Transforming Adolescent Perception and Mental Health Through Meditation and Cognitive Reappraisal A Mixed Method Study
NCT ID: NCT07173608
Last Updated: 2026-01-21
Study Results
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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NOT_YET_RECRUITING
NA
96 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2026-02-28
2028-03-31
Brief Summary
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Detailed Description
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The intervention training integrates cognitive reappraisal, breath-based meditation, and yoga-based postures, followed by daily practice. Assessments will occur at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks, and will include self-report questionnaires, behavioral tasks, EEG, fMRI, wearable physiological monitoring (including heartrate, sleep, respiration), and blood-based biomarkers of inflammation and neuroplasticity. Qualitative interviews will provide additional insight into the lived experiences of intervention participants.
The intervention aims to enabling more adaptive, inclusive, and empowered ways of perceiving external situations and internal states.
This is the first comprehensive RCT to investigate the multidimensional impact of an integrated contemplative program on the developing adolescent mental health, physiological and neural outcomes and perception . Findings may support scalable, evidence-based contemplative education tools to promote clarity, resilience, and expanded perception in youth.
Conditions
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
SINGLE
Study Groups
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Intervention
Intervention participants will take the Inner Engineering program and are asked to practice meditation daily for the duration of the study.
Inner Engineering Program
The intervention is a comprehensive secular training called Inner Engineering (IE), offered by the international non-profit Isha Foundation. This program combines cognitive reappraisal and emotion regulation strategies, breath-based meditation and simple yoga practices. The training provides precise, step by step and easy to follow instructions on how to perform the practices. No previous experience of yoga and meditation is required. By fostering health, exuberance and awareness, one can "engineer their inner climate the way they want it" to lead a joyful, fulfilling life. Previous research shows improved wellbeing, mindfulness, joy, sleep, relationships, psychological capital, and work engagement, compassion, and parent-child relationships. Evidence suggest it may promote enhanced Heart Rate Variability and Sympathovagal balance.
Control
Control participants will be asked to continue their daily routine
No interventions assigned to this group
Interventions
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Inner Engineering Program
The intervention is a comprehensive secular training called Inner Engineering (IE), offered by the international non-profit Isha Foundation. This program combines cognitive reappraisal and emotion regulation strategies, breath-based meditation and simple yoga practices. The training provides precise, step by step and easy to follow instructions on how to perform the practices. No previous experience of yoga and meditation is required. By fostering health, exuberance and awareness, one can "engineer their inner climate the way they want it" to lead a joyful, fulfilling life. Previous research shows improved wellbeing, mindfulness, joy, sleep, relationships, psychological capital, and work engagement, compassion, and parent-child relationships. Evidence suggest it may promote enhanced Heart Rate Variability and Sympathovagal balance.
Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* Ability to understand study instructions and provide informed consent/assent. (parental consent for minors)
* Access to internet and a device to complete online study activities
* Currently residing in the United States
* Willing and able to travel to the hospital location in Boston for study procedures.
Exclusion Criteria
* Practicing meditation regularly in the past 6 months (4 or more times per week for 4 weeks or more in the past 6 months)
* History of psychiatric illness such as severe anxiety, severe depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Schizophrenia or bipolar disorder
* Current use of cognition enhancing drugs
* Current management for chronic pain
* History (within past 5 years) of seizure, brain surgery or any condition causing cognitive decline.
* Active history (within the last 5 years) of alcohol or drug abuse.
* Current pregnancy or planning to become pregnant in the next 6 months
* Currently enrolled in another interventional study that could impact the primary outcome, as determined by the PI
* Significant visual impairment
* Subject has previously learned the intervention.
* Subject has contraindications for MRI (Detailed in the eligibility screening questions)
15 Years
18 Years
ALL
Yes
Sponsors
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Tiny Blue Dot Foundation
OTHER
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Sepideh Hariri
Instructor in Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, Program Manager at Department of Anesthesia, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Principal Investigators
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Sepideh Hariri, PhD
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Central Contacts
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References
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Related Links
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Social and Emotional Learning Programs for Adolescents. Future of Children,
The descriptive phenomenological method in psychology: A modified Husserlian approach
Other Identifiers
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2025P000560
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id
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