin \& Nunn, 1973; Ladouceur, 1979). This condition involves instructing the participant to develop an awareness of their decisions to stay in bed and snooze.

BEHAVIORAL

Vigilant Monitoring

The participants in this condition will be instructed in vigilant monitoring which involves internal repetition of "get up!" and "don't do it" and watching carefully for slipups (Quinn, Pascoe, Wood, \& Neal, 2010).

BEHAVIORAL

Implementation Intentions

The participants in this condition will be instructed in counter habitual implementation intentions. This involves instructing the participant to engage in implementation intentions in which they imagine replacing snoozing with getting up out of bed (Adriaanse, Gollwitzer, De Ridder, De Wit, \& Kroese, 2011). The structure of this implementation intention is: "If I wake up in the morning and I want a sleep-in then I will get up and start my day."

BEHAVIORAL

Values-based Approach

The participants in this condition will be instructed in a values-based approach (Anshel, Brinthaupt, \& Kang, 2010; Anshel \& Kang, 2007). This involves asking the participants to reflect on how getting up consistently at the same time each day does or does not align with their values. They are asked to compare the costs and long-term consequences of continuing to engage in the unwanted habit and clearly articulating the disconnect between the habit and their values.

BEHAVIORAL

Brief Education

In this condition, participants only receive the learning module. This condition is included as a "minimal intervention" comparison condition that controls for the passage of time. First, education about the importance of regular wake times and sleep inertia that is a normal transitional stage between sleep and wake. The education will be delivered in this video format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6zcSFA7ymo. Second, after viewing the video, the key points will be summarized. Lastly, participants will be asked to summarize the four key takeaways for good sleep habits.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, Berkeley

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Allison Harvey, PhD · University of California, Berkeley

• Laurel Sarfan, PhD · University of California, Berkeley

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-10-07

Primary Completion

2023-05-01

Completion

2023-05-01

Countries

• United States

Study Locations