Online Mindfulness-Based College for Young Adults (MBC)
Depressive Symptoms, Loneliness, Sedentary Behavior
About this trial
This is an interventional prevention trial for Depressive Symptoms focused on measuring Emerging adult, Young Adult, Mindfulness, Randomized Controlled Trial
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- 18-29 years of age
- Able to read, write, and speak in English
- Access to a computer, tablet, or smart phone device in order to complete online assessments and participate in the online interventions
- Reside in the United States during the research study
Exclusion Criteria:
- Current, regular mindfulness meditation practice ≥1 time per week
- Untreated, pre-existing mental health conditions, including borderline disorder, schizophrenia or psychosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic attacks, alcohol or substance abuse, and eating disorders, who are not in regular care of a clinician. These participants are excluded as they may require additional or specialized treatment not able to be provided by the study or are already participating in practices similar to the intervention.
Sites / Locations
- Mindfulness Center at Brown UniversityRecruiting
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Arm 3
Experimental
Experimental
Active Comparator
Mindfulness-Based College - Standard Dose
Mindfulness-Based College - Low Dose
Health education control group
MBC standard dose is a 9-week, 9 session program providing systematic and intensive training in mindfulness meditation practices. The curriculum is grounded in the manualized and standardized Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) curriculum. MBSR was adapted to the young adult life stage by: (1) Training mindfulness skills such as attention control, self-awareness and emotion regulation, using the MBSR curriculum, and (2) applying these skills to the health behaviors and priorities most relevant to young adults. Specific behaviors and priorities targeted are social relationships, sleep, stress, diet, physical activity, obesity, alcohol consumption, substance use, digital media use, and performance (e.g. athletic, artistic and academic). The intervention is administered live, online via a video conferencing platform. The standard dose class meets once a week for 2.5 hours for 9 weeks. There is also an all-day retreat that takes place around week 6 of the program.
The MBC low-dose program is mirrored after the standard MBC program (described previously); however, instead of meeting for 2.5 hours each week, the low-dose MBC program is abbreviated to meet for 1.5 hours each week for the 9 weeks. MBC low-dose will be administered live, online via the free video conferencing platform, Zoom.
Those randomized to the health education control group will receive young adult-specific online health resources offered through www.youngwomenshealth.org and www.youngmenshealthsite.org. Both websites provide resources to improve mental and physical health, and include opportunities to ask health questions, and learn ways to improve mental and physical well-being.