Comparative Effects of Meditation, Nature Exposure, Digital Scrolling, and Reading on Physiological and Perceived Stress: A Non-Randomized Controlled Study
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 已完成
- 入组人数
- 100
- 试验地点
- 1
- 主要终点
- Change in perceived stress.
研究概览
简要总结
The present study aims to compare the effects of meditation, nature exposure, digital scrolling, and reading on physiological and perceived stress. Participants will undergo a baseline assessment including the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), a visual analogue scale (VAS) for anxiety, and salivary cortisol collection at 8:30 a.m, prior to cortisol peak. Participants will then engage in one of four activities: guided meditation, a walk in a forest environment, digital scrolling on a smartphone, or reading a neutral text. Following the activity, salivary cortisol will be collected again and anxiety will be reassessed using the VAS. The study will evaluate changes in cortisol levels, perceived stress and perceived anxiety across the four conditions and explore the potential moderating role of baseline mindfulness traits.
The central research question of this study is whether different experiential conditions elicit distinct psychophysiological responses, as reflected by changes in perceived stressm salivary cortisol and perceived anxiety and therefore this investigation could improve the understanding of how different experiential contexts influence short-term stress regulation.
详细描述
Stress is a global phenomenon. Chronic exposure to stress is associated with adverse physical and mental health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and impaired cognitive functioning. Consequently, identifying accessible and effective strategies for stress reduction has become a major public health priority. To explore new ways of managing it is of crucial relevance, therefore the effects of meditation, nature exposure, digital scrolling, and neutral reading on physiological and perceived stress will be investigated.
Participants will be allocated to one of 5 intervention groups: (1) guided meditation, (2) guided meditaiton (3) forest walking, (4) smartphone scrolling, or (5) reading a neutral text.
All study procedures will take place in the morning to account for the circadian rhythm of cortisol secretion. At baseline, participants will complete demographic and study-related assessments, including the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and a VAS measuring current stress and anxiety levels. A baseline saliva sample for cortisol determination will be collected at 8:45 a.m., shortly before the expected morning cortisol peak.
Participants will then engage in their assigned activity. The 2 meditation groups will complete a 20-minute guided meditation session using two different meditation techniques. The forest exposure group will undertake a 20-minute walk in a forest environment. The digital activity group will spend 20 minutes scrolling on a smartphone, while the control group will spend 20 minutes reading a neutral text. The duration of the intervention will be standardized across all groups.
Immediately following completion of the assigned activity, participants will undergo a second assessment at approximately 9:00 a.m. A post-intervention saliva sample will be collected for cortisol analysis, and participants will again complete the VAS for anxiety and stress. Salivary Cortisol and DHEA levels will be evaluated at 4 time points the above already mentioned two, and in the evening and before sleeep.
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Non Randomized
- 干预模型
- Parallel
- 主要目的
- Treatment
- 盲法
- Single (Outcomes Assessor)
盲法说明
The Outcome Assessor and Data Analyst are blinded to group allocation. Participants are not informed of their assigned condition prior to allocation; however, blinding is not feasible after the intervention begins because the nature of the assigned activity becomes apparent. Personnel delivering the interventions are aware of group assignment but are not involved in outcome assessment or data analysis
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 20 Years 至 80 Years（Adult, Older Adult）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 是
入选标准
- •Understanding of the Italian language
排除标准
- •Presence of severe mental disorders and/or significant medical conditions
- •Endocrine or metabolic disorders
- •Substance dependence
研究组 & 干预措施
No Intervention
Participants in this group will not receive any psychophysiological interventions during the study. This group serve as a passiva control group to evaluate the effectivness of the mindfulness-based intervention by comparing pre and post intervention measures.
Experimental
Participants in this groups will undergo a mindfulness based intervention. The meditation tecniques will differ one from the other for focused breathing, body relaxation, emotional awareness and acceptance exercises. The intervention consists of 1 in person session of 20 minutes.
干预措施: Mindfulness-based intervention (Behavioral)
Forest bathing
The forest bathing group will act as a an active control group. Forest bathing is known to exert psyhophysiological effects on the stress response system, allowing to evaluate different stress management techniques
干预措施: Forest bathing (Behavioral)
Scrolling
Scrolling group will act as an active control group to evaluate the absence of the positive psychophysiological stress response. The intervention consists of 1 in person session of 20 minutes.
干预措施: Scrolling (Behavioral)
结局指标
主要结局
Change in perceived stress.
时间窗: Baseline and immediately after the single intervention session (same day).
Change in perceived stress measured using a Visual Analog Scale for Stress (VAS-Stress), ranging from 0 to 100, where 0 indicates no perceived stress and 100 indicates the highest level of perceived stress imaginable. The outcome will be calculated as the difference between post-intervention and pre-intervention scores. Negative values indicate a reduction in perceived stress following the intervention.
次要结局
- Change in anxiety levels(Baseline and immediately after the single intervention session (same day).)
- Change in salivary cortisol concentrations(Baseline and immediately after the single intervention session (same day).)
- Change in salivary DHEA concentrations(Baseline and immediately after the single intervention session (same day).)
- Correlation between trait mindfulness and physiological stress responses(Baseline and immediately after the single intervention session (same day).)
- - Correlations among psychological and biological outcome measures, including VAS-Stress, VAS-Anxiety, cortisol, and DHEA(Baseline and immediately after the single intervention session (same day).)
研究者
Teresa Fazia
Principal Investigator
University of Pavia