NCT03550144

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.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
60

participants targeted

Target at P25-P50 for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Dec 2016

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Start

First participant enrolled

December 5, 2016

Completed
1 year until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

December 10, 2017

Completed
5 months until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

May 16, 2018

Completed
10 days until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

May 26, 2018

Completed
13 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

June 8, 2018

Completed
Last Updated

March 22, 2022

Status Verified

March 1, 2022

Enrollment Period

1 year

First QC Date

May 16, 2018

Last Update Submit

March 7, 2022

Conditions

AweCompassionAnxiety

Keywords

AweCompassionAnxietyPositive emotionsAging

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • Daily awe experience questionnaire

    Increase in awe experience

    8 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (4)

  • Daily compassion experience questionnaire

    8 weeks

  • Daily negative emotional experience questionnaire

    8 weeks

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder- 7 Item Scale

    8 weeks

  • Satisfaction With Life Scale

    8 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Awe Walk Condition

EXPERIMENTAL

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.

Behavioral: Awe Walk

Control Walk Condition

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

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.

Behavioral: Control Walk

Interventions

Awe WalkBEHAVIORAL

To examine the effect of weekly awe walks in cognitively healthy older adults.

Awe Walk Condition
Control WalkBEHAVIORAL

To examine the effect of weekly walks in cognitively healthy older adults.

Control Walk Condition

Eligibility Criteria

Age40 Years - 90 Years
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersYes
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • 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

You may not qualify if:

  • Major memory concerns/diagnosed memory condition
  • Korsakoff encephalopathy
  • Active substance abuse
  • Brain tumor
  • 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

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

UCSF Memory and Aging Center

San Francisco, California, 94158, United States

Location

Related Publications (8)

  • Keltner D, Haidt J. Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic emotion. Cogn Emot. 2003 Mar;17(2):297-314. doi: 10.1080/02699930302297.

    PMID: 29715721BACKGROUND

  • Kaup AR, Byers AL, Falvey C, Simonsick EM, Satterfield S, Ayonayon HN, Smagula SF, Rubin SM, Yaffe K. Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults and Risk of Dementia. JAMA Psychiatry. 2016 May 1;73(5):525-31. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.0004.

    PMID: 26982217BACKGROUND

  • Williams JE, Paton CC, Siegler IC, Eigenbrodt ML, Nieto FJ, Tyroler HA. Anger proneness predicts coronary heart disease risk: prospective analysis from the atherosclerosis risk in communities (ARIC) study. Circulation. 2000 May 2;101(17):2034-9. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.101.17.2034.

    PMID: 10790343BACKGROUND

  • Fredrickson BL, Cohn MA, Coffey KA, Pek J, Finkel SM. Open hearts build lives: positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2008 Nov;95(5):1045-1062. doi: 10.1037/a0013262.

    PMID: 18954193BACKGROUND

  • Stellar JE, John-Henderson N, Anderson CL, Gordon AM, McNeil GD, Keltner D. Positive affect and markers of inflammation: discrete positive emotions predict lower levels of inflammatory cytokines. Emotion. 2015 Apr;15(2):129-33. doi: 10.1037/emo0000033. Epub 2015 Jan 19.

    PMID: 25603133BACKGROUND

  • Diener E, Chan MY. Happy people live longer: Subjective well-being contributes to health and longevity. .Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being 2011;3:1-43

    BACKGROUND

  • Levenson RW, Ascher E, Goodkind M, McCarthy M, Sturm V, Werner K. Chapter 25 Laboratory testing of emotion and frontal cortex. Handb Clin Neurol. 2008;88:489-98. doi: 10.1016/S0072-9752(07)88025-0. No abstract available.

    PMID: 18631708BACKGROUND

  • Emmons RA, McCullough ME. Counting blessings versus burdens: an experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2003 Feb;84(2):377-89. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.84.2.377.

    PMID: 12585811BACKGROUND

Related Links

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anxiety Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

  • Virginia E Sturm, PhD

    University of California, San Francisco

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
SINGLE
Who Masked
PARTICIPANT
Purpose
PREVENTION
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

May 16, 2018

First Posted

June 8, 2018

Study Start

December 5, 2016

Primary Completion

December 10, 2017

Study Completion

May 26, 2018

Last Updated

March 22, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-03

Locations

US(1)