Mind-Body Skills Groups for Incarcerated Men and Women

The goal of this study is to learn about the effectiveness of a Mind-Body Skills Group program for incarcerated participants.The main questions is aims to answer are:

1. Do the mind-body skills groups increase resilience?
2. Do the mind-body skills groups decrease depression, anxiety and/or stress?
3. Do the mind-body skills groups increase participants' belief that they have improved coping skills?
4. Do the mind-body skills groups increase a sense of meaning in life?
5. Do the mind-body skills groups increase a sense of life purpose?
6. Do the mind-body skills groups increase self-esteem in women?
7. Do the mind-body skills groups decrease aggressive responses in men?

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Resilience
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mind-Body Skills Groups

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 140
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Indiana
    • Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 46168
      • Plainfield Correctional Facility
    • Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 46214
      • Indiana Women's Prison

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

The inclusion criteria for this study will be English-speaking incarcerated individuals at the Indiana Women's Prison and and at the Plainfield Correctional Facility.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Having any of the following before the study is completed:

1. a sentence that will end,
2. a scheduled change in security level to a minimum-security prison or,
3. a scheduled work release;

Or 2. Having conduct problems and/or emotional or mental instability that prevents safe and effective participation in the mind-body medicine training program

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Behavioral: Mind-body Skills Groups; 10 mind-body skills groups held once a week.	Behavioral: Mind-Body Skills Groups; The mind-body skills groups consist of supportive small group sessions with about 8-10 participants per group. Participants of these groups learn and practice mind-body techniques including: meditation, self-expression through drawings, autogenics and biofeedback, guided imagery, body awareness, and genograms.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from Baseline on resilience using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) after the 10-session mind-body skills groups and at 3 month follow-up.	The CD-RISC is a validated, self-report instrument assessing resilience over the last month. The CD-RISC consists of 25 questions that are rated on a 5-point scale with higher scores representing greater resilience. Change = After the 10 sessions score- Baseline score; Follow-up score - After the 10 sessions score; and Follow-up Score - Baseline score	Baseline, 11 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from Baseline on depression, anxiety, and stress using the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale -21 (DASS-21) after the 10-session mind-body skills groups and at 3 month follow-up.	The DASS-21 is a validated, self-report instrument assessing the emotional states of depression, anxiety ans stress over the past week. The DASS-21 consists of 7 questions each for depression anxiety and stress are rated on a 4-point scale with higher scores representing higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Change= After the 10 sessions scores- Baseline scores; Follow-up scores - After the 10 sessions scores; and Follow-up scores - Baseline scores	Baseline, 11 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up
Change from Baseline on coping-self efficacy using the Coping Self-Efficacy (CSE) scale after the 10 session mind-body skills groups and at 3 month follow-up	The CSE Scale is a validated, self-report instrument assessing coping self-efficacy. The CSE scale consists of 26 questions that are rated on scale from 0 "cannot do at all" to 10 "certain can do". Higher scores represent greater levels of coping self-efficacy. Change = After the 10 sessions score- Baseline score; Follow-up score - After the 10 session score; and Follow-up score - Baseline score.	Baseline, 11 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up
Change from Baseline on meaning in life using the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) after the 10 session mind-body skills groups and at 3 month follow-up	The MLQ is a validated, self-report instrument assessing meaning in life. The MLQ consists of 10 questions that are rated on 7- point scale. There are 2 subscales: presence of meaning and search for meaning. Higher scores represent greater levels of these two components of meaning in life. Change = After the 10 sessions score- Baseline score; Follow-up score - After the 10 session score; and Follow-up score - Baseline score.	Baseline, 11 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up
Change from Baseline on purpose in life using the the Life Engagement Test (LET) after the 10 session mind-body skills groups and at 3 month follow-up	The LET is a 6-item scale made up of items that are framed in half positive and half negative directions. These items are then rated using a 5-point scale that ranges from "1 = strongly disagree" to "5 = strongly agree".Higher scores represent greater levels of purpose in life. Change = After the 10 sessions score- Baseline score; Follow-up score - After the 10 session score; and Follow-up score - Baseline score.	Baseline, 11 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up
Change from Baseline on self-esteem (females only) using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) after the 10 session mind-body skills groups and at 3 month follow-up	The RSE scale consists of 10 items scored on a 4-point scale with responses that range from "not at all like me" to "completely like me". Higher scores represent greater self-esteem. Change = After the 10 sessions score- Baseline score; Follow-up score - After the 10 session score; and Follow-up score - Baseline score.	Baseline, 11 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up
Change from Baseline on aggression (males only) using the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) after the 10 session mind-body skills groups and at 3 month follow-up.	Improvements in aggression will be measured using the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) which is a revision of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory that has been widely used to measure aggression.The AQ consists of 34 items scored on a 5-point Likert-type scale with responses ranging from "not at all like me" to "completely like me". The AQ has the following subscales: physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, hostility, and indirect aggression. Higher scores represent greater aggression according to these components. Change = After the 10 sessions score- Baseline score; Follow-up score - After the 10 session score; and Follow-up score - Baseline score.	Baseline, 11 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
How the Mind-Body Medicine Skills Groups have Affected the Participants by using Focus Group Interviews	Two focus groups with approximately with approximately 16-20 people each at each of the 2 prisons will be held. Focus group questions will cover topics such as how the mind-bdy skills groups have affected the participant in terms of relationships, how they view their future, and how they are going to used what they have learned.	11 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The Center for Mind-Body Medicine
• Collaborators: Herbert Simon Family Foundation
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Julie K Staples, PhD, The Center for Mind-Body Medicine

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 5, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 19, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): June 19, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 30, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 10, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): July 17, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 10, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 3, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: meditation; incarcerated; resilience; mind-body medicine; prisoners
• Other Study ID Numbers: CMBMIndianaPrisons002

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No