Meditation and Decision Making Study III
- Conditions
- Meditation
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Lovingkindness Meditation (LKM)Behavioral: Mindfulness Meditation
- Registration Number
- NCT02313779
- Lead Sponsor
- Barbara L. Fredrickson, PhD
- Brief Summary
The overarching goal of the proposed research is to investigate the role of emotions in facilitating successful lifestyle change, defined as healthy behavioral decisions repeated daily, or near daily.
Participants are asked to make two lab visits during the course of four weeks to complete electronic questionnaires, be monitored for psychophysiological activity (e.g. heart rate, blood pressure, respiration), and listen to a guided meditation audio track. Additionally, between the two visits participants will be asked to complete weekly surveys that ask about daily meditation practice (outside of the lab) and general emotions.
- Detailed Description
Not available
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 240
- Fluent in written and spoken English, with a high school reading level
- Willingness or interest in learning to meditate
- Computer literate with internet access
- Individuals who are able to read Chinese logographs
- Individuals who have or have had a regular meditation practice, defined as having attended a 6-week or longer meditation class, practicing meditation at least 3 days a week for up to 6-weeks.
- Individuals with allergies to adhesive materials
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- FACTORIAL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Lovingkindness Meditation (LKM) Lovingkindness Meditation (LKM) Lovingkindness guided meditation experienced in the laboratory and 6 additional LKM meditations taken home on the iPod. Mindfulness Meditation Mindfulness Meditation Mindfulness guided meditation experienced in the laboratory and 6 additional Mindfulness meditations taken home on the iPod. Neutral Mindfulness Meditation Reading passage about brain function which is masked as a news article. Neutral Lovingkindness Meditation (LKM) Reading passage about brain function which is masked as a news article. Positivity Lovingkindness Meditation (LKM) Reading passage about prioritizing positive emotions which is masked as a news article. Positivity Mindfulness Meditation Reading passage about prioritizing positive emotions which is masked as a news article.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Change in positive emotions (as measured by the Modified Daily Emotions Scale) Baseline and Weeks 1, 2, and 3 Modified Daily Emotions Scale (mDES) - This measure of explicit positive affect has been successfully used by the PI in multiple studies to detect changes in positive emotion. Previous work by the PI found that Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the mDES positive emotion composite variable was 0.93 in sample of mid-life community adults similar to those anticipated for this study.
Change in nonconscious incentive salience (as measured by the Affect Misattribution Procedure) Baseline and Weeks 1, 2, and 3 Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) - This measure of nonconscious incentive salience has acceptable internal consistency for an indirect measure of affect (.69 - .90) and has been found to predict judgments and behavioral outcomes above and beyond self-report measures.
Changes in meditation time Weeks 1, 2, and 3 Self-reported meditation time recorded daily and weekly. In addition, meditation track play times will be recorded from the iPod.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Cardiac Vagal Tone Baseline This measure of parasympathetic control over the heart has been positively associated with both emotional and social functioning. Previous work by the PI's team has found that baseline vagal tone predicts increased positive response to lovingkindness meditation (LKM), and that LKM in turn increases vagal tone.
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
UNC PEP Lab
🇺🇸Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States