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Completed

NCT Number: NCT01122706

Efficacy of Taiji Training as a Program for Stress Prevention

Background: Excessive exposure to psychosocial stress can be a potent trigger for somatic diseases and psychological disorders, a cause for missing work, and eventually lead to high economic loss. Therefore, for health and economic reasons the assessment of effectiveness of stress preventive interventions is of high relevance. According to several clinical studies, Taiji, a Chinese form of mindful and gentle movements, can significantly reduce symptoms of somatic diseases and psychological disorders. Some recently conducted Taiji-studies with healthy subjects indicate a stress protective effect. However, the stress protective impact of Taiji regarding psychosocial stress has not yet been examined.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of a 12 week Taiji training as a stress prevention program by measuring psychosocial stress reactivity in a laboratory setting, as well as the subjective perception of stress and coping-resources in daily life of 70 healthy volunteers.

Hypothesis: Healthy subjects attending a 12 week Taiji course (frequency: twice a week for 1h) will show significantly reduced psychobiological reactivity, decreased stress perception and increased coping-resources on a standardized psychosocial stress test compared with healthy subject of the waiting list.

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Key information

Conditions

Primary Prevention Adult Stress Tai Ji

Age range

18 year–50 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Bern, Institute of Complementary Medicine KIKOM

Bern, 3010, Switzerland

About this study

Background:

Excessive exposure to psychosocial stress can be a potent trigger for somatic diseases and psychological disorders, a cause for missing work, and eventually lead to high economic loss. Therefore, for health and economic reasons the assessment of effectiveness of stress preventive interventions is of high relevance. According to several clinical studies, Taiji, a Chinese form of mindful and gentle movements, can significantly reduce symptoms of somatic diseases and psychological disorders. Some recent Taiji-studies with healthy subjects indicate a stress protective effect. However, since these findings mainly focus on effects during or immediately after a Taiji training session, their study designs and outcome measures are not comparable with existing stress prevention efficacy studies and their sample sizes are generally too small, the present available results remain inconclusive. Also, the impact of a Taiji training on psychosocial stress has not been assessed so far.

Objective:

The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of a 12 week Taiji training as a stress prevention program by measuring psychosocial stress reactivity in a laboratory setting, subjective perception of stress and coping-resources of 70 healthy subjects in daily life.

Methods:

The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) will be used to measure the psychobiological stress reactivity. Salivary cortisol, alpha amylase, heart rate and heart rate variability will be measured in each subject to asses stress reactivity, Also, the primary appraisal secondary appraisal (PASA) questionnaire and the multidimensional mood questionnaire (MDBF) will be used to assess psychological stress reactivity, and a visual analogue scale (VAS) to measure perceived stressfulness.

Additionally to the TSST setting, pre-, post-intervention and 2 months follow up measurements will be taken. The following tools will be used: Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Stress Reactivity Scale (SRS)(to assess perceived stress), and self-efficacy-expectancy questionnaire (SWE), questionnaire for measuring wellbeing (FEW-16), Freiburg mindfulness inventory (FMI) and self compassion scale (SCS) (to assess perceived coping resources).

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • ready to participate in the Taiji-intervention group as well as in the Waiting list control group
  • mentally healthy
  • physically healthy
  • fluent in German (written and spoken)

Exclusion criteria

  • previous practical experience with Taiji-exercises
  • previous practical experience with the Trier Social Stress Test
  • being absent for more than one week between Sept. 6th and Nov. 25th 2010
  • daily alcohol consumption more than two alcoholic drinks
  • daily tobacco consumption more than five cigarettes per day
  • any kind of drug consumption
  • pregnancy
  • intake of hormonal compounds i.e. birth control pill and hormon replacement therapy

Treatment and study plan

Taiji training

Other

Taiji training during 12 weeks (twice a week for 1 hour) (Sept. 6th till Nov. 25th 2010). The first 18 sequences of a series of 37 movements of the short form Yang style Taiji will be taught. The focus will be on memorizing the series of movements, developing a regular training routine and working on body alignment and flow of the movements.

Other names: Taiji, Tai Chi, Tai Chi Chuan, Taijiquan

Primary outcomes

  1. Area under the curve (AUC) with respect to increase of salivary cortisol titer

    Time frame: durring the Trier Social Stress Test

    saliva samples will be taken 8 times during the Trier Social Stresstest. Salivary cortisol reactivity in response to this psychosocial stress test will be calculated by aggregating cortisol data of all 8 saliva samples in an AUC value with respect to increase.

Secondary outcomes

  1. salivary alpha amylase reactivity to psychosocial stress

    Time frame: 8 times during the Trier Social Stress Test (which lasts 2h)

  2. heart rate

    Time frame: continuously during the Trier Social Stress Test (which lasts 2h)

  3. heart rate variability

    Time frame: continuously during the Trier Social Stress Test (which lasts 2h)

  4. perceived stress

    Time frame: before, after the Taiji training and 2 months follow up

    to be measured by using the percieved stress scale (PSS)

  5. self-efficacy-expectancy

    Time frame: before, after the Taiji training and 2 months follow up

    to be measured by using the self-efficacy-expectancy questionnaire (SWE)

  6. wellbeing

    Time frame: before, after the Taiji training and 2 months follow up

    to be measured by using the questionnaire for measuring wellbeing (FEW-16)

  7. Mindfulness

    Time frame: before, after the Taiji training and 2 months follow up

    to be measured by using the Freiburg mindfulness inventory (FMI)

  8. Self Compassion

    Time frame: before, after the Taiji training and 2 months follow up

    to be measured by using the self compassion scale (SCS)

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Bern

Other

Collaborators

  • Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

Registry information

Official study title

Efficacy of Taiji Training as a Program for Stress Prevention - a Randomized, Waiting List Controlled Longitudinal Study With Healthy Subjects

Important dates

Study start
2010
Primary completion
2011
Study completion
2011
First posted
May 13, 2010
Registry last updated
Jul 26, 2011

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.

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