Stress Free UC Merced: The Effect of 8 Weeks of Mindfulness App Headspace on Stress in a Sample of University Employees

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

UNKNOWN

Clinical Phase

PHASE3

Total Enrollment

200 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2018-09-01

Study Completion Date

2020-08-31

Brief Summary

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The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the app-based mindfulness intervention (i.e., the commercially available application Headspace) on overall physical and psychological health. Secondly, this study examines potential mindfulness mechanisms that may be driving these effects (i.e., decentering, attention regulation, acceptance, self-compassion, reactivity, exposure).

This study will randomize UC Merced employees to 8-weeks of either a digital mindfulness intervention (Headspace) or a waitlist control condition. Participants assigned to the intervention group will be asked to download and use the Headspace mobile application for 10 minutes per day for 8 weeks. They will be asked to fill out questionnaires at baseline, week 4, week 8 (post intervention), 4-month, and 12-month follow up period (20-30 minutes each time). In addition, participants will be asked to complete surveys on their phone as a part of everyday life assessments (4 days per week during baseline, 2 weeks, 5 weeks, 8 weeks, up to 5-10 minutes a day). Participants will also wear a fitness watch, Fitbit, to assess their activity, sleep, and heart rate data. For the everyday life assessment part, participants will be asked to participate in one of our 60 minutes orientation sessions where you will receive training on using the mobile app and receive a fitness watch that will be collected upon the completion of the study.

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Detailed Description

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Stress at work has shown to be an important health risk for employees. It is associated with poor mental and physical health including anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal problems, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Work stress also has major implications for employers as evidence suggests that high levels of work stress predict employee burnout, turnover intent, absenteeism, and poor job performance.

Mindfulness and its positive effects on a variety of outcomes, including stress reduction, have been documented in many studies. The most common definition of mindfulness is as the state of being attentive to and aware of the present moment with an attitude of openness and acceptance. Several mechanisms by which mindfulness exerts its positive effects have been proposed in the literature including cultivating the attitude of non-judgement and acceptance, ability to observe one's experiences objectively without reacting to them, and ability to be more patient and kind toward oneself. Recent evidence suggests that teaching mindfulness in the workplace not only reduces stress but also improve psychological well-being.

With advances in technology, technology-based delivery of many interventions has become popular. App-based treatments for improving psychological health are becoming increasingly important due to high accessibility and cost-effectiveness of smartphone technology. Despite a great number of app-based interventions, there has been little research evaluating their efficacy. Support for the use of smartphone app-based mindfulness interventions comes from a few small studies that found these interventions to produce benefits comparable to traditional delivery methods. While app-based interventions offer a convenient alternative to traditional delivery methods as well as promising initial empirical evidence, more research is needed in order to further evaluate and promote these interventions.

The proposed study has several goals. The first goal is to investigate the effects of the app-based mindfulness intervention on overall physical and psychological health (e.g., perceived stress, mindfulness, sleep quality, self-reported health, anxiety symptoms). The second goal is to examine the effect of the intervention on a variety of work-related outcomes (e.g., work stress, job satisfaction, work-related burnout). Further, the study will examine potential mindfulness mechanisms that may drive these effects (e.g., acceptance, reactivity, decentering).

Conditions

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Stress Psychological Distress

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Investigators Outcome Assessors

The party or parties involved in the clinical trial who are prevented from having knowledge of the interventions assigned to individual participants.

Study Groups

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Meditation Group

Headspace application: Participants in the intervention group will use a digitally-based mindfulness intervention Headspace app (Basics + Stress packs) will be used for 10 minutes a day over the course of 8 weeks.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Meditation

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

10 minute a day, 8 week digital meditation

No intervention, control group

Control group participants will continue their normal activities and not add any form of meditation during the study period.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Meditation

10 minute a day, 8 week digital meditation

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Have access to a smartphone or computer with internet every day
* Are fluent in English
* Are a UC Merced employee
* Consent: demonstrate understanding of the study and willingness to participate as evidenced by voluntary informed consent and has received a signed and dated copy of the informed consent
* Are at least 18 years of age

Exclusion Criteria

* Individuals may not join if they are experienced meditators or have participated in a sitting meditation practice more than twice a week (for 10 minutes or greater) over the last three months.

Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes