Meditation-Based Online Psychological Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Beijing Normal University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Smartphone Addiction

Treatments: Behavioral: Mindful Breathing Practice (MBP) - 16-Day Online Meditation Course; Behavioral: Mindfulness of Death (MoD) - 16-Day Online Meditation Course

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07379541

BNU-poslab-MLD-2025

Details and patient eligibility

About

relationships. As the primary users of smartphones, emerging adults represent a key population for such research. Using a randomised controlled trial, we compared mindfulness-of-death meditation with traditional mindfulness meditation to evaluate the unique effects of the former on problematic smartphone use. We also examined potential psychological pathways-namely increases in self-esteem and meaning in life, and reductions in perceived stress-through which the intervention may exert its benefits.

Enrollment: 259 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 29 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Inclusion criteria were adults aged 18-29 years who:

• reported no current or past psychiatric diagnosis,
• exhibited problematic smartphone use,
• and had a mean daily screen-on time exceeding four hours.
• Exclusion criteria were as follows:
• aged <18 or ≥30 years;
• any current or past psychiatric diagnosis;
• self-reported absence of problematic smartphone use;
• mean daily smartphone use ≤4 hours;
• currently enrolled in any meditation-based intervention;
• use of psychoactive medication or concurrent psychological treatment;
• participation in another psychological intervention trial.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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259 participants in 3 patient groups

Mindfulness-Meditation Intervention Group

Experimental group

Description:

A 16-day mindfulness-based curriculum was implemented as the intervention, with participants completing one 20-min session daily via the online platform.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindful Breathing Practice (MBP) - 16-Day Online Meditation Course

Mindfulness-of-Death Group

Experimental group

Description:

A 16-day mindfulness-of-death curriculum was implemented as the intervention, with participants completing one 20 min online session daily.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness of Death (MoD) - 16-Day Online Meditation Course

Wait-list Control Group

No Intervention group

Description:

Wait-list Control Group