The Psychobiological Effects of a One-Month Insight Meditation Retreat, a Sub-study of The Shamatha Project: A Longitudinal, Randomized Waitlist Control Study of Cognitive, Emotional, and Neural Effects of Intensive Meditation Training
The purpose of this study was to examine how participation in a 1 month intensive Insight (vipassana) Meditation retreat (a) affects biological markers of cellular aging, social affiliation, and inflammation, which are important for physical health, longevity, and behavior, and (b) to relate observed biological changes to baseline levels and changes in psychological traits, which may underlie improvements in personal adaptive functioning.
NCT03056105 — Aging
Status: Completed
http://inclinicaltrials.com/aging/NCT03056105/
Mantra Meditation as Adjunctive Therapy in Major Depression: a Randomized Controlled Trial
To evaluate effects of mantra meditation on depressive symptoms if applied as adjunctive therapy to psychotherapy and/or antidepressant drugs and to explore if meditation leads to increased spirituality as a potential mediating factor of positive mental health.
NCT03004430 — Depression
Status: Terminated
http://inclinicaltrials.com/depression/NCT03004430/
Self-Administered Meditation Intervention for Cancer Patients With Psychosocial Distress
This trial studies how well self-administered meditation therapy works in improving anxiety and depression in cancer patients who exhibit psychosocial distress. Meditation therapy is a mind-body approach that uses a variety of techniques, such as deep breathing, sound, or movement, that may help to decrease distress and anxiety and enhance the health and quality of life of patients with cancer.
NCT02988271 — Depression
Status: Active, not recruiting
http://inclinicaltrials.com/depression/NCT02988271/
Interventional Study in Cognitively Intact Seniors Aiming to Assess the Effects of Meditation Training and Foreign Language Learning on Behavioral, Biological and Neuroimaging Measures
As the number of older people in Europe grows, increasing healthy life years is a priority. As people live longer, ensuring good mental as well as physical health into later years is becoming ever more important. Cognitive decline, dementia (e.g. Alzheimer's Disease, AD), sleep disturbances and depression, all related to psychological distress and anxiety, are significant drivers of reduced quality of life in older adults. This project builds on evidence that meditation practice have the potential to downregulate these adverse factors and positively impact mental and neurological conditions including AD.
NCT02977819 — Cognitive Aging
Status: Active, not recruiting
http://inclinicaltrials.com/cognitive-aging/NCT02977819/
Meditation Practice in Pediatric Healthcare Professionals: a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial
Rationale: Healthcare professionals face a growing burden of responsibilities and work overload which may cause psychological suffering expressed by burnout, depression and other negative psychological variables. Personal behavioral strategies may facilitate the coping process. To maintain these positive characteristics, it is necessary that one decouples from automatic thoughts, habits and patterns of unhealthy behaviors, leading to behavioral and physiological regulation, through mindfulness techniques. More specifically, Yoga is an ancient Indian philosophical and practical system and its ultimate goal is to calm the human mind, and increase vital capabilities. In addition to the ethical precepts of Yoga, practices involve asanas (postures), pranayama (breathing exercises) and dhyana (meditation). Many studies have shown the positive effects of Yoga and meditation on psychometric variables, however, there are few which address the effectiveness of Yoga on improving psychometric variables of health care professionals. Thus, aiming to reduce the symptoms that health care professionals experience when they are under burnout, this study intends to use Yoga meditation, which may enable the professional to experience decoupling of harmful feelings, improving, firstly, one's own inner self-relationship and therefore, with patients and their families. Objective: To investigate the effects of a 8-week yoga meditation program on psychometric and physiological variables of Pediatrics health professionals. Methods: randomized controlled clinical trial. Participants: 60 health professionals from the Pediatrics Department of a tertiary hospital from Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) will be randomized to meditation or control (waiting list) groups. Subjects of the meditation groups will have 2 30 min classes a week. Evaluations: Psychometric and physiological variables will be accessed at study entry (baseline) and after its completion (8-weeks). Statistical Analysis: mixed general linear model (intervenient factors: groups - meditation vs. control and moment - baseline vs. 8-weeks). Significance accepted with p<0.05.
NCT02947074 — Stress, Psychological
Status: Recruiting
http://inclinicaltrials.com/stress-psychological/NCT02947074/
The Healthy Staff Initiative Study: Examining Exercise, Health Coaching and Meditation for University Employees: a Randomized Trial
There is evidently great potential in implementing workplace health promotion programs, but more randomized trials are needed to determine which interventions are worksite-effective in helping to decrease inactive behaviors and increase engagement in healthy lifestyle activities. For employers, it could mean improving the health and productivity of employees. For workers, especially those in physically and/or psychologically demanding positions, it could mean developing strength, muscular endurance and agility to reduce musculoskeletal pain while developing the stress reduction skills that reduce long-term sickness and absenteeism risks. While changing behavior in a complex workplace is, as seen in multiple studies, difficult due to the need to change workplace and organizational culture between employers and employees, this study aims to identify the effectiveness of workplace interventions in relation to counseling for university employees to increase overall work fitness without affecting any hierarchal interactions at the work site. Simply put, the investigators will examine the benefits of a workplace exercise and mindfulness (two-prong) intervention (in combination) vs. a group who just receive a workplace exercise intervention. Both interventions will be guided by health coaches. Given the limited research with health coaching and workplace interventions for university workers, the aim is to contribute to a developing research literature. This study is geared to engage university employees at their workplace over a 3 month period. Participants will be assessed through pre and post physical and psychological measures and will also undergo semi-structured interviews (SSI).
NCT02936726 — Motor Activity
Status: Terminated
http://inclinicaltrials.com/motor-activity/NCT02936726/
Psychological and Biological Effects of Intensive Mindfulness Meditation on Offenders With Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder: A Randomised Controlled Trial
The investigators aim to explore the psychobiological effects of a 5-day meditation intervention on offenders within dangerous and severe personality disorders (DSPD) unit at HMP Whitemoor. DSPD unit accommodates offenders with psychopathy or with two or more personality disorders. DPSD unit provides them with a 5-year rehabilitation programme that consists of group and individual therapy and aims to improve their self-regulation. This project includes a total of 60 participants and has two major methodological innovations. First, it will include yoga as an active control group that will be matched to the meditation intervention (which means it will have the same length and the same social components) and a passive control group that will be following their usual regimen. Thus, the effects of meditation will be contrasted with another type of intervention and with not receiving any intervention. The second methodological innovation is the combination of psychological and biological measures. Psychological measures include questionnaires (emotion regulation, mindfulness, stress) and cognitive measures (attention,empathy,behavioural control). Biological measures include EEG to measure brain activity related to empathy; gene expression and protein interlukin-6 to measure changes in immune system; and stress related hormone cortisol. The investigators also aim to determine to whom does meditation benefit the most by exploring how initial expectations of meditation, personality, mood and previous life adversity predict outcomes of meditation or yoga. The data will be collected at three time points: at baseline, immediately after and 10 weeks after the 5-day intervention. The investigators expect that meditation and yoga will similarly improve mental and physical health. If this hypothesis are confirmed, these results will extend previous findings on the benefits of meditation and yoga to vulnerable populations, and would provide a cost-effective addition to prisoner rehabilitation.
NCT02894203 — Mindfulness
Status: Not yet recruiting
http://inclinicaltrials.com/mindfulness/NCT02894203/
Feasibility Pilot Study to Examine the Role of Mantra Meditation at Reducing Burn Out and Emotional Exhaustion in Emergency Department Staff
Work in a healthcare setting, such as in an emergency department (ED), while rewarding, can be harmful to psychological well being, as demonstrated by the high numbers of Irish hospital doctors experiencing burnout. Burnout has been linked to poor healthcare quality, medical errors and low patient satisfaction. To prevent further escalation of this problem, there is a need for effective stress-reducing intervention, such as meditation. Meditation practice has a confirmed positive effect on well being; through greater insight and awareness, meditation could help ED staff to become more attentive to and understanding of their patients' complaints, enhancing patient satisfaction and safety. However, based on current research it is difficult to distinguish between the effects of meditation on well being and those associated with bringing people together. There is therefore a need for a larger randomised study (RCT) including a participants that receive no meditation intervention. This pilot study aims to examine the suitability of RCT to assess the effect of mantra meditation on burnout among ED staff. The investigators will also examine participant recruitment and retention, data management and outcomes assessment methods for well being, patient satisfaction and biological markers. There will be two groups: intervention group (meditation) and control group (non-meditation). 30 ED staff placed in the intervention group will discuss prescribed texts and learn mantra meditation over a 7-week period, accompanied by 20 minutes of daily meditation practice. 30 ED staff placed in the control group will work in the ED as usual and not receive any texts. Biological samples and questionnaires will be obtained at three time points. Participant feedback will also be sought through interviews. This study will highlight issues related to participant recruitment, retention, and adherence, questionnaires, logistics, and data management and pave the way for an efficient, effective, and larger study that will investigate mantra meditation as a means of reducing burnout in ED staff.
NCT02887300 — Psychological Stress
Status: Active, not recruiting
http://inclinicaltrials.com/psychological-stress/NCT02887300/
Physical Therapist Doctoral Student Stress Levels and Management Through Meditation
The professional program in Physical Therapy is rigorous and demanding on students, resulting in high levels of fatigue, stress, and sleep disturbance that can impact student performance and wellbeing. This project seeks to investigate ways to reduce student stress, monitor their quality of sleep and possibly enhance their learning through the practice of meditation.
NCT02821611 — Stress, Psychological
Status: Completed
http://inclinicaltrials.com/stress-psychological/NCT02821611/
Meditation Awareness Training for the Treatment of Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Randomised Controlled Trial
A Randomised Controlled Trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Intervention known as Meditation Awareness Training (MAT) for treating fibromyalgia syndrome.
NCT02800720 — Fibromyalgia Syndrome
Status: Completed
http://inclinicaltrials.com/fibromyalgia-syndrome/NCT02800720/