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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03336710

Perspective on Thoughts and Feelings as a Predictor of Psychological Well-being in Daily Life, in a Community Sample

This project examines the psychological construct of decentering - a mindfulness-related construct marked by an observer perspective on one's ongoing mental processes. Specifically, this project seeks to explore the extent to which decentering modulates the relationship between people's affective states and their momentary mental health and well-being, and to test the psychological processes by which decentering might exert these effects. This study includes a baseline assessment followed by a 7-day study completed from home where participants respond to brief surveys about their current experiences six times per day (i.e., an Ecological Momentary Assessment [EMA] design).

The investigators hypothesize that decentering moderates the association of extreme affect with related symptoms (i.e., elevated negative affect with depression and anxiety; elevated positive affect with mania, narcissism, and histrionic traits) and well-being, such that the association is attenuated at high levels of decentering. This will be examined using the EMA data, analyzing between-person levels (i.e., trait) as well as momentary within-person processes (i.e., concurrent and prospective states).

Further, the investigators predict that broadened attentional focus and improved self-regulation are mechanisms that contribute to the beneficial effects of decentering in daily life. This hypothesis will be examined in two ways:

1. as individual differences, wherein greater self-regulatory abilities (e.g., higher heart rate variability) and less attentional biases towards emotional stimuli mediate the association between trait decentering and subsequent daily well-being/symptoms, and 2. as within-person momentary levels, wherein broader attentional processes and greater self-regulation in daily life mediate the concurrent and prospective association between momentary decentering and well-being/symptoms.

Note that the study uses a multimodal assessment of each of the proposed processes. For attentional processes, a variety of parameters extracted from an emotional eye tracking paradigm will be examined. For self-regulatory abilities, assessments will include self-report, physiological (heart rate variability), and behavioral ("go / no-go" task) measures of such abilities.

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Key information

Conditions

Mental Health Arrhythmia, Sinus Arrhythmias, Cardiac Behavior Cardiovascular Diseases Emotional Regulation Heart Diseases Mental Disorders Mindfulness Mood Disorders Pathologic Processes Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Personal Satisfaction Psychological Well-Being Self-Control Social Behavior

Age range

18 year–65 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

University at Buffalo, Department of psychology

Buffalo, New York, 14260, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • age 18-65, fluency in English

Exclusion criteria

  • current cognitive impairments (i.e., intellectual disability, dementia, current psychotic symptoms) that preclude giving informed consent and accurately answering study questions

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

  1. Momentary psychological distress

    Time frame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment

    2 items (developed new for this study) assessing the presence and impact of idiographic symptoms identified at baseline, and 4 items assessing dysphoria adapted from the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS)

  2. Momentary eudaimonic well-being

    Time frame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment

    2 items assessing eudaimonic well-being adapted from Breines et al. (2008) and Lambert et al. (2013)

  3. Momentary hedonic well-being (state positive and negative affect)

    Time frame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment

    8 items assessing hedonic well-being (positive and negative affect), taken from the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS).

  4. State Decentering

    Time frame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment

    4 items assessing current decentering, adapted from Fresco et al. (2007), Gillanders et al. (2014), and Shoham et al. (2017)

  5. Trait Decentering: Experiences Questionnaire

    Time frame: Baseline session only

    Experiences Questionnaire is a trait measure of decentering, which assesses the Observer Perspective aspect of decentering. From Fresco et al., (2007)

  6. Trait decentering: Valence free decentering measure

    Time frame: Baseline session only

    This is an in-development measure of decentering that measures the construct of decentering without explicitly referring to negative thoughts and feelings.

  7. Trait decentering: Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire

    Time frame: Baseline session only

    The Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire is a decentering measure that assesses the Reduced Struggle with Inner Experiences aspect of decentering. From Gillanders et al., (2014).

  8. Trait decentering: Toronto Mindfulness Scale-Decentering Subscale

    Time frame: Baseline session only

    The Toronto Mindfulness Scale-Decentering subscale is a decentering measure that assesses the Observer Perspective aspect of decentering. From Davis, Lau, & Cairns (2009).

Secondary outcomes

  1. Self-reported momentary self-regulation

    Time frame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment

    3 questions assessing current perceived willpower & mental exhaustion, adapted from Davisson (2013) and Milyavskaya & Inzlicht (2017).

  2. Self-reported momentary attentional focus

    Time frame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment

    4 attentional emotion regulation items (distraction, positive rumination, negative rumination, and reappraisal) adapted from Brans et al. (2013), Feldman et al. (2008), and Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow (1991)

  3. Baseline self-regulation: Go/no-go task

    Time frame: Baseline session only

    Go/no-go task asks people to respond to a large number of "go" trials (80%) and a smaller number of "no go" trials. The ability to inhibit the dominant "go" response is seen as an operative measure of self-regulatory abilities, consequently the number of "no go" signals responded to is one measure of self-regulatory abilities.

  4. Baseline self-regulation: Resting heart rate variability

    Time frame: Baseline session only

    Assessed with a Polar V800 athletic watch during a 5-minute vanilla baseline and a 5-minute paced breathing task.

  5. Baseline self-regulation: Self-Control Scale (short form)

    Time frame: Baseline session only

    A self-report measure of people's perceived self-control abilities and outcomes, developed by Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone (2004).

  6. Baseline attentional breadth: Emotional eye-tracking paradigm

    Time frame: Baseline session only

    Participants will view a series of emotionally expressive versus neutral faces, and the fixation time and number of fixations towards emotionally evocative (angry, sad, happy) faces will serve as indicators of attentional bias

  7. Baseline attentional breadth: Thought Control Questionnaire

    Time frame: Baseline session only

    Self-report measure corresponding to various emotion regulation strategies (distraction and reappriasal)

  8. Baseline attentional breadth: Responses to Positive Affect Scale

    Time frame: Baseline session only

    Self-report measure corresponding to various emotion regulation strategies (positive rumination)

  9. Baseline attentional breadth: Ruminative Responses Scale

    Time frame: Baseline session only

    Self-report measure corresponding to various emotion regulation strategies (negative rumination)

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

State University of New York at Buffalo

Other

Collaborators

  • National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

Registry information

Official study title

Decentering in Daily Life: Underlying Mechanisms and Impact on Well-Being

Important dates

Study start
2017
Primary completion
2018
Study completion
2018
First posted
Nov 8, 2017
Registry last updated
Jul 30, 2019

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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