Mindfulness Training and Respiration Biosignal Feedback - Study 2

NCT ID: NCT07136948

Last Updated: 2025-08-22

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

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

60 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-07-21

Study Completion Date

2025-11-30

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

The goal of this research is to test usability and user satisfaction with a new breathing feature on the meditation app, Equa, to help young adults who are distressed, understand their physiological responses and mindfulness skill development during meditation.

Our main aims are to test an algorithm that can use physiologic signals to give feedback about how participant physiology is changing during guided lessons on the meditation app, Equa through:

* Assessing user satisfaction and usability
* Measuring how much participant mindfulness skills are improving

Participants will:

* Complete a survey about demographics, their thoughts and feelings before and after the mindfulness meditation program
* Complete 14 smartphone guided mindfulness meditation training units while physiological measures are being recorded
* A subset of participants will see a graph tracking their physiological responses from the guided meditation lesson and predictive mindfulness skill scores
* Complete a few brief questionnaires before and after mindfulness practices to understand potential changes in their mindfulness skills

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Investigators will recruit young adults to participate in a study to examine the usability and user satisfaction of respiration biosignal feedback during meditation through phone motion data and microphones within headphones. Interested participants will be screened on study inclusion/exclusion criteria: (1) aged 18-30 years, (2) interested in coming on site to complete 14 smartphone guided mindfulness meditation training units, (3) willing to be assigned to one of two conditions, (4) willing to wear physiological monitoring equipment and provide ratings of their training experience, (5) Not currently pregnant and (6) no current or previous diagnosis of psychosis or schizophrenia

Participants are told they are going to participate in a study that focuses on monitoring physiological responses during meditation. At the start of the study, participants will complete questions via an online survey focused on demographics, prior meditation experience, their thoughts and feelings as these may be informative to participants' meditation experience.

Participants will complete a few brief questionnaires to understand potential changes in mindfulness before and after select lessons. Participant physiological data will be recorded (E.g., heart rate) via smartphones and headphones to track physiologic dynamics. Additionally, the sensory shirt, made by Hexoskin Smart Sensors; AI, will also continuously measure physiologics via two inductive plethysmography (RIP) sensors. The Hexoskin shirt also tracks motion via a three-axis accelerometer. These measures will enable investigators to better understand mindfulness measures during meditation.

Following the guided meditation lessons, a subset of participants (the experimental group) will see a graph tracking their physiological responses from the guided meditation lesson and predictive mindfulness skill scores based on our algorithm development. The feedback chart is produced by the physiological measures tracked throughout the duration of the lesson, and is displayed within the Equa app, moments after the meditation lessons concludes. The control group will not see the graph tracking their physiological responses.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Psychological Distress Mindfulness Skills Usability Satisfaction

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

SEQUENTIAL

The investigators will experimentally evaluate if Equa-augmented respiration biosignal tracking significantly increases user satisfaction relative to Equa with no biosignal tracking. Both groups will receive the 14 lessons of mindfulness meditation, however only one group (experimental) will see the respiration biosignal feedback from the algorithm developed and tested in Study 1.
Primary Study Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Participants Investigators

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Control Group, No Physiological Feedback

Participants be randomly assigned to one of two different 14-unit smartphone meditation program groups that involve completing a 2-10 minute daily guided practice on their phones. Participants in both groups will follow the same 14 units of mindfulness meditation curriculum that consists of learning and practicing techniques to improve concentration, sensory clarity, and equanimity (Equa meditation app) and have access to additional curriculum. Physiological measures will be tracked throughout the duration of lessons. A subset of participants (the experimental group) will see a graph tracking their physiological responses from the guided meditation lesson and predictive mindfulness skill scores based on the algorithm development. The control group will not see the graph tracking their physiology.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Mindfulness Meditation

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two different 14-unit smartphone meditation program groups that involve completing a 2-10 minute daily guided practice on their phones. Participants in both groups will follow the same 14 units of mindfulness meditation curriculum that consists of learning and practicing techniques to improve concentration, sensory clarity, and equanimity (Equa meditation app) and have access to additional curriculum. Physiological measures will be tracked throughout the duration of lessons. The control group will not see the graph tracking their physiological responses or the predictive mindfulness skill scores based on the algorithm development.

Experimental Group, Physiological Feedback

Following the guided meditation lessons, a subset of participants (the experimental group) will see a graph tracking their physiological responses from the guided meditation lesson and predictive mindfulness skill scores based on the algorithm development. The feedback chart is produced by the physiological measures tracked throughout the duration of the lesson, and is displayed within the Equa app, moments after the meditation lessons concludes.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Mindfulness Meditation with Respiration Feedback Chart and Predictive Mindfulness Skill Scores

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will then be randomly assigned to one of two different 14-unit smartphone meditation program groups that involve completing a 2-10 minute daily guided practice on their phones. Participants in both groups will follow the same 14 units of mindfulness meditation curriculum that consists of learning and practicing techniques to improve concentration, sensory clarity, and equanimity (Equa meditation app) and have access to additional curriculum. Physiological measures will be tracked throughout the duration of lessons. Following the guided meditation lessons, a subset of participants (the experimental group) will see a graph tracking their physiological responses from the guided meditation lesson and predictive mindfulness skill scores based on our algorithm development. The feedback chart is produced by the physiological measures tracked throughout the duration of the lesson, and is displayed within the Equa app, moments after the meditation lessons concludes.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Mindfulness Meditation

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two different 14-unit smartphone meditation program groups that involve completing a 2-10 minute daily guided practice on their phones. Participants in both groups will follow the same 14 units of mindfulness meditation curriculum that consists of learning and practicing techniques to improve concentration, sensory clarity, and equanimity (Equa meditation app) and have access to additional curriculum. Physiological measures will be tracked throughout the duration of lessons. The control group will not see the graph tracking their physiological responses or the predictive mindfulness skill scores based on the algorithm development.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Mindfulness Meditation with Respiration Feedback Chart and Predictive Mindfulness Skill Scores

Participants will then be randomly assigned to one of two different 14-unit smartphone meditation program groups that involve completing a 2-10 minute daily guided practice on their phones. Participants in both groups will follow the same 14 units of mindfulness meditation curriculum that consists of learning and practicing techniques to improve concentration, sensory clarity, and equanimity (Equa meditation app) and have access to additional curriculum. Physiological measures will be tracked throughout the duration of lessons. Following the guided meditation lessons, a subset of participants (the experimental group) will see a graph tracking their physiological responses from the guided meditation lesson and predictive mindfulness skill scores based on our algorithm development. The feedback chart is produced by the physiological measures tracked throughout the duration of the lesson, and is displayed within the Equa app, moments after the meditation lessons concludes.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* Ages 18-30 years of Age
* Fluent in English
* Psychological distress
* Willing to participate in guided meditation or stress management training.
* Willing and able to wear earbud headphones and a shirt which uses sensors to track motion and physiological measures.
* Willing to be randomized to one of two conditions
* Willing to provide ratings on their training experience

Exclusion Criteria

* Currently pregnant
* Current or previous diagnosis with psychosis or schizophrenia
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

30 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

Equa Health

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

David Creswell

Co-Founder, Chief Science Officer

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

David Creswell, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Equa Health

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

GATF Building

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

United States

Central Contacts

Reach out to these primary contacts for questions about participation or study logistics.

Emily G Thomas, BA

Role: CONTACT

828-773-9584

David Creswell, Ph.D.

Role: CONTACT

4125353338

Facility Contacts

Find local site contact details for specific facilities participating in the trial.

Emily G Thomas, BA

Role: primary

828-773-9584

David Creswell, Ph.D.

Role: backup

412-535-3338

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

1R44MH134709-01A1

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

1R44MH134709-01A1

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

View Link

More Related Trials

Additional clinical trials that may be relevant based on similarity analysis.

HRV and Coaching Preparation Phase Study
NCT05150574 COMPLETED PHASE1