A Study of Adolescents Undergoing a Mindfulness Training During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has been significantly affecting people's lives around the globe. Social distancing, self-quarantine, shelter-in-place measures, economic challenges, and COVID-19-cased illness and deaths have the potential to significantly impact mental health and cause stress, anxiety, and depression. Adolescents may be especially vulnerable to this situation, due to their increased vulnerability to the onset of depression and anxiety in general.

One promising approach to reduce anxiety and depression in youth is a neuroscience-based mindfulness intervention Training for Awareness Resilience and Action (TARA). TARA is usually delivered over 12 weeks by two facilitators in groups of 10-15 adolescents in-person, and it has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in depressed adolescents and modify brain properties. The TARA intervention can also be delivered remotely. Other types of therapy delivered remotely, such as internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy, have shown comparable efficiency to face-to-face delivery.

The objective of this study is to utilize an individually randomized group treatment, open-label, waitlist-controlled clinical trial to test the feasibility of TARA (delivered partially over Zoom) in improving the self-reported emotional well-being primary outcome (emotional problems measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire [SDQ]) in healthy adolescents between the ages of 14 to 18 years old during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our central hypothesis is that emotional well-being of adolescents in the intervention group will improve stronger (or deteriorate less) than in the control group. We will test this hypothesis in 21 adolescents randomized to the TARA intervention (partially delivered over Zoom) (12 adolescents) or to the waitlist control group (9 adolescents).

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Key information

Conditions

Healthy

Age range

14 year–18 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

UCSF

San Francisco, California, 94143, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Healthy female and male adolescents, 14-18 years old
Fluency in English

Exclusion criteria

Subjects younger or older than 14-18 years old.
Subjects who are not healthy. Subjects who are taking any psychotropic medication.
MRI contraindications (ferromagnetic objects on or inside the body, e.g., braces) and pregnancy.
Not allowable: Current mindfulness training (e.g. MBSR, MBCT, DBT) and/or practice with a typically sitting meditation or yoga of 20 or more minutes two or more times per week within 60 days prior to study entry.
Potential adolescent subjects with current drug or alcohol use or dependence that, in the opinion of the site investigator, would interfere with adherence to the study requirements will be excluded and not allowed to enter the study.
Potential subjects with an inability or unwillingness to give written informed assent or whose legal guardian/representative are unable or unwilling to give written informed consent will be excluded and not allowed to enter the study.

Treatment and study plan

Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA)

Behavioral

This will be a 12-week group meditation training - Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA)

Primary outcomes

Change in SDQ Emotional Problems

Time frame: Baseline/randomization and 12 weeks after baseline/randomization

Change in the level of emotional problems measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The emotional problems scores have a possible range of 0 to 100. Higher scores represent higher levels of emotional problems.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of California, San Francisco

Other

Registry information

Official study title

A Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study of Emotional Well-being of Adolescents Undergoing a Mindfulness Training During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Important dates

Study start: 2019
Primary completion: 2020
Study completion: 2020
First posted: Sep 14, 2020
Registry last updated: Dec 11, 2024

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

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