High-normal Blood Pressure, Psychological Stress
Conditions
Keywords
Transcendental Meditation, blood pressure, psychological distress, high psychological distress
Brief summary
The purpose of this trial is to show that the Transcendental Meditation program can decrease blood pressure in young adults (college students) and is associated with decreased psychological distress and coping ability.
Detailed description
Psychological distress contributes to the development of hypertension in young adults. This was a randomized controlled trial of 296 university students randomly allocated to either the Transcendental Meditation® program or wait-list control. At baseline and after three months posttest, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, psychological distress (total mood disturbance, anxiety, depression, anger/hostility) and coping ability (global constructive thinking) were measured.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALTranscendental Meditation program
a natural effortless mental technique
Sponsors
American University
Abramson Family Foundation
Maharishi International University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
16 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* male or female * currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program through August 2006
Exclusion criteria
* history of: * hypertension * hypoglycemia * chronic fainting * coronary heart disease * current systolic/diastolic blood pressure above 140/90 mm Hg or below 90/60 mm Hg
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| clinic systolic and diastolic blood pressure | 3 months |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| psychological distress (anxiety, depression, anger/hostility) and coping (constructive thinking) | 3 months |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed