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There are many ways to improve wellbeing. This study will compare two 8-week wellbeing training programs. In addition to looking at how well the programs reduce stress and enhance wellbeing, the investigators will also ask questions about how these programs influence cognition and decision making.
The training programs that aim to reduce stress and enhance wellbeing differ in terms of the techniques they utilize, as well as in terms of their mechanisms of change. These different mechanisms may have different impact on cognition and decision making. The aim of the study is to compare the different programs and also explore potential mediators of changes in wellbeing.
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| Label | Type | Description | Intervention Names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active Comparator: Program 1 | Active Comparator | Mindfulness Training program is based on mindfulness based stress reduction developed by Kabat-Zinn, but the didactic content is focused on attention training and meta-awareness. Participants will be taught formal open awareness meditation, gentle yoga, and a 'body scan' meditation during weekly classes. Importantly, there is no retreat day included in the program. |
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| Active Comparator: Program 2 | Active Comparator | Stress Management Education (SME) is designed to control for non-specific factors such as contact hours, stress education, and gentle exercise. Stress education classes will consist of teaching about the effects of stress on health and optimizing one's personal health care, understanding positive coping behavior, optimizing nutrition to decrease stress, and exercise and strength training. |
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| Name | Type | Description | Arm Group Labels | Other Names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Comparator: Program 1 | Behavioral | A well-established behavioral method for reducing stress. To maintain blinding, details will be given to participants after randomization. |
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Neural functioning during moral decision-making | The name of the measurement is neural functioning during moral decision-making. To assess neural functioning, participants will undergo a functional MRI scan while they perform a moral judgment task. The task that involves moral (n=18) and non-moral (n=18) dilemma vignettes. These dilemmas have been validated and will be presented as text in an event related design. The participant specific task-related brain activity will be generated by contrasting brain activity between moral and non-moral dilemmas using Statistical Parametric Mapping software. The unit of measure is BOLD signal and the blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal contrast of interest is moral vs. nonmoral dilemmas. | baseline, week 8 |
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Moral Reasoning Ability | Defining Issues Test-2 (DIT-2) is the name of the measurement. It is a survey, that assesses participants' developmental level of moral reasoning ability. The resulting scores at the DIT-2 test indicate levels of higher order moral reasoning. | baseline, week 8, week 16 |
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Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
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| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Gunes Sevinc, PhD | Massachusetts General Hospital | Principal Investigator |
| Facility | Status | City | State | ZIP | Country | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MGH | Boston | Massachusetts | 02129 | United States |
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| Active Comparator: Program 2 | Behavioral | A well-established behavioral method for reducing stress. To maintain blinding, details will be given to participants after randomization. |
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