Do Mind Ease Interventions Reduce Feelings of Acute Anxiety? A Randomised Controlled Trial

April 29, 2023 updated by: JanBrauner, University of Oxford
This study investigates the short-term effects of the MindEase app on anxiety levels.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Anxiety is a common symptom in the world's population (Whiteford et al., 2013). It occurs as a symptom within other mental disorders and as a disorder in itself (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

There are several ways of dealing with anxiety, from short guidance for coping on a symptom level to professional health. (Emmelkamp & Ehring, 2014). Many people suffering from anxiety below a threshold indicating need for professional therapy may profit from strategies to calm down. (Helmchen & Linden, 2000). Among the strategies that are effective, there are guided interventions that people can use via a web-based interface on a computer or smartphone (Taylor et al., 2021). While it is known for most interventions that they are helpful, it is often unclear if they work also in web-based environments (Baumel et al., 2020). This is because most research regarding the topic investigates the effectiveness of mental-health apps as a whole, while research of specific interventions is missing (Domhardt et al., 2019). However, to develop effective apps, it is crucial to identify which specific interventions are most efficient in a web-based setting. (Domhardt et al., 2019; Firth et al., 2017). Therefore we want to identify interventions working effectively in an online format.

Mind Ease is an app that offers different established interventions within one framework to their users when they feel anxious. This framework makes the different interventions comparable to each other. For this reason, we will test the interventions that are used in the Mind Ease-app.

In a first study we will correlate the Mind Ease 3-sliders-score with the state-trait- anxiety-Inventory (SAI). In a second study we will measure participants'; acute anxiety (with the 3-sliders- score) before and after they performed a 10 minutes web-based cognitive or mindfulness-associated intervention. We will compare the anticipated reduction in anxiety to the reduction measured in participants in a control group.

Prospectively registered here: https://osf.io/36ukh

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

6200

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

    • Oxfordshire
      • Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, OX1 3QG
        • Recruiting
        • University of Oxford
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • anxiety score is above cut-off

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: mindful breathing
MindEase is an app which provides interventions against anxiety. The interventions are based on mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Experimental: deep breathing
MindEase is an app which provides interventions against anxiety. The interventions are based on mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Experimental: cognitive therapy
MindEase is an app which provides interventions against anxiety. The interventions are based on mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Experimental: dare response
MindEase is an app which provides interventions against anxiety. The interventions are based on mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Experimental: defusion
MindEase is an app which provides interventions against anxiety. The interventions are based on mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Experimental: in flow with fear
MindEase is an app which provides interventions against anxiety. The interventions are based on mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Experimental: gratitude practice
MindEase is an app which provides interventions against anxiety. The interventions are based on mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Experimental: guided mindfulness
MindEase is an app which provides interventions against anxiety. The interventions are based on mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Experimental: muscle relaxation
MindEase is an app which provides interventions against anxiety. The interventions are based on mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Experimental: reframe your fears
MindEase is an app which provides interventions against anxiety. The interventions are based on mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Experimental: calming visualization
MindEase is an app which provides interventions against anxiety. The interventions are based on mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Experimental: reflective writing
MindEase is an app which provides interventions against anxiety. The interventions are based on mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Placebo Comparator: reading about anxiety
Participants are given an educational text to read about anxiety.
No Intervention: do what you would usually do

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
change in anxiety score
Time Frame: immediately before and immediately after the intervention
sum of three slider questions on emotional state (3-sliders-score)
immediately before and immediately after the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jan M Brauner, MD, University of Oxford

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 11, 2023

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

July 1, 2023

Study Completion (Anticipated)

July 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 29, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 29, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

May 9, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 9, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 29, 2023

Last Verified

April 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R82884/RE001
  • https://osf.io/36ukh (Registry Identifier: OSF)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Anonymous participant data will be accessible to anyone upon request.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Immediately after publication. No end date.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Anyone who wishes to access the data.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ANALYTIC_CODE
  • CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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