Comparing Random Allocation and Allocation by Preference to Mindfulness Practice

NCT06402461 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: DClinPsychol2022BobbieScott/1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 241
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this randomized controlled study is to examine whether allocation based on preference to one of two brief mindfulness meditation practices (mindfulness of the breath or mindfulness of sounds) influences the potentially beneficial effects of these practices, and influences participants' intention to engage in further mindfulness practice. To the end, members of the general public will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) a group in which they choose which of the two mindfulness practices they do; (2) a group in which they are randomly allocated to do one of the mindfulness practices; and (3) a control group that listens to an audiobook extract. The level of mindfulness of each group will be compared, along with some other outcomes.

Conditions

Healthy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change from baseline (T0) to post-intervention (T2) on the Toronto Mindfulness Scale, State Version (TMS-SV; Lau et al., 2006).

  The TMS-SV measures two facets of state mindfulness, namely curiosity (on a 0 to 24 scale) and decentering (on a 0 to 28 scale), with higher scores indicating greater state mindfulness.

  Post-intervention (T2; estimated to be on average 20 minutes after baseline)

Secondary Outcomes (7)

• Change from baseline (T0) to post-allocation (T1) on the Toronto Mindfulness Scale, State Version (TMS-SV; Lau et al., 2006).

  Post-allocation (T1; estimated to be on average 5 minutes after baseline)

• Practice Quality-Mindfulness (PQ-M; Del Re et al., 2022) at post-intervention (T2), for the mindfulness practice groups only.

  Post-intervention (T2; estimated to be on average 20 minutes after baseline)

• Intention to practice mindfulness in future.

  Post-intervention (T2; estimated to be on average 20 minutes after baseline)

• Change from baseline (T0) to post-allocation (T1) on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule - Postive Affect subscale (PANAS-P; Watson et al., 1988)

  Post-allocation (T1; estimated to be on average 5 minutes after baseline)

• Change from baseline (T0) to post-intervention (T2) on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule - Postive Affect subscale (PANAS-P; Watson et al., 1988)

  Post-intervention (T2; estimated to be on average 20 minutes after baseline)

Study Arms (3)

Allocation by preference

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants are allocated to the one of the two mindfulness practices that they would prefer to do, based on a short description.

Behavioral: Mindfulness of the breath; Behavioral: Mindfulness of sounds

Allocation by random

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants are randomly allocated to one of the two mindfulness practices.

Behavioral: Mindfulness of the breath; Behavioral: Mindfulness of sounds

Control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants listen to an excerpt from an audiobook for an equivalent length of time to the mindfulness practices.

Behavioral: Audiobook control

Interventions

Mindfulness of the breath BEHAVIORAL

A 10 minute, audio guided, mindfulness of the breath meditation of the sort used in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

Allocation by preference; Allocation by random

Mindfulness of sounds BEHAVIORAL

A 10 minute, audio guided, mindfulness of sounds meditation of the sort used in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

Allocation by preference; Allocation by random

Audiobook control BEHAVIORAL

Listening to a 10 minute extract from an audiobook

Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Resident in the UK

You may not qualify if:

• Currently practicing mindfulness meditation more than once per week.
• Experiencing significant mental health problems.
• Believe that practicing mindfulness could cause significant distress.
• Previously practicing mindfulness has caused significant distress.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Canterbury Christ Church University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Salomons Institute for Applied Psychology, Canterbury Christ Church University

Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 2YG, United Kingdom

Location

Study Officials

• Bobbie Scott, MSc

  Canterbury Christ Church University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Fergal Jones, PhD

  Canterbury Christ Church University

  STUDY CHAIR

• Sarah Strohmaier, PhD

  Victoria University, Melbourne

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Outcome measures will be collected online using Qualtrics without involvement of a researcher.
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: 3x2x3: 'group' (preference vs. randomly allocation) by 'practice type' (mindfulness of the breath vs. mindfulness of sounds) by 'time' (baseline vs. post-allocation vs. post-intervention).

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 29, 2024
• First Posted: May 7, 2024
• Study Start: October 19, 2025
• Primary Completion: October 20, 2025
• Study Completion: October 20, 2025
• Last Updated: March 20, 2026

Record last verified: 2025-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Time Frame: Post-publication for 10 years.
• Access Criteria: Data will be made available to researchers or others with legitimate interest (e.g. clinicians and mindfulness teachers).

Locations

GB (1)