Emotional Well-being and Measures of Healthy Aging

Emotional Well-being and Biomarkers of Healthy Aging

This randomized control study is designed to understand the role of a positive psychology intervention (PARK: Positive Affect Regulation sKills) in biological aging and well-being. PARK provides a series of positive emotion skills in a self-guided online format, making the program accessible and convenient.

Our main aims are:

Aim 1: To explore the effects of PARK on psychological well-being (e.g., depression, anxiety, positive affect).

Aim 2: To explore the effects of PARK on biological age as defined by DNA methylation (DNAm) GrimAge and electrocardiogram-age (ECG-age), as well as physiological well-being in adults (e.g., cardiovascular, endocrine, musculoskeletal functioning, etc.).

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Aging; Aging Well; Aging, Biological; Aging, Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Positive Emotion Skills Intervention

Detailed Description

The skills in the Positive Psychology Intervention (PPI), PARK (e.g., gratitude, mindful awareness and nonjudgement, and self-compassion) are designed to promote positive emotion, which has been shown to provide resilience against stress. Positive emotion, independent of stress and negative emotion, has also been associated with a lower risk of mortality and better health behaviors such as likelihood of physical activity and healthy eating. This randomized control study will compare baseline well-being scores to post-online intervention at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months post-baseline. Secondarily, measures of biological aging (DNAm GrimAge and ECG-age) and physiological functioning measures of cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and endocrine functioning will be explored from baseline to post-intervention measures 3 and 12 months later.

Research will be based in Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine through the Potocsnak Human Longevity Lab and the Department of Medical Social Sciences (MSS), with all study procedures conducted in-person at the Human Longevity Lab or online. Eligibility screening, consent, and assessments will be conducted on REDCap. Consenting participants randomized to the treatment group will receive access to the online PARK platform within two weeks. The intervention consists of a positive skills course (including weekly lessons and daily skills practice) and daily emotion check-ins, hosted by BrightOutcome. The skills will be delivered over approximately 6 weeks, and individuals can participate from any device and location with internet access.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 80
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Chelsea S Brown; Phone Number: 312-503-3712; Email: chelsea.brown@northwestern.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Illinois
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
      • Recruiting
      • Potocsnak Human Longevity Lab
      • Contact: Chelsea Brown; Phone Number: 312-503-3712; Email: chelsea.brown@northwestern.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 40-70
• Speaks and reads English
• Able to access the online platform through their phone, a public device (i.e., at the library) or at home.
• Lives in the Chicagoland area
• Willing/able to travel to the Human Longevity Lab for in-person visits

Exclusion Criteria:

• Adults unable to consent
• Individuals who are not yet adults (infants, children, teenagers)
• Pregnant women
• Prisoners
• Vulnerable Populations
• Pre-existing heart disease (prevalent coronary heart and cerebrovascular disease or heart failure)
• Type 2 diabetes
• Severe psychiatric illness

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Positive Emotion Skills Intervention; Participants will receive the 6-week online intervention, PARK (Positive Affect Regulation sKills Course).	Behavioral: Positive Emotion Skills Intervention; Skills include positive events, capitalizing, gratitude, mindfulness, positive reappraisal, personal strengths, achievable goals, and self-compassion. The skills will be delivered over approximately 6 weeks, and individuals can participate from any device and location with internet access. A week will consist of 1-2 days of didactic material and 5-6 days of real-life skills practice and reporting. Participants cannot skip ahead and can only progress to the next lesson if they have completed the current one, but they can return to old lessons or exercises if they wish to.
No Intervention: Waitlist Control; The waitlist control condition will receive usual care in the Human Longevity Lab, which consists of a feedback report on biological age and lifestyle counseling from a clinical provider at the end of the study period. Control condition participants will have the option to gain access to the PARK platform and learn positive emotion skills after their study participation is completed at the end of 12 months.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Positive Affect (v1.0) and PROMIS Meaning and Purpose (v1.0)	Computer Adaptive Testing measure of positive emotion and purpose. Higher scores mean a better outcome (i.e., more positive emotion). Scores can range from 9-85, and a t-score of 50 represents the mean score for the United States general population with a standard deviation of 10.	Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months
PROMIS Depression (v1.0), Anxiety (v1.0), Social Isolation (v2.0)	Computer Adaptive Testing measures of psychosocial well-being. Higher scores mean a worse outcome (i.e., more anxiety or depression). Scores can range from 9-85, and a t-score of 50 represents the mean score for the United States general population with a standard deviation of 10.	baseline and 3, 6, 12 months post-baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Biological Age: DNA methylation GrimAge	Biological age as defined by DNA methylation GrimAge, an estimation of biological age in units of years.	Baseline, 3 months, 12 months
ECG-age (electrocardiogram-age)	Artificial intelligence algorithm using electrocardiogram data to estimate participant's age in unit of years. Higher ECG-age equates to greater cardiovascular aging.	Baseline, 3 months, 12 months
Telomere Length	Telomere length measures cellular aging, measured in kilobases (kb). Longer telomere length indicates less cellular aging (a better outcome).	Baseline, 3 months, 12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Northwestern University
• Collaborators: Potocsnak Human Longevity Lab

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Pressman SD, Cohen S. Does positive affect influence health? Psychol Bull. 2005 Nov;131(6):925-971. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.925.
• Pressman SD, Jenkins BN, Moskowitz JT. Positive Affect and Health: What Do We Know and Where Next Should We Go? Annu Rev Psychol. 2019 Jan 4;70:627-650. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102955. Epub 2018 Sep 27.
• Moskowitz JT, Carrico AW, Duncan LG, Cohn MA, Cheung EO, Batchelder A, Martinez L, Segawa E, Acree M, Folkman S. Randomized controlled trial of a positive affect intervention for people newly diagnosed with HIV. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2017 May;85(5):409-423. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000188. Epub 2017 Mar 23.
• Steptoe A, Wardle J. Positive affect measured using ecological momentary assessment and survival in older men and women. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Nov 8;108(45):18244-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1110892108. Epub 2011 Oct 31.
• Behr LC, Simm A, Kluttig A, Grosskopf Grosskopf A. 60 years of healthy aging: On definitions, biomarkers, scores and challenges. Ageing Res Rev. 2023 Jul;88:101934. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2023.101934. Epub 2023 Apr 13.
• Prior A, Fenger-Gron M, Larsen KK, Larsen FB, Robinson KM, Nielsen MG, Christensen KS, Mercer SW, Vestergaard M. The Association Between Perceived Stress and Mortality Among People With Multimorbidity: A Prospective Population-Based Cohort Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2016 Aug 1;184(3):199-210. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwv324. Epub 2016 Jul 11.
• Yegorov YE, Poznyak AV, Nikiforov NG, Sobenin IA, Orekhov AN. The Link between Chronic Stress and Accelerated Aging. Biomedicines. 2020 Jul 7;8(7):198. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines8070198.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 8, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 2, 2026
• First Posted (Estimated): January 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): January 12, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 2, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Aging; Internet-Based Intervention; Resilience, Psychological; Psychological Well-Being; Aging Well
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Personal Satisfaction; Psychological Well-Being
• Other Study ID Numbers: STU00221612

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