Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Effects on Anxiety and Stress

May 18, 2026 updated by: Matthew B. Pontifex, Ph.D., Michigan State University

Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial Examining the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Anxiety and Stress Reduction Within College Students

To understand the potential effectiveness of a 4 week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy intervention delivered using a smartphone application for reducing anxiety and stress within college students.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The objective of this project is to understand the potential effectiveness of a 4 week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy intervention delivered using a smartphone application for reducing anxiety and stress within college students. Although in-person mindfulness-based cognitive therapy approaches have been found effective for reducing anxiety and stress; given the pervasiveness of anxiety and stress in this population, there is a need to provide alternative and accessible interventions to improve students' mental health. One such approach may be by leveraging existing tools such Sanvello - a free mindfulness-based cognitive therapy smartphone application - which could more easily be deployed across a broader population. Accordingly, using a cluster-randomized controlled design, this intervention will assess the extent to which 4-weeks of using the Sanvello application was effective for reducing anxiety and stress within college students.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
289

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • 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 Locations

  • United States
    • Michigan
      • East Lansing, Michigan, United States, 48824
        • Department of Kinesiology

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

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Enrolled in course

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Complete inattendance in course during the pretest and study period.
  • Opted out of data being available for research use

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: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Positive Control
The control experimental group received training on the utilization of mindfulness-based stress reduction breathing techniques. Participants were instructed to set a timer for 5 minutes in order to engage in mindfulness breathing. Comprehensive instructions were provided during the initial laboratory time, elucidating the method by which participants were to direct their attention towards their breath. Moreover, participants were encouraged to cultivate a non-judgmental attitude when confronted with potential distractions and to subsequently redirect their focus back to their breathing. Participants were advised to integrate this technique into their daily lives as a means to alleviate anxiety and stress.
Behavioral: Mindfulness Practice
Participants were instructed to practice mindfulness daily using their instructed approaches for a period of 4 weeks.
Experimental: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy intervention
The active experimental group received a mindfulness based cognitive therapy through the Sanvello smartphone application. Participants were encouraged to practice mindfulness daily through the application program "Braving Anxiety," which consisted of 35 modules. The anxiety management program consists of 1) Watch, 2) Read, 3) Listen, 4) Plan, 5) Listen - Mindfulness practice.
Behavioral: Mindfulness Practice
Participants were instructed to practice mindfulness daily using their instructed approaches for a period of 4 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory
Time Frame: Change from baseline, 4 weeks.
Trait scale of the Spielberger State-Trait Inventory as an index of trait anxiety. The possible trait scores range from 20 to 80, with higher scores indicating greater levels of anxiety.
Change from baseline, 4 weeks.
Perceived Stress Scale
Time Frame: Change from baseline, 4 weeks.
The Perceived Stress Scale-4 as an index of perceived chronic stress levels. The possible scores range from 0 to 16, with higher scores indicating higher perceived chronic stress levels.
Change from baseline, 4 weeks.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Michigan State University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Matthew B Pontifex, PhD, Michigan State University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 21, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 26, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
April 26, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
July 18, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 24, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 31, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
June 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 18, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • STUDY00008121

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Data sharing will be by request and approval of the Michigan State University Human Research Protections Program with the provision of a data-safety and sharing agreement. No individually identifiable information will be shared.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Data will be available following primary publication of the results.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

By request and completion of an institutional data-safety and sharing agreement.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF

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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