None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The proposed study is a micro-longitudinal, 3-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigating the influence of mobile mindfulness meditation on psychological well-being in an adult student population who report experiencing distress. This design will allow further investigation of whether there is a relationship between mobile mindfulness meditation and improved psychological outcomes and whether this relationship is contingent upon time of delivery of intervention. Prior to the commencement of this intervention, a pilot study, of similar design, was conducted in a normative population to ensure that the current research program was feasible, that Headspace was a suitable tool, and that the mobile mindfulness meditation app did no harm. The proposed project will involve innovative assessment and intervention delivery methods utilizing mobile phone technology to increase positive psychological wellbeing in naturalistic environments over time. Overall, the goal is to understand whether our intervention increases mindfulness practice and whether that increase in mindfulness practice translates into noticeable improvements in psychological well-being (better mood, lower depression), and whether such changes in well-being are mediated by psychological expectancies or therapeutic alliance with their clinician.
Interventions
We aim to recruit a representative sample of 360 Dunedin-based students from the University of Otago who are considered distressed (as indicated by opting in to the counselling service at Student Health Services). Participants will be guided through mindfulness meditation practice using an application (app) once daily for 10- 20 minutes for 30 days.
Participants will be randomised into one of three conditions:
Arm1: Mobile Mindfulness Meditation beginning before formal treatment (in the inter
We aim to recruit a representative sample of 360 Dunedin-based students from the University of Otago who are considered distressed (as indicated by opting in to the counselling service at Student Health Services). Participants will be guided through mindfulness meditation practice using an application (app) once daily for 10- 20 minutes for 30 days. Participants will be randomised into one of three conditions: Arm1: Mobile Mindfulness Meditation beginning before formal treatment (in the interim between initial assessment and beginning of treatment), This will be sent to participants immediately following enrolment (irrespective of when they are scheduled to begin their treatment at the Counselling Service which due to the nature of this setting could be 1 day to several weeks). Arm 2: Mobile Mindfulness Meditation beginning during treatment-as-usual, This will be sent to participants on the day that they begin treatment. Arm 3: Wait-list control with Mobile Mindfulness Meditation following treatment-as-usual. This will be sent to participants on the day they end treatment. All participants will be asked to download and integrate the mindfulness meditation app into their daily routine for 30 days. The app will be downloaded to their personal smartphone. All participants will be asked to answer surveys of psychological outcomes at the outset of app-use, and 14-28 days into app-use. Other than recruitment, all aspects of this study will occur via mobile or email. In order to obtain adherence data, during the information and consent process, participants will agree to allow the Mobile Mindfulness Meditation app (Headspace) to provide researchers with user data such as, number of sessions completed, and date/time of session.
Sponsors
University of Otago
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
To be eligible for this study, participants must be at least part-time University of Otago students, and own a smartphone (roughly 97% of student body; Flett et al., 2015). As this study aims to recruit distressed participants, all participants will be invited to participate by their Student Health Services Counselling clinician if the clinician deems them to need further assistance through the Counselling Service.
Exclusion criteria
Those with pre-existent or prodromal psychotic illness, including schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar disorder; high and imminent risk of suicide, or post-traumatic stress disorder will not be eligible to participate in the present study.
Outcome results
None listed