Clinical Trials Logo

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to test the active components of mindfulness meditation for reducing psychological stress and improving biomarkers of health. This study compares the effects of three brief trainings: (1) training in both present-moment attention and mindful acceptance, (2) training in present-focused attention, and (3) an active psychological training with no mindfulness content.


Clinical Trial Description

Mindfulness meditation practices are widely used among the general public, with people seeking to reduce stress, pain, inflammation, depression, and disease symptoms. Moreover, randomized controlled trials have shown mindfulness training programs to be effective in improving a broad range of psychological and physical health outcomes, particularly among populations with high stress burdens. Still, little is known about the mechanisms underlying mindfulness training that drive these effects. This study tests the active components of mindfulness that impact stress responding and health biomarkers.

The study separates attention and acceptance mindfulness instructions into three 14-day training programs delivered to a stressed adult population: (1) attention and acceptance instructions, (2) attentional monitoring instructions only, or (3) analytic thinking with no mindfulness instruction. Intervention programs are delivered on participants' own smartphones, providing a platform for maximal experimental control in testing the active ingredients of mindfulness training.

Participants are recruited from the Pittsburgh community. At a baseline laboratory session, they complete psychosocial questionnaires and tasks and provide a dried blood spot sample. On their own, they complete pre- and post-intervention Ecological Momentary Assessment measures of stress, attention, and acceptance in daily life. Between these assessments, participants have 14 days to complete their randomly assigned 14-lesson intervention program. Participants return to the lab for post-intervention assessments (questionnaires, tasks, dried blood sample), listen to a final training session from their intervention program, and complete the Trier Social Stress Test. Participants are compensated. ;


Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Outcomes Assessor), Primary Purpose: Basic Science


Related Conditions & MeSH terms


NCT number NCT02433431
Study type Interventional
Source Carnegie Mellon University
Contact Emily K Lindsay, MS
Phone 412-268-8113
Email elindsay@andrew.cmu.edu
Status Recruiting
Phase N/A
Start date February 2015

See also
  Status Clinical Trial Phase
Completed NCT03614390 - Mindfulness for Medical Students N/A
Recruiting NCT06038942 - Formal Versus Informal Mindfulness Among University Students With Self-reported ADHD, Nonsuicidal Self-injury, or Stress N/A
Completed NCT03644615 - A Mindfulness Program (MBSR) in the Management of Symptomatic Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis N/A
Completed NCT02869854 - Increased Physical Activity Through Mindfulness N/A
Not yet recruiting NCT02894203 - Psychobiological Effects of Meditation on Offenders With Psychopathy N/A
Completed NCT02157766 - Wisconsin Center for the Neuroscience and Psychophysiology of Meditation N/A
Recruiting NCT05020301 - Investigation of Functional Brain Network in Altered Meditation State With Multimodal Neuroimaging N/A
Not yet recruiting NCT04496115 - Mindfulness in High Risk Pregnancies N/A
Completed NCT05516108 - Remote Mindfulness Training Following Early Life Adversity Phase 1
Completed NCT04930081 - The Effectiveness and Underlying Mechanisms of Parent Management Training and Mindful Parenting Program N/A
Completed NCT04927026 - "Where-there-is-no-psychiatrist Integrated Personal Therapy" Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults N/A
Completed NCT03495310 - Effect of Mindfulness on Stress, Appetite Hormones and Body Weight of Obese Schoolchildren. Controlled Clinical Trial N/A
Completed NCT05085847 - Effects of Mindfulness-based Intervention on Epigenetic Mechanisms, Cognition Function, Stress Response, and Well-being N/A
Recruiting NCT04733300 - Online Mindfulness-Based College for Young Adults N/A
Completed NCT04416529 - Tele-Mindfulness for Dementia's Family Caregivers: a Randomized Trial With a Usual Care Control Group N/A
Completed NCT05538650 - RCT: Mindfulness for Social Work and Self-care N/A
Completed NCT05994911 - Mindfulness Education in Adolescents N/A
Recruiting NCT05568030 - Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Single Brief Intervention of Mindfulness to Reduce Stress Response in a Social Stress Task Paradigm N/A
Completed NCT06090760 - Mindfulness Intervention and Online Social Networking N/A
Completed NCT04929613 - Resilience Training for First Responders in the Opioid Epidemic N/A