Stress-physiology Coherence, Interoception, and Well-being Following Mindfulness Training or Tracking Time Spent on Mobile Device (SCIM)

University of Wisconsin (UW)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Not Seeking to Treat Any Conditions

Treatments: Behavioral: Tracking time spent on mobile device; Behavioral: Mindfulness training

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04125758

L&S/PSYCHOLOGY/PSYCHOLOGY (Other Identifier)

Protocol Version 6/10/2022 (Other Identifier)

2019-0153

A487400 (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Chronic stress has been shown to impact long-term emotional and physical health. When nearly three-quarters of Americans report stress at levels that exceed what they consider healthy, there is a desperate need to understand factors that contribute to effective stress regulation. This work seeks to develop a measure tied to awareness and acceptance of stress that has shown promise as a predictor of multiple markers of mental and physical well-being, understand how it relates to awareness of the body, and explore whether it can be trained to alleviate suffering and promote well-being. This study aims to 1) Conceptually replicate and extend previous findings linking greater stress-physiology coherence to higher well-being. 2) Assess whether awareness of physiology is associated with stress-physiology coherence. 3) Explore whether stress-physiology coherence can be trained through a brief mindfulness training intervention.

Enrollment: 120 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Age 18 to 65;
2. Comfortable reading, writing, and conversing in English
3. U.S. Citizen or permanent resident (for payment purposes)
4. Have a smartphone compatible with our study app

Exclusion criteria

1. Significant past experience with meditation, yoga, tai chi, or qi gong;
2. Current or past psychotic disorder, Bipolar Disorder, PTSD, or social phobia;
3. Current, severe major depressive episode;
4. Current, severe generalized anxiety;
5. Active prescription stimulant use (current or in the past month);
6. Active prescription beta-blocker, beta-agonist, anti-high blood pressure, or anti-anxiety medication use (current or in the past month);
7. Currently pregnant (due to physiological changes);
8. History of neurological disorder;
9. Currently diagnosed with high blood pressure, or heart murmur;
10. Have a pacemaker
11. Have participated in the Trier Social Stress Test previously

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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120 participants in 2 patient groups

Mindfulness training

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will listen to one to two 3-30 minute audio recordings each day for 4 weeks between study visits (28 days total) through the Healthy Minds @Work smartphone app and record when they listen to each recording on a paper log. The app will also collect data on which recordings, when, and for how long participants listen.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness training

Tracking time spent on mobile device

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants will record how much time they estimate they have spent on their phone in the past 24 hours, each day for 4 weeks (28 days total) between study visits.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Tracking time spent on mobile device