Rumination
Conditions
Keywords
Rumination, nature exposure, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, blood pressure
Brief summary
The main goal of this study is to understand how different environments influence both mental responses, like overthinking (rumination), and physical reactions, such as heart rate and blood pressure, after a challenging task.
Detailed description
This study aims to explore the restorative effects of nature exposure on rumination- a mental process that affects attention-and cardiovascular responses to a challenging task. A total of 95 participants will be randomly assigned to either a built or natural environment. Each participant will take part in a 2.5-hour session. Initially, an electrocardiogram (ECG) will be attached to measure heart activity. Participants will then engage in a 30-minute task designed to immerse them in their assigned environment (the ABC engagement task). Following this, they will have a 10-minute period of quiet relaxation to establish baseline cardiovascular measures. After baseline, participants will complete a challenging task (the Remote Associates Test (RAT)), which is designed to induce sympathetic arousal. Afterward, they will rest quietly for another 10 minutes to monitor cardiovascular recovery. Finally, participants will complete post-task surveys through Qualtrics, assessing their state of rumination, perceived difficulty of the task, effort levels, and expectations of success.
Interventions
OTHERBuilt environment
Participants will complete the study session at a University student center.
OTHERNatural environment
Participants will complete the study session in a nature trail.
Sponsors
University of South Florida
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Individuals 18 years of age or older.
Exclusion criteria
* Individuals with a history of cardiovascular disease or disorders, those who are pregnant, or are taking medications which may alter/affect cardiovascular function.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) | Respiratory sinus arrhythmia will be measured during a baseline (20 minutes), challenging task (19 minutes) and the recovery period (10 minutes). | — |
| Blood pressure | Systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) will be measured during a baseline (20 minutes), challenging task (19 minutes), and recovery period (10 minutes). | — |
| Remote Associates Test (RAT) | Participants will complete the RAT task for 19 minutes (44 trials). | In this study, the remote associates test (RAT) will be used as a challenging task to induce sympathetic arousal. Each RAT item consists of three words, participants will be asked to generate a fourth word/solution associated with the words presented by means of a compound word, synonymy, or semantic association. The participant has provided a fourth/solution word or the 30 second time limit. The task will consist of a total of 39 trials, including 5 practice trials. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed