Improving Mental Health and Well-Being Via Awe Walks

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Anxiety; Awe; Compassion
• Interventions: Behavioral: Awe Walk; Behavioral: Control Walk

• Registration Number: NCT03550144
• Lead Sponsor: University of California, San Francisco

Brief Summary

Awe is a powerful positive emotion that offsets negative emotion and fosters prosocial behavior. This study examined the effects of awe on health and well-being in healthy older adults. Half of the participants took a weekly "awe walk" while the other half took a weekly walk with no further instructions.

Detailed Description

Awe fosters well-being and positive emotions that promote social relationships. Awe shifts attention from ourselves to the outside world and is associated with diminished self-focused attention. We aimed to increase awe in healthy older adults to test whether greater awe experience would lead to gains in other types of positive emotional experience and reductions in negative emotional experience.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2016-12-05
• Primary Completion: 2017-12-10
• Study First Submitted: 2018-05-16
• Study First Submitted QC: 2018-05-25
• Study Completion: 2018-05-26
• Study First Posted: 2018-06-08
• Status Verified: 2022-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-03-07
• Last Update Posted: 2022-03-22

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 60

Inclusion Criteria

• Stable medical condition for 3 months prior to screening
• Reliant informant with frequent contact with participant who is available to provide observations of participant
• Fluent in English or Spanish
• Age: 40 and above
• Able to complete baseline assessments
• Education or work history sufficient to exclude mental retardation
• Physically acceptable for this study as confirmed by medical history, physical exam, neurological exam and clinical tests

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Exclusion Criteria

• Major memory concerns/diagnosed memory condition
• Korsakoff encephalopathy
• Active substance abuse
• Brain tumor
• Active neoplastic disease (skin tumors other than melanoma are not exclusionary)
• Parkinson's disease
• Multiple sclerosis (untreated)
• Sleep apnea
• History of clinically significant stroke
• Current evidence or history in the past 2 years of epilepsy, focal brain lesion, cancer, steroid use, or DSM-IV criteria for any major psychiatric disorder including psychosis, major depression, bipolar disorder, alcohol or substance abuse
• Blindness, deafness, language difficulties or any other disability which may prevent the participant from participating or cooperating in the protocol

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Awe Walk Condition	Awe Walk	Participants were instructed to take at least one (\~15 minute) walk per week for 8 consecutive weeks. Participants were told to seek the experience of feeling awe. Participants were told to keep a fairly light to moderate pace and were encouraged to walk alone and without interruption from a mobile device.
Control Walk Condition	Control Walk	Participants were instructed to take at least one (\~15 minute) walk per week for 8 consecutive weeks. Participants were told to keep a fairly light to moderate pace and were encouraged to walk alone and without interruption from a mobile device.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Daily awe experience questionnaire	8 weeks	Increase in awe experience

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Satisfaction With Life Scale	8 weeks	Increase in well-being
Generalized Anxiety Disorder- 7 Item Scale	8 weeks	Decrease in anxiety
Daily compassion experience questionnaire	8 weeks	Increase in daily compassion experience
Daily negative emotional experience questionnaire	8 weeks	Decrease in daily negative emotional experience

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

UCSF Memory and Aging Center; 🇺🇸 San Francisco, California, United States