Clinical trial NCT03336710: Perspective on Thoughts and Feelings as a Predictor of Psychological Well-being in Daily Life, in a Community Sample
Official title: Decentering in Daily Life: Underlying Mechanisms and Impact on Well-Being
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Mental Health
Mindfulness
Keywords: Self-control
Ecological Momentary Assessment
Attentional bias
Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia
Affect
Emotion Regulation
Well-being
Decentering
Affective disorders
Lead sponsor: State University of New York at Buffalo
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
First posted: 2017-11-08
Enrollment: 380
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 65
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: The population from which the sample will be recruited will be residents of the greater Buffalo, NY metropolitan area.

Brief summary: This project examines the psychological construct of decentering - a mindfulness-related construct marked by an observer perspective on one's ongoing mental processes. Specifically, this project seeks to explore the extent to which decentering modulates the relationship between people's affective states and their momentary mental health and well-being, and to test the psychological processes by which decentering might exert these effects. This study includes a baseline assessment followed by a 7-day study completed from home where participants respond to brief surveys about their current experiences six times per day (i.e., an Ecological Momentary Assessment \[EMA\] design).

The investigators hypothesize that decentering moderates the association of extreme affect with related symptoms (i.e., elevated negative affect with depression and anxiety; elevated positive affect with mania, narcissism, and histrionic traits) and well-being, such that the association is attenuated at high levels of decentering. This will be examined using the EMA data, analyzing between-person levels (i.e., trait) as well as momentary within-person processes (i.e., concurrent and prospective states).

Further, the investigators predict that broadened attentional focus and improved self-regulation are mechanisms that contribute to the beneficial effects of decentering in daily life. This hypothesis will be examined in two ways:

1. as individual differences, wherein greater self-regulatory abilities (e.g., higher heart rate variability) and less attentional biases towards emotional stimuli mediate the association between trait decentering and subsequent daily well-being/symptoms, and
2. as within-person momentary levels, wherein broader attentional processes and greater self-regulation in daily life mediate the concurrent and prospective association between momentary decentering and well-being/symptoms.

Note that the study uses a multimodal assessment of each of the proposed processes. For attentional processes, a variety of parameters extracted from an emotional eye tracking paradigm will be examined. For self-regulatory abilities, assessments will include self-report, physiological (heart rate variability), and behavioral ("go / no-go" task) measures of such abilities.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* age 18-65, fluency in English

Exclusion Criteria:

* current cognitive impairments (i.e., intellectual disability, dementia, current psychotic symptoms) that preclude giving informed consent and accurately answering study questions

Primary outcomes:
measure: Momentary psychological distress
timeFrame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment
measure: Momentary eudaimonic well-being
timeFrame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment
measure: Momentary hedonic well-being (state positive and negative affect)
timeFrame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment
measure: State Decentering
timeFrame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment
measure: Trait Decentering: Experiences Questionnaire
timeFrame: Baseline session only
measure: Trait decentering: Valence free decentering measure
timeFrame: Baseline session only
measure: Trait decentering: Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire
timeFrame: Baseline session only
measure: Trait decentering: Toronto Mindfulness Scale-Decentering Subscale
timeFrame: Baseline session only
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Self-reported momentary self-regulation
timeFrame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment
measure: Self-reported momentary attentional focus
timeFrame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment
measure: Baseline self-regulation: Go/no-go task
timeFrame: Baseline session only
measure: Baseline self-regulation: Resting heart rate variability
timeFrame: Baseline session only
measure: Baseline self-regulation: Self-Control Scale (short form)
timeFrame: Baseline session only
measure: Baseline attentional breadth: Emotional eye-tracking paradigm
timeFrame: Baseline session only
measure: Baseline attentional breadth: Thought Control Questionnaire
timeFrame: Baseline session only
measure: Baseline attentional breadth: Responses to Positive Affect Scale
timeFrame: Baseline session only
measure: Baseline attentional breadth: Ruminative Responses Scale
timeFrame: Baseline session only
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Buffalo
country: United States
facility: University at Buffalo, Department of psychology
state: New York
Study officials:
affiliation: University at Buffalo
name: Kristin Gainey, Ph.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: University at Buffalo
name: Kenneth G DeMarree, Ph.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Naragon-Gainey K, DeMarree KG. Structure and validity of measures of decentering and defusion. Psychol Assess. 2017 Jul;29(7):935-954. doi: 10.1037/pas0000405. Epub 2016 Oct 31.
citation: Bernstein A, Hadash Y, Lichtash Y, Tanay G, Shepherd K, Fresco DM. Decentering and Related Constructs: A Critical Review and Metacognitive Processes Model. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2015 Sep;10(5):599-617. doi: 10.1177/1745691615594577.
citation: Shoham A, Goldstein P, Oren R, Spivak D, Bernstein A. Decentering in the process of cultivating mindfulness: An experience-sampling study in time and context. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2017 Feb;85(2):123-134. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000154.
citation: Naragon-Gainey K, DeMarree KG. Decentering attentuates the associations of negative affect and positive affect with psychopathology. Clinical Psychological Science. Epub 2017 Aug 11.
citation: Tangney JP, Baumeister RF, Boone AL. High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. J Pers. 2004 Apr;72(2):271-324. doi: 10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00263.x.
citation: Fresco DM, Moore MT, van Dulmen MH, Segal ZV, Ma SH, Teasdale JD, Williams JM. Initial psychometric properties of the experiences questionnaire: validation of a self-report measure of decentering. Behav Ther. 2007 Sep;38(3):234-46. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2006.08.003. Epub 2007 Apr 24.
citation: Gillanders DT, Bolderston H, Bond FW, Dempster M, Flaxman PE, Campbell L, Kerr S, Tansey L, Noel P, Ferenbach C, Masley S, Roach L, Lloyd J, May L, Clarke S, Remington B. The development and initial validation of the cognitive fusion questionnaire. Behav Ther. 2014 Jan;45(1):83-101. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2013.09.001. Epub 2013 Sep 18.
citation: Watson D, Clark LA, Tellegen A. Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1988 Jun;54(6):1063-70. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.54.6.1063.
citation: Watson D, O'Hara MW, Simms LJ, Kotov R, Chmielewski M, McDade-Montez EA, Gamez W, Stuart S. Development and validation of the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS). Psychol Assess. 2007 Sep;19(3):253-68. doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.19.3.253.
citation: Gross JJ, John OP. Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2003 Aug;85(2):348-62. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348.