Pause and Breathe: Online Self-Help Mindfulness-Based Intervention: Investigation of Its Efficacy and Mechanism of Change

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Status: Completed

Conditions: Mindfulness

Treatments: Other: Self-help online mindfulness-based intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05678972

SBRE-22-0350

Details and patient eligibility

About

The current study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a 4-week self-help online mindfulness-based intervention on mental and physical well-being in comparison to the waitlist control group. This study can provide support to the utility of self-help online mindfulness-based intervention, which may advance our understanding of the causal pathways between mindfulness-based intervention and well-being and guide future research. It is hypothesized that participants in the experimental condition will show better mental well-being, physical well-being, and better improvement in mindfulness and related attributes compared with participants in the control condition.

Upon completing the screening and pre-evaluation questionnaire, participants will be randomly assigned to either mindfulness group or waitlist control group. They will complete three sets of questionnaires in total which will be administered before the intervention (pre-test assessment), right after the 4-week intervention (post-test assessment), and four weeks after the intervention (follow-up assessment), respectively. In the experimental group, participants in the mindfulness group will engage in a 4-week online mindfulness course. The self-help online mindfulness course includes education about mindfulness, guided meditations (e.g., mindful breathing, mindful eating, mindful walking, body scan, acceptance, choiceless awareness and disengaging from thoughts exercise), and guidance on using informal mindfulness skills in day-to-day life. Readings, audio and videos are included to explain the concept of mindfulness and overcome common difficulties associated with mindfulness practice. In the waitlist control group, participants are to refrain from access the online course until they finished the follow-up questionnaire. All participants will be able to access the materials in an online platform after they have completed the research.

Enrollment: 939 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Participants must be over age 18
• Have access to computer and mobile phone (since this is an internet-based study)
• Have ability to read and comprehend Cantonese

Exclusion criteria

• Completion of mindfulness-related program/research in the past 3 months
• Have regular mindfulness practice

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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939 participants in 2 patient groups

Mindfulness group

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in the mindfulness group will be expected to complete a self-help online mindfulness-based intervention, delivered over a 4-week period via an e-learning mental health platform. They will be assessed at three different time points: (1) before the intervention (pre-test assessment), (2) right after the 4-week intervention (post-test assessment), and (3) four weeks after the intervention (follow-up assessment).

Treatment:

Other: Self-help online mindfulness-based intervention

Waitlist control group

No Intervention group

Description:

The participants in waitlist control group will be offered access to the online mindfulness course after the study has ended.