Mental Health and General Well-being
Conditions
Brief summary
The study is a three-arm intervention, where students are randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Teacher-led group-based MBCT, Self-guided MBCT using an audio book, or 'wait list' control. Pre-intervention, respondents complete a questionnaire assessing self, values, psychological processes related to self, and well-being. Post-intervention, respondents complete the same questionnaire, and then take part in a laboratory-based study which assesses behaviours related to the variables measured in the questionnaires. We are aiming for a sample size of 180 students at Sussex, 60 in each intervention arm.
Detailed description
Substantive evidence shows that mindfulness training improves mental health and general well-being (see meta-analyses by Cavanagh, Strauss, and colleagues). A significant factor that reduces well-being is the internalisation of two core consumer culture values: a materialistic value orientation (MVO) and body perfect ideals (see meta-analyses by Dittmar and colleagues for MVO, and Grabe et al, Barlett et al. for idealised media models). Thus, mindfulness may act as a buffer against the negative impact of consumer culture ideals, consistent with value circumplex models which place materialistic and appearance-focused values at the self-enhancement end, opposite to self-transcendence values, such as caring for self and others and community engagement. Self-transcendence values lead to psychological need satisfaction, whereas consumer culture values undermine such satisfaction (Self-Determination Theory). Three novel questions are examined: (1) Is change in self-related values and psychological processes significant for the beneficial consequences of mindfulness for well-being? (2) Does mindfulness training reduce consumer culture values and associated harmful behaviours, such as disordered eating and excessive buying? (3) Do high and low intensity mindfulness interventions differ in impact? The project involves collaboration with Kate Cavanagh in Psychology and the Co-Directors of the Sussex Centre for Mindfulness Clara Strauss and Robert Marx. It consists of: 1. qualitative interviews with experienced mindfulness teachers, 2. a multi-phase student intervention study, and 3. an exposure experiment with the same student sample. Study 1: INTERVIEWS WITH MINDFULNESS TEACHERS (n=12) Semi-structured interviews with teachers (recruited through the UK Network of Mindfulness Teacher Training Organisations) will examine their views on the psychological processes significant in individuals' mental health improvement, focusing on processes related to values and self. Interviews will be audio-taped. Study 2: INTERVENTION WITH STUDENTS (n=165-180) Phase 1: Online survey to collect baseline measures on all variables of interest, using established scales Trait mindfulness (Gu et al, 2016); Consumer Culture Values (Easterbrook et al., 2014); Core Self Beliefs (Fowler et al, 2006); Self-Discrepancies (Dittmar et al., 1996; Self-compassion (Neff, 2016); Self-esteem (Robins et al., 2001; Self-objectification (Lindner & Tantleff-Dunn, in press); Self-worth (Crocker et al., 2003); Self-concept clarity (Campbell et al., 2003); Self-construal (individualist vs. relational) (Aron et al., 1992); Social comparison tendency (Gibbons & Buunk, 1999); Consumer self-confidence, author, date); Mental health assessment (DASS-21); Subjective well-being (Dittmar & Kapur, 2001); Body esteem (Mendelson et al., 2001); Material esteem (Dittmar et al., 2016); Eating Behaviour (Van Strien et al., 1986, shortened); Excessive Buying (Dittmar et al., 2007); Emotion regulation (Bjureberg, 2016); Consumption-based coping (Wright et al., 2016) Phase 2: Intervention (randomised control trial) * 8-week mindfulness-based cognitive group therapy course guided by (non-NHS) mindfulness teachers (high intensity) * Self-guided MBCT training using a published audio book and CDs (low intensity) * 'Waiting list' (control; respondents are offered the book after the study) Phase 3: On-line survey (same as Phase 1) Study 3: IMPACT OF EXPOSURE TO CONSUMER CULTURE STIMULI (n=165-180) Using a 3 (mindfulness intervention condition) x 4 (CC stimuli: materialistic, appearance, combination, control) design, respondents view a film excerpt that contains an ad break (containing CC stimuli, approved in ER/HMC28/2), and then complete measures of actual eating (respondents will be offered food as a reward) and buying behaviour (approved in ER/RLJ/1), as well as selected measures used in Phases 1 and 3. Studies 2 and 3 include 3 ug and 3 masters research projects.
Interventions
OTHERTeacher-led MBCT course
9 x 2 hour group sessions following national guidelines for mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
OTHERSelf-guided MBCT course
9 weeks of self-guided mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, following an audiobook covering the same material and exercises as the teacher-led intervention
Sponsors
Sussex Mindfulness Centre
University of Sussex
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Student at the University of Sussex
Exclusion criteria
Having experienced a significant life event (e.g., bereavement) in the six months proceeding the study Suffering from a mental health condition at clinical levels Having prior time commitments that prevent the respondents from taking parts in all phases of the study
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in consumption-based coping | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by beingcollected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | This is a newly developed scale which measures the extent to which individuals use buying material goods as a strategy to cope with stress (Wright et. al, 2016) |
| Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in Mental health | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | We are using a mental health assessment (DASS-21) widely used in clinical and non-clinical populations which assess symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress |
| Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in Subjective well-being | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | This measure consists of an assessment of life satisfaction, and a brief measure of the frequency of positive and negative affective experiences as used in (Dittmar and Kapur, 2011) |
| Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in eating behaviour | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | We will use a shortened form of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Scale (Van Strien et al., 1986) which measures restraint, emotional, and external eating |
| Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in material esteem | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | This is a newly developed scale that assesses individuals' esteem in terms of the material goods they own (Dittmar et al., 2016) |
| Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in body esteem | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | We are using a well-established scale of body esteem (Mendelson et al., 2001), which assesses general appearance evaluation, evaluation of one's weight, and perceived evaluation by others |
| Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in emotional regulation | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | This scale, developed by Bjureberg (2016), assessing difficulties that people experience in dealing with, and regulating strong emotions |
| Indicators of psychological well-being: Change in excessive buying | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | This scale measures compulsive buying tendencies, such as having urges to buy or feeling out of control of one's shopping behaviour (Dittmar et al., 2007) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioural measure related to consumer culture: buying consumer goods online | This behavioural measure will be collected immediately after exposure to consumer culture stimuli in phase 4 of the research | Respondents will be invited to use an online retail website for discounted goods to make purchases if they so wish |
| Consumer culture values (materialistic and appearance-focused personal values) | This self-report measure will be collected five-six weeks before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and immediately after exposure to consumer culture stimuli in phase 4 of the research | This questionnaire measures motives and internalisation with respect to materialistic and appearance-focused values (Easterbrook et al., 2014) |
| Behavioural measure related to consumer culture: eating | This behavioural measure will be collected immediately after exposure to consumer culture stimuli in phase 4 of the research | Research participants will be offered a plate of snack foods and told they are can eat as many of them as they would like |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Self and self-related processes: Change in core self beliefs | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | Core self beliefs (Fowler et al, 2006) measure the habitual negative and positive beliefs people hold about their self |
| Self and self-related processes: Change in social comparison tendency | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | Social comparison tendency (Gibbons & Buunk, 1999) |
| Self and self-related processes: Change in self-construal | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | Self-construal (Aron et al., 1992) assesses the extent to which a person sees themselves as an individual entity that is separate for others or connected with others |
| Self and self-related processes: Change in self-concept clarity | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | Self-concept clarity (Campbell et al., 2003) means that people have a clear and confident view of who and what they are like |
| Self and self-related processes: Change in self-compassion | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | Self-compassion (Neff, 2016 short form) refers to having a kind and empathic approach to oneself |
| Self and self-related processes: Change in self-discrepancies | The change in this self-report measure will be be measured by being collected five-six weeks before the intervention, and immediately after the intervention | Self-discrepancies (Dittmar et al., 1998) refer to perceived gaps between how a person would ideally like to be and how they actually are |
Outcome results
None listed