Project Movement/Daily Move Feasibility

Generalized stress among adults is an increasingly problematic concern, particularly in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Stress in America 2020 data, Americans are still struggling to cope with the disruptions that the pandemic has caused, and nearly 8 in 10 adults (78%) say that the COVID-19 pandemic is a significant source of stress in their life. This stress from the COVID-19 pandemic is in addition to previous sources of stress that impacted American adults, including things such as health care, mass shootings, global climate change, and more. Additionally, rising concerns over racism and racially-driven acts of violence has impacted racial-ethnic minorities and led to rising rates of stress over discrimination. In 2021, 44% of people of color said that discrimination was a significant source of stress in their life, compared with 38% back in 2019. The currently proposed study aims to include American adults with elevated levels of stress, with 60% of the recruited sample targeting racial-ethnic minorities.

The investigators have previously conducted multiple feasibility and pilot studies investigating the use of the mobile meditation app, Calm, on various mental health outcomes in a diverse range of adults (cancer patients, adults with sleep disturbances, etc.). The investigators have found the Calm meditation app to be both feasible and beneficial for adults on a range of mental health outcomes, including stress-related outcomes. Although there is a growing body of evidence to describe the benefits of short, daily meditations on stress and other mental health outcomes in adults, there are currently no investigations that have been done to examine the feasibility or impact of short, daily app-based mindful movement exercises on stress in adults. It is for these reasons that the primary purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of the Calm's "Daily Move" component on stressed adults.