Guided Meditation and Stress-Induced Eating

The Impact of 8 Weeks of a Digital Meditation Application on Stress-Induced Eating

The aim of this study is to test the effects of a digital meditation intervention in a sample of UCLA employees who report mild to moderate stress. We will randomize University of California Los Angeles employees to either 8-weeks of a digital meditation intervention (using the commercially available application Headspace) or a waitlist control condition.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Stress-induced Eating
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Meditation

Detailed Description

The aim of this study is to test the effects of a digital meditation intervention in a sample of UCLA employees who report mild to moderate stress. UCLA employees will be randomized to either 8-weeks of a digital meditation intervention (using the commercially available application Headspace) or a waitlist control condition.

Participants who are assigned to the intervention group will be asked to download and use the Headspace mobile application for at least 10 minutes per day for 8 weeks. All participants will be asked to fill out short (no longer than 25 minutes) questionnaires at baseline, week 4, week 8 (post intervention), and a 4-month follow up period. Among participants who are randomized to the digital meditation intervention, they will also take part in a 1-year follow up. All activities will take place online (via computer or smartphone).

Prior to randomization, participants will complete an eligibility screening and complete the baseline questionnaire battery. The entirety of the study is digital and there are no in-person assessments. Adherence will be tracked remotely. The goal is to recruit as many as 1000 participants (500 per condition).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 943
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90024
      • University of California, Los Angeles

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Have access to a smartphone or computer everyday
• Are fluent in English
• Are a University of California, Los Angeles employee
• Report mild to moderate levels of stress
• Consent: demonstrate understanding of the study and willingness to participate as evidenced by voluntary informed consent and has received a signed and dated copy of the informed consent
• Are at least 18 years of age

Exclusion Criteria:

• You may not join if you are an experienced meditator or have participated in a formal meditation practice in the last 6 months (defined as once or more per week for a duration of 20 minutes or more at each practice)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Meditation Group; The intervention group will be assigned to a digitally-based meditation intervention (Headspace app- Basic + Stress packs) and asked to use this for at least 10 minutes a day over the course of 8 weeks	Behavioral: Meditation; Ten minutes of meditation per day for 8 weeks using a mobile application
No Intervention: Wait-list Control Group; Wait-list control group participants will continue their normal activities and not engage in any form of meditation during the study period

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Reductions in perceived stress as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale	Changes in the Perceived Stress Scale (range: 1-40; Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1988). Higher scores indicate greater psychological distress.	Baseline to post-intervention (8 weeks from baseline)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Reductions in stress-induced eating as measured by the Palatable Eating Motives Scale	Changes self-reporting using highly palatable foods to cope with stress, according to the Palatable Eating Motives Scale Coping subscale (range: 1-20) Burgess, Turan, Lokken, Morse, & Boggiano, 2014). Higher scores indicate a higher likelihood of using palatable foods to cope with stress.	Baseline to post-intervention (8 weeks from baseline)
Reductions in reward-based eating as measured by the Reward-based Eating Drive	Changes in self-reporting intrinsic rewards from consuming highly palatable foods, according to the Reward-based Eating Drive (RED) Scale (range: 1-45; Epel, et al. 2014). Higher scores indicate a greater reward response from consuming palatable foods.	Baseline to post-intervention (8 weeks from baseline)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles
• Collaborators: Headspace Meditation Limited; UCLA Healthy Campus Network
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Janet Tomiyama, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 15, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 11, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): September 11, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 9, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 12, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): October 16, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 9, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 6, 2020
• Last Verified: November 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: Meditation and Eating

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No