Mindfulness and Psychological Inflexibility

Bahcesehir Cyprus University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Mindfulness

Treatments: Behavioral: Mindfulness skills training to reduce experiential avoidance and anxiety symptoms

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05487872

BAU/EK-2022/02

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aimed to examine whether mindfulness skills training can help to reduce experiential avoidance and anxiety level. This study investigated whether the training delivery methods (audio-guided mindfulness exercise or virtual reality-based mindfulness exercise) differ in terms of changing general experiential avoidance and anxiety symptoms.

Full description

The experimental design (randomized trial) was used in this study. Data were collected through convenience sampling. After obtaining ethical approval fromEthics Committee of the Bahçeşehir Cyprus University, participants were invited to participate in the study via advertisements posted in the university building. Recruited participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group or control group. All participants will be provided with an informed consent form which provided information about participant's right and data management. Participants in the experimental group completed mindfulness exercise on Virtual Reality (VR) system where they listened to an audio track (guide for the exercise) and saw calming nature scenes (e.g., views on the beach) whereas those in the control group completed mindfulness exercise by listening to the (same) audio track only. Each mindfulness session took approximately 15 mins. In total, four sessions were completed in two weeks (2 sessions per week). After obtaining informed consent, the participants completed a survey pack that included valid and reliable measurement scales (mindfulness skills [The Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale - Revised], experiential avoidance [Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II], and anxiety symptoms [Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale]) at two-time points (i.e., pre-test [before intervention], and post-test [after 4 sessions/when sessions were completed], At the end of the study, the participants were provided with a debrief form.

Enrollment: 40 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• age of 18 and above,
• ability to read, and/or understand English

Exclusion criteria

• Participants who regularly practice mindfulness exercise were excluded form the analyses

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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40 participants in 2 patient groups

Audio-guided mindfulness skills training

Other group

Description:

Participants in this group listened to a 15 mins audio track to practice mindfulness exercises

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness skills training to reduce experiential avoidance and anxiety symptoms

Virtual reality (VR) -based mindfulness skills training

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in this group completed mindfulness exercises on the VR system. The system included the same 15 mins audio track and additionally a video that displayed a 360° spherical landscape view of the sea in the afternoon

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness skills training to reduce experiential avoidance and anxiety symptoms