Brief App-based Mood Monitoring and Mindfulness Intervention for First-year College Students

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Depression, Anxiety; Self-Injurious Behavior

• Registration Number: NCT06348277
• Lead Sponsor: Lawrence University

Brief Summary

The investigators examined whether brief, app-based interventions were helpful in alleviating mental health symptoms during the transition to college. In particular, the investigators were interested in whether a brief mobile-app mindfulness intervention combined with mood monitoring was more effective in alleviating first-year students' psychological distress than mood monitoring alone.

Detailed Description

The transition to college is associated with worsening mental health symptoms. This study tested whether a brief mobile-app mindfulness intervention combined with mood monitoring was more effective in alleviating first-year students' psychological distress than mood monitoring alone. Participants were 130 first-year students. The investigators randomly assigned 88 students to a mindfulness-plus-mood-monitoring or a mood-monitoring-only group and asked them to use an app 3 times a day for 3 weeks. They, along with an assessment-only control group (n=42), completed self-report questionnaires at baseline, post-intervention, and 6 and 12 weeks later.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2018-01-02
• Primary Completion: 2020-04-07
• Study Completion: 2020-06-17
• Status Verified: 2024-03
• Study First Submitted: 2024-03-20
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-03-28
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-03-28
• Study First Posted: 2024-04-04
• Last Update Posted: 2024-04-04

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 130

Inclusion Criteria

• enrolled first-year student at university

Exclusion Criteria

• serious suicidal concerns

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Depressive Symptoms	immediately after the intervention	Beck Depression Inventory; higher scores indicate greater depression
Anxiety Symptoms	immediately after the intervention	Beck Anxiety Inventory; higher scores indicate greater anxiety
Urges to Self-injure	immediately after the intervention	Alexian Brothers Urges to Self-Injure scale; higher scores indicate greater urges
Worry	immediately after the intervention	Penn State Worry Questionnaire; higher scores indicate greater worry
Rumination	immediately after the intervention	Ruminative Response Scale; higher scores indicate higher rumination

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Depressive Symptoms	12 weeks following the intervention	Beck Depression Inventory; higher scores indicate greater depression
Anxiety Symptoms	12 weeks following the intervention	Beck Anxiety Inventory; higher scores indicate greater anxiety
Rumination	12 weeks following the intervention	Ruminative Response Scale; higher scores indicate higher rumination
Worry	12 weeks following the intervention	Penn State Worry Questionnaire; higher scores indicate greater worry
Urges to self-injure	12 weeks following the intervention	Alexian Brothers Urges to Self-Injure scale; higher scores indicate greater urges

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Lawrence University; 🇺🇸 Appleton, Wisconsin, United States