Feasibility of Using a Mobile App (i.e., Calm) to Decrease Overall Stress in Middle-aged (i.e., 40-64 Years) Men and Women Who Report High Stress (>15 on PSS)
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Sponsor
- Arizona State University
- Enrollment
- 83
- Locations
- 2
- Primary Endpoint
- Feasibility: Acceptability
Study Overview
Brief Summary
The purpose of this study is to determine the preliminary effects of using a mobile app (i.e., Calm) to decrease overall stress in middle-aged (i.e., 40-64 years) men and women who report high stress (greater than 15 on PSS).
The study design is a randomized control trial with baseline, post-intervention (4 weeks from baseline), and follow-up phone interview (5 weeks from baseline) assessments. Middle-aged adults will be randomized to either a Calm meditation Intervention group or an attention control podcast group. Participants will be randomized after the completion of baseline and informed consent.
Specific aim 1: Determine the feasibility (acceptability, demand) of using CALM app at least 10 min/day to reduce stress (greater than 15 on Perceived Stress Scale [PSS]) in middle-aged men and women.
Benchmarks for feasibility: (acceptability) Recruitment greater than 40 percent men; greater than 75 percent satisfied with intervention; 75 percent perceive daily meditation and app components as appropriate and useful; (demand) Retention of men greater than 75 percent; greater than 80 percent adherence (minutes/week) to the meditation intervention.
Specific aim 2: Explore the preliminary effect of meditation using Calm on overall perceived stress as compared to the health education group.
Specific aim 3: Explore the preliminary effect of meditation using Calm on anxiety and depression.
Specific aim 4: Explore gender as a moderator of the effect of meditation using Calm on stress.
Specific aim 5: Explore the mediators of mindfulness, physical activity, eating, and coping behaviors on stress, anxiety and depression using Calm for meditation.
Detailed Description
Recruitment: Participants will be recruited during winter/spring 2020. Interested participants will be directed to a REDCap link to complete an online eligibility screener. The screener will take approximately 10 minutes to complete (See Eligibility Survey). The survey will be free, voluntary, and available online. Participants will be allowed to skip questions in the survey.
Eligibility: Once eligibility is determined; participants will be sent an informed consent and baseline questionnaire via a REDCap link. This measure should take approximately 25 minutes to complete (See Informed Consent and Baseline Questionnaires). Once Informed Consent is signed and the Baseline Questionnaires are complete, participants will be randomized via an online randomizer (i.e., randomizer.com) to either an attention control podcast group or the Calm meditation group. Ineligible participants will be sent an email notifying their status and why.
Enrollment: The Research Team will email the intervention participants that will include instructions to download Calm (See Participant Scripts). The control participants will be emailed instructions to download the podcast app (See Participant Scripts).
Intervention: The intervention will run for 4-weeks. Intervention participants will complete the 30 day, "How to Meditate" meditation series that provides daily 10-minute meditations and the control group will listen to daily 10-minute health education podcasts. Throughout the intervention, both groups will be sent reminder emails via REDCap to participate in their assigned practice sessions (see Participant Scripts) participants will complete online weekly participation logs via REDCap. Additionally, they will answer one, multiple choice EMA (ecological momentary assessment) question, randomly, 3x per day (between 8am and 8pm) via test message assessing how one currently feels (see Study Questionnaires).
Tracking: Participation in the Calm meditations will be tracked (meditation name, time of day, and time spent in meditation) by weekly REDCap participation logs and the Calm team.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Other
- Masking
- Single (Participant)
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 40 Years to 64 Years (Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •Men or Women
- •Age 40-64
- •Able to read/understand English
- •Have access to a smartphone on a daily basis
- •A score of 15 or higher on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
- •Willing to be randomized
- •Willing to download a mobile application
Exclusion Criteria
- •Have consistently practiced mindfulness meditation within the last 12 months
- •Currently using the Calm app or another meditation app
- •Currently prescribed mental health or mood medication
- •Low levels of stress (i.e., less than a score of 15 assessed with the Perceived Stress Scale)
- •Currently reside outside the United States
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Feasibility: Acceptability
Time Frame: Measured 1x at post-intervention about experience in study, about 4 weeks.
Acceptability will be measured using a satisfaction survey at the end of the study, following all other measures (satisfied with the intervention and perceive daily meditation and app components as appropriate and useful)
Feasibility: Demand
Time Frame: 1x at post-intervention about participation time in study (4 weeks total)
Demand will be measured using the subjective usage data (weekly participation logs measuring adherence (minutes/week) and the objective app usage data (data collected by the app measuring adherence (minutes/week) to the meditation intervention).
Secondary Outcomes
- Stress(Change from baseline (week 0) to post-intervention (week 4))
- Mindfulness as a mediator of stress(Change from baseline (week 0) to post-intervention (week 4))
- Anxiety(Change from baseline (week 0) to post-intervention (week 4))
- Resilience(Change from baseline (week 0) to post-intervention (week 4))
- Depression(Change from baseline (week 0) to post-intervention (week 4))
- Gender as moderator of stress(Change from baseline (week 0) to post-intervention (week 4))
- Coping behaviors as a mediator on stress, anxiety, and depression(Change from baseline (week 0) to post-intervention (week 4))
- Physical Activity as a mediator on stress, anxiety, and depression(Change from baseline (week 0) to post-intervention (week 4))
- Eating as a mediator on stress, anxiety, and depression(Change from baseline (week 0) to post-intervention (week 4))