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NCT Number: NCT07437092

Facilitating Psychological Closure and Emotional Change Through Mindfulness Meditation

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if mindfulness meditation can improve closure and emotion towards unresolved memories in an undergraduate student population. This will be tested through a brief, novel intervention called Mindful Recollection, where participants transition immediately from mindfulness meditation into the recollection of an unresolved memory. The secondary aim of the study is to investigate the mechanisms of change underlying Mindful Recollection. Overall then, the main questions this study aims to answer are:

* Does mindful recollection reduce negative emotions associated with unresolved event memories? * Can increases in acceptance, decentering, and reappraisal account for the observed effects of mindful recollection on negative emotion? * Does mindful recollection facilitate closure towards unresolved event memories? * Can increases in acceptance, decentering, and reappraisal account for the observed effects of mindful recollection on closure?

Researchers will compare the Mindful Recollection intervention to a mind-wandering control task to see if mindfulness meditation uniquely produces positive changes in emotion and closure above and beyond placebo. Mindful Recollection will involve a 13-minute audio-guided mindfulness meditation followed immediately by 2 minutes of memory recollection. The control task will involve 13-minutes of audio-guided mind-wandering followed immediately by 2 minutes of memory recollection.

Participants will:

* Complete pretest measures of emotion and closure towards an unresolved event memory. * Engage in either the Mindful Recollection intervention or the placebo control task after a 24-72 hour delay. * Complete post-test measures of emotion and closure towards the same unresolved event memory.

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Key information

Conditions

Unresolved Event Memories Psychological Closure

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Ability to hear and understand spoken instructions clearly; English language proficiency

Exclusion criteria

  • Trauma history/Dissociative tendencies

Treatment and study plan

Mindfulness Meditation

Behavioral

Mindful Recollection consists of a 15-minute audio-guided task (13 minutes of guided meditation followed immediately by 2 minutes of unresolved event recollection). The 13-minute guided meditation is intended to facilitate a broad mindful awareness by working through sensations of the breath, body, and mind (in that respective order), eventually coming together in a practice of open monitoring - the non-selective observation of any and all aspects of experience. The 2-minute recollection period will have participants transition from meditating to recalling and reflecting on an unresolved memory they identified during the pretest period (approximately 24-72 hours prior).

Mind-Wandering Task

Behavioral

The mind-wandering control task consists of a 15-minute audio-guided task (13 minutes of mind-wandering followed immediately by 2 minutes of unresolved event recollection). Mind-wandering is a common sham mindfulness technique that repeatedly prompts participants to let their thoughts flow freely, thinking about whatever comes to mind. This exposes participants to the same procedure (i.e., listening to a 13-minute audio-recording) without receiving guided mindful meditation instructions. Thus, this condition will guide participants to have a typical mental experience of thinking freely about whatever comes to mind, without developing a mindful awareness of their internal experience.

Primary outcomes

  1. Pre- to Post-Test Changes in Psychological Closure using the Closure and Resolution Scale (CRS)

    Time frame: Baseline (24-72 hours prior to the intervention) and post-test (immediately after intervention)

    Items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = Completely disagree, 7 = Completely agree), with higher scores reflecting greater levels of closure and resolution.

  2. Pre- to Post-Test Changes in Negative Emotion using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)

    Time frame: Baseline (24-72 hours prior to the intervention) and post-test (immediately after intervention)

    Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Not at all, 5 = Extremely), with higher scores reflecting a stronger endorsement of that emotional experience.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Experiential Acceptance Towards Thoughts and Emotions

    Time frame: Immediately after the intervention (post-test)

    Using the acceptance subscale of The Southampton Experiential Avoidance and Acceptance Scale.

    Items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree, 7 = Strongly agree), with higher scores indicating greater levels of openness towards internal experience.

  2. Reappraisal

    Time frame: Immediately after the intervention (post-test)

    Using the Regulation of Emotion Systems Survey. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree, 5 = Strongly agree), with higher scores indicating greater engagement in reappraisal during the assigned task.

  3. State Decentering

    Time frame: Immediately after the intervention (post-test)

    Using the Metacognitive Processes of Decentering-state scale. Items are rated on an 11-point Likert scale (0 = Not at all, 10 = Very much), with higher scores reflecting greater levels of state decentering (i.e., being aware of, disidentified with, and nonreactive to thoughts and emotions).

Other outcomes

  1. Memory Characteristics

    Time frame: Immediately after the intervention (post-test)

    Using the Memory Experience Questionnaire Short-Form. Measures distinct qualities of autobiographical memory (e.g., coherence, vividness, visual perspective).

    Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree, 5 = Strongly agree), with higher scores indicating greater endorsement of a given memory characteristic.

  2. State Mindfulness (Manipulation Check)

    Time frame: Immediately after the intervention (post-test)

    Using the State Mindfulness Scale. Administered as a manipulation check to measure participants' reports of mindful states during the assigned tasks.

    Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Not at all, 5 = Very well), with higher scores indicating greater states of mindfulness.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Anas Alsayed Hasan

CONTACT

[email protected]

647-224-1595

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Windsor

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Mindful Recollection: Attending to the Present Before Resolving the Past

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2027
First posted
Feb 27, 2026
Registry last updated
Mar 2, 2026

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.