NCT03310112

Mindfulness Training in U.S. Army Cohorts

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 120 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Miami · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This project aims to contextualize delivery of mindfulness training to U.S. Army personnel, evaluate its effectiveness on measures of executive functions and psychological well-being, and determine best practices for its delivery.

Detailed description

Background: An individual's success in the U.S. Army relies on many factors including the integrity of executive functions (EFs). EFs comprise a complex, multi-faceted brain system necessary to pay attention, overcome habitual and automatic behaviors, regulate mood, and ensure that current behavior is in line with short and long-term goals.Yet, protracted periods of high uncertainty, high demands, and high stress can lead to decreases in the efficiency and availability of EFs. Given the high demands and psychological vulnerabilities that U.S. Army personnel may face, it is critical to provide them with training programs to protect against degradation of EFs (particularly attention and working memory) over high-stress, high-demand intervals. Prior research on mindfulness training (MT) in civilians and military servicemembers showed that MT can effectively protect against degradation in attention and working memory and benefit psychological well-being over high-demand intervals. Problem: While being successful, prior MT programs required a considerable amount of time dedicated to training (e.g., 24-hour training) and it is challenging to integrate these long programs into the busy schedule of the U.S. Army personnel. To accommodate the time constraints, the principal investigator together with a mindfulness expert developed a short-form mindfulness training program contextualized for the U.S. Army; the program consists of 8-hour training and is known as MBAT, Mindfulness-Based Attention Training. Project Goal: The present study aims to investigate the best practices for delivery of a short-form mindfulness training to U.S. Army Cohorts. Specifically, the present study will examine the best delivery structure for the MBAT by comparing MBAT course delivered in 2 weeks vs. 4 weeks.

Conditions

• Psychological Stress
• Anxiety
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Depression
• Cognitive Change

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	4-week MBAT	The training is known as Mindfulness-Based Attention Training, or MBAT. The MBAT program is based on the principles of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, but contextualized for military personnel using themes relevant to military life. The training content is comprised of four central themes: concentration, body awareness, open monitoring, and compassion. This content will be delivered in 4, 2-hour sessions over 4 weeks. Participants will be assigned homework mindfulness practice during the interval of course delivery as well as for the few weeks following the end of the course.
BEHAVIORAL	2-week MBAT	The training is known as Mindfulness-Based Attention Training, or MBAT. The MBAT program is based on the principles of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, but contextualized for military personnel using themes relevant to military life. The training content is comprised of four central themes: concentration, body awareness, open monitoring, and compassion. This content will be delivered in 4, 2-hour sessions over 2 weeks. Participants will be assigned homework mindfulness practice during the interval of course delivery as well as for the few weeks following the end of the course.

Timeline

• Start date: 2017-10-09
• Primary completion: 2018-03-27
• Completion: 2018-03-27
• First posted: 2017-10-16
• Last updated: 2018-09-18

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States