An observational study in Mental Health and Mindfulness, sponsored by State University of New York at Buffalo. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-07-30.
Sponsored by State University of New York at Buffalo · Observational
This project examines the psychological construct of decentering - a mindfulness-related construct marked by an observer perspective on one's ongoing mental processes. Specifically, this project seeks to explore the extent to which decentering modulates the relationship between people's affective states and their momentary mental health and well-being, and to test the psychological processes by which decentering might exert these effects. This study includes a baseline assessment followed by a 7-day study completed from home where participants respond to brief surveys about their current experiences six times per day (i.e., an Ecological Momentary Assessment [EMA] design).
The investigators hypothesize that decentering moderates the association of extreme affect with related symptoms (i.e., elevated negative affect with depression and anxiety; elevated positive affect with mania, narcissism, and histrionic traits) and well-being, such that the association is attenuated at high levels of decentering. This will be examined using the EMA data, analyzing between-person levels (i.e., trait) as well as momentary within-person processes (i.e., concurrent and prospective states).
Further, the investigators predict that broadened attentional focus and improved self-regulation are mechanisms that contribute to the beneficial effects of decentering in daily life. This hypothesis will be examined in two ways:
Note that the study uses a multimodal assessment of each of the proposed processes. For attentional processes, a variety of parameters extracted from an emotional eye tracking paradigm will be examined. For self-regulatory abilities, assessments will include self-report, physiological (heart rate variability), and behavioral ("go / no-go" task) measures of such abilities.
2,193 studies on the registry are indexed under Psychological Well-Being; 728 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 380 is above the median of 300 across 358 observational studies indexed under Psychological Well-Being.
Browse Psychological Well-Being studies →State University of New York at Buffalo is the lead sponsor of 294 studies on the registry; 63 are open to participants now.
Of its 19 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 15 (79%) have results posted.
Compared within Psychological Well-Being, the registry's first condition term, which may not be this study's main condition. Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily. How we classify →
The population from which the sample will be recruited will be residents of the greater Buffalo, NY metropolitan area.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Community sample of adults (18-65) from the greater Buffalo, NY region, oversampling people who are seeking mental health treatment.
Momentary psychological distress
2 items (developed new for this study) assessing the presence and impact of idiographic symptoms identified at baseline, and 4 items assessing dysphoria adapted from the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS)
Time frame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment
Momentary eudaimonic well-being
2 items assessing eudaimonic well-being adapted from Breines et al. (2008) and Lambert et al. (2013)
Time frame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment
Momentary hedonic well-being (state positive and negative affect)
8 items assessing hedonic well-being (positive and negative affect), taken from the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS).
Time frame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment
State Decentering
4 items assessing current decentering, adapted from Fresco et al. (2007), Gillanders et al. (2014), and Shoham et al. (2017)
Time frame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment
Trait Decentering: Experiences Questionnaire
Experiences Questionnaire is a trait measure of decentering, which assesses the Observer Perspective aspect of decentering. From Fresco et al., (2007)
Time frame: Baseline session only
Trait decentering: Valence free decentering measure
This is an in-development measure of decentering that measures the construct of decentering without explicitly referring to negative thoughts and feelings.
Time frame: Baseline session only
Trait decentering: Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire
The Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire is a decentering measure that assesses the Reduced Struggle with Inner Experiences aspect of decentering. From Gillanders et al., (2014).
Time frame: Baseline session only
Trait decentering: Toronto Mindfulness Scale-Decentering Subscale
The Toronto Mindfulness Scale-Decentering subscale is a decentering measure that assesses the Observer Perspective aspect of decentering. From Davis, Lau, \& Cairns (2009).
Time frame: Baseline session only
Self-reported momentary self-regulation
3 questions assessing current perceived willpower \& mental exhaustion, adapted from Davisson (2013) and Milyavskaya \& Inzlicht (2017).
Time frame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment
Self-reported momentary attentional focus
4 attentional emotion regulation items (distraction, positive rumination, negative rumination, and reappraisal) adapted from Brans et al. (2013), Feldman et al. (2008), and Nolen-Hoeksema \& Morrow (1991)
Time frame: 6 x daily for 7 days following the baseline assessment
Baseline self-regulation: Go/no-go task
Go/no-go task asks people to respond to a large number of "go" trials (80%) and a smaller number of "no go" trials. The ability to inhibit the dominant "go" response is seen as an operative measure of self-regulatory abilities, consequently the number of "no go" signals responded to is one measure of self-regulatory abilities.
Time frame: Baseline session only
Baseline self-regulation: Resting heart rate variability
Assessed with a Polar V800 athletic watch during a 5-minute vanilla baseline and a 5-minute paced breathing task.
Time frame: Baseline session only
Baseline self-regulation: Self-Control Scale (short form)
A self-report measure of people's perceived self-control abilities and outcomes, developed by Tangney, Baumeister, \& Boone (2004).
Time frame: Baseline session only
Baseline attentional breadth: Emotional eye-tracking paradigm
Participants will view a series of emotionally expressive versus neutral faces, and the fixation time and number of fixations towards emotionally evocative (angry, sad, happy) faces will serve as indicators of attentional bias
Time frame: Baseline session only
Baseline attentional breadth: Thought Control Questionnaire
Self-report measure corresponding to various emotion regulation strategies (distraction and reappriasal)
Time frame: Baseline session only
Baseline attentional breadth: Responses to Positive Affect Scale
Self-report measure corresponding to various emotion regulation strategies (positive rumination)
Time frame: Baseline session only
Baseline attentional breadth: Ruminative Responses Scale
Self-report measure corresponding to various emotion regulation strategies (negative rumination)
Time frame: Baseline session only
Plan to share: Yes — All IPD that underlie results in a publication will be shared.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Informed consent form
Time frame: Materials will be made available 6 months after publication of the primary outcomes.
Access criteria: Data and study materials relevant to any publication will be posted within 6 months of publication on the open science framework, which will be accessible by any interested party.
This study is completed, as verified in Jul 2019. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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