Clinical trial NCT06051500: Psychological and Physiological Effects of Different Objects of Breath Meditation
Official title: Psychological and Physiological Effects of Different Objects of Breath Meditation
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Physiological Stress
Psychological Stress
Emotions
Keywords: meditation
focus
attention
breath
Lead sponsor: University of Wisconsin, Madison
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2023-09-25
Enrollment: 96
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Intervention model description: Random allocation to one of two sequence of meditation practice.
Primary purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE

Brief summary: The goal of this research is to test whether certain areas of focus in breath meditation are connected with certain mental health outcomes. The main question to be addressed is whether attention placed on the breath in the belly versus the nostrils during meditation results in differences in subjective experience, respiration and heart rate.

Participants will:

* complete surveys
* have heart rate and respiration measured
* practice focused breathing

Participants can expect the study visit to last for one hour.

Detailed description: An online prescreen will determine eligibility. Participants that 1) are under 18, 2) are not students currently enrolled at UW-Madison 3) have previous mediation experience 4) obtain a high PROMIS depression or anxiety score, or 5) have been diagnosed with one or more psychiatric disorders by a healthcare professional that will be listed in the pre-screen survey will be excluded.

Participants deemed eligible following prescreen will schedule a lab visit. At the beginning of the lab visit, participants will be provided a consent document and time to ask questions. After signing the consent form, researchers will place ECG leads and a respiration belt on participants, and then complete the baseline survey battery. Participants will then sit at rest for 5 minutes of baseline heart rate and respiration data collection. Next, participants will be randomly assigned in a counterbalanced order to nostril focus first or belly focus first and asked to follow a brief (\~5 minute) guided practice. After the practice, participants will complete a second battery of self-reports and then have a 10-minute period of rest/recovery. They will then complete the second practice (\~5 minutes) followed by a final survey. The entire session will take about an hour.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* at least 18 years of age
* student at UW Madison
* no major history of meditation practice

Exclusion Criteria:

* under 18 years of age
* not currently enrolled at UW Madison
* have previous meditation experience
* Self-reports a mental health diagnosis

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS-SF)
timeFrame: At baseline; after meditation 1 (5 minutes); and, after meditation 2 (15 minutes)
measure: Change in Respiration
timeFrame: Baseline to practice 1 epoch (10 minutes); baseline 2 to practice 2 epoch (25minutes)
measure: Change in Heart Rate
timeFrame: Baseline to practice 1 epoch (10 minutes); baseline 2 to practice 2 epoch (25minutes)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Perseverative Thinking (PTQ)
timeFrame: Baseline only
measure: Change in Interoceptive Awareness
timeFrame: At baseline; after meditation 1 (5 minutes); and, after meditation 2 (15 minutes)
measure: Change in Mindfulness
timeFrame: At baseline; after meditation 1 (5 minutes); and, after meditation 2 (15 minutes)
measure: Change in Relaxation
timeFrame: At baseline; after meditation 1 (5 minutes); and, after meditation 2 (15 minutes)
measure: Change in Focus
timeFrame: At baseline; after meditation 1 (5 minutes); and, after meditation 2 (15 minutes)
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Madison
country: United States
facility: University of Wisconsin
state: Wisconsin
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Wisconsin, Madison
name: Matthew Hirshberg, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: