Implications of Tamarkoz® on Stress, Emotion, Spirituality and Heart Rate

NCT03489148 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 5150225
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 103
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Depression, anxiety, hopelessness, poor sleep quality, somatic pain, high risk of substance abuse, and suicide ideation are positively correlated with perceived stress. Spirituality and positive emotions have profound, positive impacts on health and reduce perceived stress. The current study is an exploration of Tamarkoz®, a Sufi practice that is a method to concentrate, as a pathway by which spirituality and positive emotions effect perceived stress. Tamarkoz® incorporates physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of an individual. In its current form, it includes Movazaneh® which is movement balancing developed by the Sufi Master, Professor Nader Angha. Movazaneh® movements direct concentration of the mind to a state of collectiveness and activates electromagnetic centers in the body, which are said to develop spirituality in an individual. A national survey of college students indicated that over 80% have interest in spiritual development. Participants were recruited from the University of California, Berkeley for an 18-week quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest and follow-up in three groups. Assessments were conducted with blood pressure, heart rate, the 10-item perceived stress scale, the 38-item dispositional positive emotions scale, and the 16-item daily spiritual experiences scale in a Tamarkoz® group, a wait-list control, and a third group utilizing the campus health center's stress management resources. Blood pressure and heart rate measurements were taken by the researcher using a validated home monitoring device. Additionally, all participants provided 3 diurnal saliva samples to determine changes in salivary immunoglobulin A and salivary cortisol. All data were collection was through non-evasive procedures and were assessed at baseline, end of the school semester (12 weeks) and 18 weeks. Participants, diverse university students, had no prior exposure to Tamarkoz®.

Conditions

Stress

Keywords

Stress; Relaxation; Health promotion

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Perceived stress scale

  The scale measures the degree to which one perceives situations in one's life as stressful on a Likert Scale of 0 to 4 with 0 indicating never, and 4 indicating very often. Higher scores indicate higher levels of perceived stress.

  Change between baseline and 18 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Salivary Immunoglobulin A (SIgA) in Saliva

  Change between baseline and 18 weeks

Study Arms (3)

Tamarkoz®

EXPERIMENTAL

A Sufi method to focus, called Tamarkoz®. Participants had met in class twice a week for two and a half hours total for three months. One day of the week, they met for theoretical teachings of Sufism, and for the second day in the week they met with a Tamarkoz® instructor to learn meditation techniques.

Behavioral: Tamarkoz®

Stress Management Resources

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

The self-care stress management group used the campus resources such as counseling, health-coaching, health and wellness groups, use of an automated massage chair, and online reading materials for stress management as needed for themselves.

Behavioral: Stress management resources

Waitlist

NO INTERVENTION

The waitlist control group did not receive Tamarkoz® and did not use the stress management resources on campus for the duration of the study.

Interventions

Tamarkoz® BEHAVIORAL

Tamarkoz® techniques includes six key elements: clearing the mind, breathing exercises, Movazeneh® (movement and balance exercises), deep relaxation, and visualization.

Tamarkoz®

Stress management resources BEHAVIORAL

Use of the campus health center's stress management resources such as counseling, health-coaching, health and wellness groups, use of an automated massage chair, pet-an-animal a week, and online reading material about self-care for stress management.

Stress Management Resources

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 30 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• University of California, Berkeley students between the ages of 18-30 years

You may not qualify if:

• work third shifts
• diabetes
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• liver disease
• autoimmune diseases
• severe depression that resists treatment or impacts ability to function
• schizophrenia

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Loma Linda University: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California, 94720, United States

Location

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Related Links

• M.T.O.®. (2016). Tamarkoz®
• Higher Education Research Institute. (2007). The spiritual life of college students: A national study of college students' search for meaning and purpose
• Smith, T. W., Hout, M., \& Marsden, P. V. (2013). General Social Survey, 1972-2012

Study Officials

• Nasim Bahadorani, DrPH

  Loma Linda University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Jerry W Lee, PhD

  Loma Linda University

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: CARE PROVIDER
• Masking Details: The Tamarkoz® class instructor was not informed about which of her students from the class was participating in the study.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Participants were recruited from the University of California, Berkeley for an 18-week quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest and follow-up in three groups. Assessments were conducted with blood pressure, heart rate, the 10-item perceived stress scale, the 38-item dispositional positive emotions scale, and the 16-item daily spiritual experiences scale in a Tamarkoz® group, a wait-list control, and a third group utilizing the campus health center's stress management resources. Blood pressure and heart rate measurements were taken by the researcher using a validated home monitoring device. Additionally, all participants provided 3 diurnal saliva samples to determine changes in salivary immunoglobulin A and salivary cortisol. All data were collection was through non-evasive procedures and were assessed at baseline, end of the school semester (12 weeks) and 18 weeks.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 4, 2018
• First Posted: April 5, 2018
• Study Start: August 24, 2015
• Primary Completion: February 4, 2016
• Study Completion: February 4, 2016
• Last Updated: April 5, 2018

Record last verified: 2018-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Beginning 6 months and ending 5 years following article publication.
• Access Criteria: Investigators whose proposed use of the data has been approved by an independent review committee identified for this purpose. Data access requests will be reviewed by an external independent review panel. Requestors will be required to sign a Data Access Agreement.

Locations

US (1)