The effect of a centering meditation on resilience, mindfulness, stress, and hope among college students
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN13587045 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN13587045 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | EDIRC-2020-08-02-14426-sdorais |
- Submission date
- 08/08/2021
- Registration date
- 14/08/2021
- Last edited
- 12/04/2022
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
This study aims to examine the effectiveness and dynamic mechanisms of centering meditation in relation to resilience, mindfulness, stress, spiritual transcendence, and hop over a span of time. This study consists of two primary aims: 1) to determine the effectiveness of centering prayer on increasing resilience, stress, mindfulness, and hope and 2) to examine the temporal dynamics of resilience and hope during a centering meditation intervention.
Who can participate?
Adults enrolled at least part time in undergraduate or graduate school
What does the study involve?
The study involves daily access to the internet. It includes completing bi-daily brief assessments and 3 comprehensive mental wellness assessments online at pre-specified times. Treatment group will be asked to practice a 10-minute meditation every morning and night. Participants enrolled in study completed three measurement procedures: a) one-time demographics questionnaire, b) a bi-daily brief hope assessment, and c) an assessment battery at three points in time. Each assessment was available through a link to Qualtrics, which emailed them the assessments to participants at predesignated times. Once participants enrolled in the study, they completed a demographics survey followed by an initial assessment battery. They subsequently received a battery of assessments that measured resilience, stress, spiritual transcendence, and mindfulness. Qualtrics resent this assessment battery again at the mid-point and final point of the study. If participants did not respond to an assessment, Qualtrics sent an e-mail reminder to complete the survey with a new link. Lastly, participants also received a link to a brief assessment of hope every morning and evening for the entirety of the study, culminating in a total 56 administrations of four weeks. Over a four-week period, each participant received an email reminder to meditate in the morning at 6 am and in the evening at 6 pm. After meditating, they completed a brief online assessment of hope via Qualtrics. At the same windows of time, participants in the control group received the same brief assessments of hope without the reminder to meditate
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There are no known risks associated with this study. Participants will be simply asked to respond to several survey items and participate in a brief exercise.
Where is the study run from?
William & Mary College (USA)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
August 2020 to October 2020
Who is funding the study?
Investigator initiated and funded
Who is the main contact?
Stephanie Dorais, sdorais@email.wm.edu
Contact information
Public
215 North Ave
Hillside
07205
United States of America
 ORCID ID |
0000-0002-0045-4278 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +1 (757) 932-0421 |
| sdorais@kean.edu |
Study information
| Study design | Online single center interventional double-blind randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Internet/virtual |
| Study type | Treatment |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use contact details to request a participant information sheet. |
| Scientific title | Effects of Centering Prayer Meditation compared to waitlist control on Resilience, Mindfulness, Stress, and Hope among college students |
| Study acronym | CPMRMSH |
| Study hypothesis | 1. There will be a significant difference in resilience (as measured by the RSES) between a group of individuals who participate in a daily meditation and individuals from an intent-to-treat sample. 2. The fluctuations of hope (as measured by the SHS) will be non-stationary in the comparison group and they will stabilize and increase in trend in the treatment group. 3. Hope (as measured by the SHS) will serve as a significant explanatory variable and mediating variable in the trajectory of resilience over four weeks. 4. There will be a significant correlation between Centering Prayer and the constructs of mindfulness, spiritual transcendence, and stress. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 24/08/2020, William & Mary Institutional Review Board (200 Stadium Dr, Williamsburg, VA 23185, USA; +1 757 2213862; jastev@wm.edu), ref: EDIRC-2020-08-02-14426-sdorais |
| Condition | Improvement of resilience, stress, mindfulness, and hope among college students |
| Intervention | Participants are randomized through Qualtrics randomized generator into treatment or waitlist control group. The treatment group participated in a centering prayer meditation at home every morning and evening for 10 minutes for 4 weeks. They report their adherence through bi-daily assessments emailed them to them twice a day. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | Resilience is measured using the Response to Stressful Experience Scale at baseline, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks. |
| Secondary outcome measures | 1. Stress measured using Perceived Stress Scale at baseline, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks 2. Mindfulness measured using the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale- Revised at baseline, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks. 3. Spiritual Transcendence using the Spiritual Transcendence Scale at baseline, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks. 4. Hope using the State Hope Scale measured twice a day from baseline to Week 4. |
| Overall study start date | 24/08/2020 |
| Overall study end date | 18/10/2020 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Healthy volunteer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Lower age limit | 18 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 200 |
| Total final enrolment | 190 |
| Participant inclusion criteria | 1. Enrolled at least part time in college or graduate school 2. Over the age of 18 years |
| Participant exclusion criteria | 1. Individuals under the age of 18 2. Individuals not enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program |
| Recruitment start date | 05/09/2020 |
| Recruitment end date | 20/09/2020 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- United States of America
Study participating centre
Williamsburg
23188
United States of America
Sponsor information
University/education
301 Monticello Ave
Williamsburg
23188
United States of America
| Phone | +1 757-221-3862 |
|---|---|
| jastev@wm.edu | |
| Website | https://www.wm.edu |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/03hsf0573 |
Funders
Funder type
Other
No information available
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 30/09/2021 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a high-impact peer-reviewed journal. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. sdorais@kean.edu. The data will include SAS outputs only of statistical analysis. There are no ethical or legal restrictions applicable. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | 21/10/2021 | 12/04/2022 | Yes | No |
Editorial Notes
12/04/2021: Publication reference added.
10/08/2021: Trial's existence confirmed by William & Mary Institutional Review Board
