Mindfulness and Romantic Relationship Quality

Phase 1

Recruiting

• Conditions: The Focus of the Study is Romantic Relationship Quality
• Interventions: Behavioral: Mindfulness intervention

• Registration Number: NCT04177836
• Lead Sponsor: University of Delaware

Brief Summary

The overarching aim of this proposal is to experimentally test whether a mindfulness intervention improves relationship quality. Romantic couples from the community will be randomly assigned to one of two arms: mindfulness vs. active control. Both interventions will be completed on a smart-phone for 14 days using identical intervention activities as our existing published research. After the 14-day period, couples will attend a lab visit and provide relationship quality data.

Detailed Description

Romantic couples from the community will be randomly assigned to one of two arms: mindfulness vs. active control. Thus, both partners will either complete the mindfulness intervention (developed to increase attention towards and acceptance of current experiences) or a relaxation-based active treatment comparison intervention (developed to parallel the structure of the mindfulness intervention without the attention towards or acceptance of present experiences). Both interventions will be completed on a smart-phone for 14 days using identical intervention activities as our existing published research, which demonstrated that the mindfulness intervention reduced stress reactivity and improved daily well-being. After the 14-day period, couples will attend a lab visit and provide multi-method relationship quality data.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2019-11-04
• Study First Submitted: 2019-11-21
• Study First Submitted QC: 2019-11-23
• Study First Posted: 2019-11-26
• Status Verified: 2024-02
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-02-02
• Last Update Posted: 2024-02-06
• Primary Completion: 2024-06-30
• Study Completion: 2024-06-30

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 274

Inclusion Criteria

• Couples living together for at least 2 years
• Both partners must be fluent in English
• Both partners cannot already engage in regular systematic mind-body practice (>2 times per week).
• Both partners must have daily access to an internet-enabled smartphone to complete the intervention

Exclusion Criteria

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
MIndfulness	Mindfulness intervention	This arm was developed to increase attention towards and acceptance of current experiences.
Active Control	Mindfulness intervention	This arm is a relaxation-based active treatment comparison intervention, developed to parallel the structure of the mindfulness intervention without the attention towards or acceptance of present experiences.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Changes in Romantic Relationship Quality	Before and after the 2 week intervention	Assessed with well validated sel-report questionnaire, the Couples Satisfaction Index

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Changes in Sleep quality	Before and after the 2 week intervention	Assessed with well validated measure, the PROMIS sleep disturbance questionnaire
Changes in Depressive symptoms	Before and after the 2 week intervention	Assessed with well validated measure, the PROMIS depressive symptoms questionnire
Changes in Blood pressure	Before and after the 2 week intervention	Assessed with well validated measure, physiological assessment via a blood pressure machine
Changes in Life satisfaction	Before and after the 2 week intervention	Assessed with well validated measure, the Life Satisfaction Scale

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Delaware; 🇺🇸 Newark, Delaware, United States