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Completed

NCT Number: NCT02313779

Meditation and Decision Making Study III

The overarching goal of the proposed research is to investigate the role of emotions in facilitating successful lifestyle change, defined as healthy behavioral decisions repeated daily, or near daily.

Participants are asked to make two lab visits during the course of four weeks to complete electronic questionnaires, be monitored for psychophysiological activity (e.g. heart rate, blood pressure, respiration), and listen to a guided meditation audio track. Additionally, between the two visits participants will be asked to complete weekly surveys that ask about daily meditation practice (outside of the lab) and general emotions.

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Key information

Conditions

Meditation

Age range

35 year–64 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

UNC PEP Lab

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Fluent in written and spoken English, with a high school reading level
  • Willingness or interest in learning to meditate
  • Computer literate with internet access

Exclusion criteria

  • Individuals who are able to read Chinese logographs
  • Individuals who have or have had a regular meditation practice, defined as having attended a 6-week or longer meditation class, practicing meditation at least 3 days a week for up to 6-weeks.
  • Individuals with allergies to adhesive materials

Treatment and study plan

Lovingkindness Meditation (LKM)

Behavioral

Compassionate behavior training (REVISE)

Mindfulness Meditation

Behavioral

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in positive emotions (as measured by the Modified Daily Emotions Scale)

    Time frame: Baseline and Weeks 1, 2, and 3

    Modified Daily Emotions Scale (mDES) - This measure of explicit positive affect has been successfully used by the PI in multiple studies to detect changes in positive emotion. Previous work by the PI found that Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the mDES positive emotion composite variable was 0.93 in sample of mid-life community adults similar to those anticipated for this study.

  2. Change in nonconscious incentive salience (as measured by the Affect Misattribution Procedure)

    Time frame: Baseline and Weeks 1, 2, and 3

    Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) - This measure of nonconscious incentive salience has acceptable internal consistency for an indirect measure of affect (.69 - .90) and has been found to predict judgments and behavioral outcomes above and beyond self-report measures.

  3. Changes in meditation time

    Time frame: Weeks 1, 2, and 3

    Self-reported meditation time recorded daily and weekly. In addition, meditation track play times will be recorded from the iPod.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Cardiac Vagal Tone

    Time frame: Baseline

    This measure of parasympathetic control over the heart has been positively associated with both emotional and social functioning. Previous work by the PI's team has found that baseline vagal tone predicts increased positive response to lovingkindness meditation (LKM), and that LKM in turn increases vagal tone.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Barbara L. Fredrickson, PhD

Other

Collaborators

  • National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

Registry information

Official study title

Nonconscious Affective and Physiological Mediators of Behavioral Decision Making Study 3

Acronym: MDMS3

Important dates

Study start
2014
Primary completion
2015
Study completion
2015
First posted
Dec 10, 2014
Registry last updated
Jul 15, 2016

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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