Depressive Self-Criticism Clinical Trial
Official title:
Healthy Student Initiative
This paper extends prior research by exploring how students with self-critical (SC) traits
respond to mindfulness meditation (MM) with a twofold purpose: i) to study anxiety
sensitivity and mood changes during the school year as students attended MM tutorials ii) to
study the relationship between self-criticism and MM-related benefits over time. This paper
reports on participants' mood and anxiety sensitivity changes before, during, and after the
MM program and the association between depressed mood and SC levels. Participants were
trained in MM over two continuous semesters, with two specific hypotheses guiding
evaluations:
1. Participants overall would report progressive improvements in psychological well-being
as measured by mood and anxiety sensitivity variables, reflecting the effectiveness of
the MM program.
2. Elevations in self-critical personality traits would predict greater improvements in
depressed mood, given the greater need to neutralize cognitive events related to
negative moods.
A total of 71 undergraduate students in a large public university participated in weekly MM
sessions through the Fall & Winter semesters of the 2012/2013 academic year. Recruitment was
facilitated through in-class announcements and poster and print advertisements. Online and
paper surveys elicited self-report data (reflecting mental health profiles) at program
initiation which served as baseline measures for the September-October study period, written
informed consent was also obtained during this time. Inclusion criteria included: 1)
currently enrolled (part-time-full-time); 2) computer access at the university or elsewhere
and/or smartphone access Following a standard within-subjects design, participants were
required to complete the psychological measures at 3 additional assessment periods; Time 2
(November-December), Time 3 (January-February), and Time 4 (March-April). To alleviate
demands on the students partaking in weekly MM sessions, follow-up assessments were provided
in paper and electronic form and completed autonomously. Study participants were given $50
cash payments for full study participation and the study met the ethical guidelines and
received approval from the Human Participants Review Subcommittee of the university site
where the study was conducted.
The program progressively trained students in "mindfulness of breathing", a form of
meditation frequently employed secularly. The tutorials were held on campus five times
weekly, led by a faculty member and a graduate student who were trained, experienced MM
practitioners. The tutorials were one hour in duration and typically involved 40-45 minutes
of guided MM followed by a question-answer period that addressed recent research findings.
Program participation required attendance at one tutorial per week, and participants were
encouraged to maintain autonomous MM practice.
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Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment, Masking: Single Blind (Subject), Primary Purpose: Treatment