The Effect of Mindfulness on Psychophysiological Stress in a Population With Elevated Stress Symptoms

Psychological Stress Clinical Trial

Official title:

A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing 3 Formats of Mindfulness Interventions to an Active Control Intervention in a Population With Elevated Levels of Stress: Effects of Subjective and Physiological Stress

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05832632
• Other study ID #: 45345
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: November 8, 2021
• Est. completion date: March 1, 2023

Study information

• Verified date: February 2024
• Source: University of Southern Denmark
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Stress-related disorders have over the last decade increased and contributed to a worldwide disease burden. At the same time there is limited treatment access for mental health disorders, which has left many people without necessary care. However, in recent years there has been a rise in digital mindfulness interventions. Specifically, these interventions have focused on smartphone-based applications as an effective format for mindfulness training programs. Thus, the goal of this randomized controlled trial is to test the effects of three types of mindfulness programs in a population with elevated stress. The three formats of mindfulness interventions are identical in total training duration but varies in content and intervention length. Specifically, the first intervention consists of programmatic mindfulness content that progress over the course of 30 sessions with a duration of 10 min per session. The second intervention consists of single succinct breathing exercises with no programmatic content over the course of 30 sessions with a duration of 10 min per session. The third intervention consists of mindfulness-based content specifically targeted to people with elevated stress that progress over the course of 20 sessions with a duration of 15 min per session. An active control group listening to an audiobook over the course of 30 sessions with a duration of 10 min per session will be employed and a passive control group. The study will evaluate outcomes related to subjective stress, sleep quality, mindfulness and physiological effects of stress using HRV.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 225
• Est. completion date: March 1, 2023
• Est. primary completion date: October 4, 2022
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 60 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Moderate to high perceived stress based on PSS total scores (14-40)
• Fluent in English

Exclusion Criteria:

• Regular mindfulness practice for more than 1 month within the last year
• Medical diagnosis e.g. psychiatric/neurological conditions
• Low levels of stress (i.e., less than a score of 14 assessed with the PSS)

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Physiological Stress
• Psychological Stress
• Stress, Psychological

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Headspace Basics Program
30-day smartphone-based mindfulness intervention consisting of 10 minutes per day. The program consist of generic mindfulness techniques such as breath awareness, body scans, mindful noting of thoughts and emotions.
• Headspace Breathing Exercises
30-day smartphone-based breathing exercises. Each exercise consists of box breathing for 1 minute and participants are instructed to complete 10 sessions corresponding to 10 minutes per day.
• Headspace Stress Program
20-day smartphone-based mindfulness intervention consisting of 15 minutes per day. The Stress program content is based on well-established concepts and practices within stress management, and mindfulness, and is targeted to people with elevated stress.
• Active Control (Audiobook)
30-day smartphone-based Audiobook book consisting of 10 minutes per day.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Denmark	University of Southern Denmark. Department of Psychology.	Odense

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Southern Denmark	Headspace Health

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Denmark, 

References & Publications (7)

Cohen, S., & Janicki-Deverts, D. (2012), Who's Stressed? Distributions of Psychological Stress in the United States in Probability Samples from 1983, 2006, and 2009. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42: 1320-1334. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2012.00900.x

Lupien SJ, Maheu F, Tu M, Fiocco A, Schramek TE. The effects of stress and stress hormones on human cognition: Implications for the field of brain and cognition. Brain Cogn. 2007 Dec;65(3):209-37. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2007.02.007. Epub 2007 Apr 26. — View Citation

Philippe TJ, Sikder N, Jackson A, Koblanski ME, Liow E, Pilarinos A, Vasarhelyi K. Digital Health Interventions for Delivery of Mental Health Care: Systematic and Comprehensive Meta-Review. JMIR Ment Health. 2022 May 12;9(5):e35159. doi: 10.2196/35159. — View Citation

Raio CM, Hartley CA, Orederu TA, Li J, Phelps EA. Stress attenuates the flexible updating of aversive value. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Oct 17;114(42):11241-11246. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1702565114. Epub 2017 Oct 2. — View Citation

Sorkin DH, Janio EA, Eikey EV, Schneider M, Davis K, Schueller SM, Stadnick NA, Zheng K, Neary M, Safani D, Mukamel DB. Rise in Use of Digital Mental Health Tools and Technologies in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey Study. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Apr 16;23(4):e26994. doi: 10.2196/26994. — View Citation

Tian F, Shen Q, Hu Y, Ye W, Valdimarsdottir UA, Song H, Fang F. Association of stress-related disorders with subsequent risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality: A population-based and sibling-controlled cohort study. Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2022 May 28;18:100402. doi: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100402. eCollection 2022 Jul. — View Citation

World Health Organization. The impact of COVID-19 on mental, neurological and substance use services: results of rapid assessment. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/978924012455

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10)		immediately post intervention
Primary	Heart rate variability (HRV)	HRV data will be recorded continuously during a rest period, acute stress period*, and recovery period at both pre and post on a subject-by-subject basis.; *The study will use an acute stress manipulation, specifically the CPT (Cold Pressor Task). The CPT is a standardized physiological acute stressor which has been shown to induce stress, reflected in autonomic stress reactivity (e.g. Lupien et al., 2007; Raio et al., 2017).	immediately post intervention
Secondary	The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)		immediately post intervention
Secondary	Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS)		immediately post intervention