Stress Management Program

NCT ID: NCT06526585

Last Updated: 2025-05-18

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

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

80 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-03-12

Study Completion Date

2026-12-30

Brief Summary

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This study will test the immediate and long term (post 4 weeks of daily practice) effectiveness of two breathwork practices, cyclic sighing and box breathing, in comparison to hypnosis and an audiobook about stress, on psychological and physiological variables.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Stress Anxiety

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Randomized prospective
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Cyclic Sighing Breathing

Ten minutes a day of active breathwork practice for 28 days delivered remotely through a video link.

Participants will also practice 10 minutes of active breathwork during the 2 MRI assessments, one before the start of the 28 days, and one after the completion of the 28 days.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Cyclic Sighing Breathing

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants are instructed to be seated or lying down, and can keep their eyes open or closed throughout the 10 minutes of the breathing practice during the 28 days. Participants are instructed to keep their eyes closed when practicing the 10 minutes of the cyclic sighing during the 2 MRI assessments.

The cyclic sighing protocol consists of a breathing pattern that involves inhaling deeply, starting abdominally, inhaling through the nose until lungs feel comfortably filled, immediately followed by a second shorter inhale, also through the nose, to maximally inflate the lungs. Then participants are instructed to slowly exhale through the mouth until their lungs feel empty. This cycle is repeated for 10 minutes.

Box Breathing

Ten minutes a day of active breathwork practice for 28 days delivered remotely through a video link.

Participants will also practice 10 minutes of active breathwork during the 2 MRI assessments, one before the start of the 28 days, and one after the completion of the 28 days.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Box Breathing

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants are instructed to be seated or lying down, and can keep their eyes open or closed throughout the 10 minutes of the breathing during the 28 days. Participants are instructed to keep their eyes closed when practicing the 10 minutes of the box breathing during the 2 MRI assessments.

The CO2 tolerance test is done at baseline to determine their comfort level with the duration of each side of the box during box breathing.

The box breathing protocol consists of a four-part breathing technique. The practice involves breathing through the nose in four equally timed parts: inhale, hold, exhale, and hold again, forming a 'box' of breaths (e.g. 4 sec inhale, 4 sec hold, 4 sec exhale, 4 sec hold).This cycle is repeated for 10 minutes.

Hypnosis

Ten minutes a day of hypnosis practice for 28 days delivered remotely through an audio link.

Participants will also practice 10 minutes of hypnosis during the 2 MRI assessments, one before the start of the 28 days, and one after the completion of the 28 days

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Hypnosis

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants are instructed to sit comfortably or lie down during the 28 day at home practice (Participants will be lying down in the scanner during the 2 MRIs). Then participants are asked to look up, slowly close their eyes, take a deep breath, slowly exhale, and let their body float, and then to imagine floating in a bath, a lake, a hot tub, or floating in space. Participants are then asked to picture an imaginary screen and visualize a place where it would naturally feel comfortable and relaxed. The participants then divide the screen in half and picture on the left side one thing that is causing them stress, with the rule that no matter what the participant picture, to keep their body comfortable and relaxed. Then on the right side of the screen the participants are asked to picture one thing that can be done about the problem on the left. At the end the participant will be guided to come out of the state of hypnosis. This exercise will take 10 minutes.

Audiobook on Stress

Ten minutes a day of listening to sections of an audiobook about stress for 28 days (passive listening) delivered remotely through an audio link.

Participants will also listen to the 10 minute segments during the 2 MRI assessments, one before the start of the 28 days, and one after the completion of the 28 days.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Audiobook

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants are instructed to be seated or lying down, and can keep eyes open or closed throughout the 10 minutes of listening to the audiobook during the 28 days. Participants are instructed to keep their eyes closed during the 2 MRI assessments.

Interventions

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Cyclic Sighing Breathing

Participants are instructed to be seated or lying down, and can keep their eyes open or closed throughout the 10 minutes of the breathing practice during the 28 days. Participants are instructed to keep their eyes closed when practicing the 10 minutes of the cyclic sighing during the 2 MRI assessments.

The cyclic sighing protocol consists of a breathing pattern that involves inhaling deeply, starting abdominally, inhaling through the nose until lungs feel comfortably filled, immediately followed by a second shorter inhale, also through the nose, to maximally inflate the lungs. Then participants are instructed to slowly exhale through the mouth until their lungs feel empty. This cycle is repeated for 10 minutes.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Box Breathing

Participants are instructed to be seated or lying down, and can keep their eyes open or closed throughout the 10 minutes of the breathing during the 28 days. Participants are instructed to keep their eyes closed when practicing the 10 minutes of the box breathing during the 2 MRI assessments.

The CO2 tolerance test is done at baseline to determine their comfort level with the duration of each side of the box during box breathing.

The box breathing protocol consists of a four-part breathing technique. The practice involves breathing through the nose in four equally timed parts: inhale, hold, exhale, and hold again, forming a 'box' of breaths (e.g. 4 sec inhale, 4 sec hold, 4 sec exhale, 4 sec hold).This cycle is repeated for 10 minutes.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Hypnosis

Participants are instructed to sit comfortably or lie down during the 28 day at home practice (Participants will be lying down in the scanner during the 2 MRIs). Then participants are asked to look up, slowly close their eyes, take a deep breath, slowly exhale, and let their body float, and then to imagine floating in a bath, a lake, a hot tub, or floating in space. Participants are then asked to picture an imaginary screen and visualize a place where it would naturally feel comfortable and relaxed. The participants then divide the screen in half and picture on the left side one thing that is causing them stress, with the rule that no matter what the participant picture, to keep their body comfortable and relaxed. Then on the right side of the screen the participants are asked to picture one thing that can be done about the problem on the left. At the end the participant will be guided to come out of the state of hypnosis. This exercise will take 10 minutes.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Audiobook

Participants are instructed to be seated or lying down, and can keep eyes open or closed throughout the 10 minutes of listening to the audiobook during the 28 days. Participants are instructed to keep their eyes closed during the 2 MRI assessments.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Age 18 or older
* No contraindications to MRI imaging (like ferromagnetic metal in their body)

Exclusion Criteria

* Pregnant or planning to get pregnant during study participation.
* Not able or willing to come to research location twice for MRI assessments
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Stanford University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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David Spiegel

Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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David Spiegel, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Stanford University

Locations

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Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

Stanford, California, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States

Central Contacts

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Bita Nouriani, MS

Role: CONTACT

(650) 723-8479

Cassidy Kinderman, BA

Role: CONTACT

‪(650) 260-8766‬

Other Identifiers

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72131

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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