Development and validation of a web-delivered positive psychological intervention in an Indian Milieu: Lessons from a limited pilot randomized controlled trial

Abstract

We present lessons learned from conducting a limited pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an indigenously developed positive psychology intervention. This RCT essentially examines the efficacy of a competencies enhancing Internet-delivered intervention for Indian students. A total of 212 participants signed up for the semi-automated, text-based and self-guided program and filled program relevant competency measures (viz. emotional intelligence, stress, time and self-management) at pre-assessment and post-assessment. Results suggest that student participants (n = 75) randomly allocated to the experimental group of the trial have improved competencies of emotional intelligence, time, stress and self-management at post-test in comparison to the ones allocated to placebo (n = 56) and control conditions (n = 46). We deliberately used paired sample t-tests to check for significant differences in each of the components before and after the intervention. Our attrition rate was ranging from 21% to 59%, whereas the adherence rate was ranging from 35% to 48% for the four-phased process. Contrarily, the attrition rate for placebo (16%) and control groups (8%) were considerably low as compared to the experimental group. Overall, despite variable effect sizes, the prototypical psycho-educational program appeared feasible for enhancing students’ well-being in an Indian context.

Keywords

• randomized controlled trial
• competencies
• emotional skills
• internet intervention
• wellness promotion
• student health