NCT03783793

Effects of a Mindfulness Meditation App on Subjective Well-Being in Undergraduate University Students

Effects of a Mindfulness Meditation App on Subjective Well-Being: Active Randomized Controlled Trial and Experience Sampling Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 108 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Toronto · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Mindfulness training includes a variety of contemplative practices aimed at promoting intentional awareness of experience, coupled with attitudes of non-judgment and curiosity. Following the success of 8-week, manualized group interventions, mindfulness training has been implemented in a variety of modalities, including smartphone apps that seek to replicate the success of group interventions. However, although smartphone apps are scalable and accessible to a wider swath of population, their benefits remain largely untested. This study aimed to investigate a newly developed mindfulness training app called Wildflowers, which was co-developed with the laboratory for use in mindfulness research. It was hypothesized that 3 weeks of mindfulness training through this app would improve subjective well-being, attentional control, and interoceptive integration, albeit with weaker effects than those published in the 8 week, manualized group intervention literature.

Detailed description

Background: Mindfulness training includes a variety of contemplative practices aimed at promoting intentional awareness of experience, coupled with attitudes of non-judgment and curiosity. Following the success of 8-week, manualized group interventions, mindfulness training has been implemented in a variety of modalities, including smartphone apps that seek to replicate the success of group interventions. However, although smartphone apps are scalable and accessible to a wider swath of population, their benefits remain largely untested. This study aimed to investigate a newly developed mindfulness training app called Wildflowers, which was co-developed with the laboratory for use in mindfulness research. It was hypothesized that 3 weeks of mindfulness training through this app would improve subjective well-being, attentional control, and interoceptive integration, albeit with weaker effects than those published in the 8 week, manualized group intervention literature. Methods: Undergraduate students completed 3 weeks of mindfulness training with Wildflowers or 3 weeks of cognitive training with a game called 2048. State training effects were assessed through pre- and postsession ratings of current mood, stress level, and heart rate. Trait training effects were assessed through pre- and postintervention questionnaires canvassing subjective well-being and behavioral task measures of attentional control and interoceptive integration. State and trait training data were analyzed in a multilevel model using emergent latent factors (acceptance, awareness, and openness) to summarize the trait questionnaire battery.

Conditions

• Stress, Psychological

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Mindfulness Training App	Mindfulness training in the study was performed using a new app called Wildflowers. With this app participants were able to choose and complete a variety of guided meditations over the 3 week training period. Wildflowers includes guided meditations such as breathing, body scans, and open monitoring practices and also provides didactic content in the form of lessons and information about the benefits of mindfulness training.
BEHAVIORAL	Cognitive Training With 2048	The training app for the control condition was based on an open source code for a popular cognitive training app called 2048 that is marketed as a fun and relaxing puzzle game. Within 2048, participants slide numbered tiles around a grid, matching tiles of the same value. Instead of tiles disappearing, as in Candy Crush or other similar grid-sliding games, matching 2 numbered tiles in 2048 combines them into 1 new tile displaying the sum of the previous 2 numbers. For example, two 2-tiles linked side-by-side become a 4-tile, whereas 2 matched 4-tiles become an 8-tile, and so on. The goal is to match tiles until the sum of 2048 is reached on a single tile. There is no time limit.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-05-05
• Primary completion: 2017-05-05
• Completion: 2017-05-05
• First posted: 2018-12-21
• Last updated: 2018-12-24