Meditation and Decision Making Study III (MDMS3)

Barbara L. Fredrickson, PhD

Status: Completed

Conditions: Meditation

Treatments: Behavioral: Lovingkindness Meditation (LKM); Behavioral: Mindfulness Meditation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT02313779

R01AT007884-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

12-2428

Details and patient eligibility

About

The overarching goal of the proposed research is to investigate the role of emotions in facilitating successful lifestyle change, defined as healthy behavioral decisions repeated daily, or near daily.

Participants are asked to make two lab visits during the course of four weeks to complete electronic questionnaires, be monitored for psychophysiological activity (e.g. heart rate, blood pressure, respiration), and listen to a guided meditation audio track. Additionally, between the two visits participants will be asked to complete weekly surveys that ask about daily meditation practice (outside of the lab) and general emotions.

Enrollment: 240 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 35 to 64 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Fluent in written and spoken English, with a high school reading level
• Willingness or interest in learning to meditate
• Computer literate with internet access

Exclusion criteria

• Individuals who are able to read Chinese logographs
• Individuals who have or have had a regular meditation practice, defined as having attended a 6-week or longer meditation class, practicing meditation at least 3 days a week for up to 6-weeks.
• Individuals with allergies to adhesive materials

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Factorial Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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240 participants in 4 patient groups, including a placebo group

Neutral

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Reading passage about brain function which is masked as a news article.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Lovingkindness Meditation (LKM)

Behavioral: Mindfulness Meditation

Lovingkindness Meditation (LKM)

Experimental group

Description:

Lovingkindness guided meditation experienced in the laboratory and 6 additional LKM meditations taken home on the iPod.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Lovingkindness Meditation (LKM)

Mindfulness Meditation

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Mindfulness guided meditation experienced in the laboratory and 6 additional Mindfulness meditations taken home on the iPod.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness Meditation

Positivity

Experimental group

Description:

Reading passage about prioritizing positive emotions which is masked as a news article.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Lovingkindness Meditation (LKM)

Behavioral: Mindfulness Meditation