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Improving Mental Health and Well-Being Via Awe Walks

Sponsor
University of California, San Francisco (Other)
Overall Status
Completed
CT.gov ID
NCT03550144
Collaborator
University of California, Berkeley (Other)
60
Enrollment
1
Location
2
Arms
17.6
Actual Duration (Months)
3.4
Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

Awe is a powerful positive emotion that offsets negative emotion and fosters prosocial behavior. This study examined the effects of awe on health and well-being in healthy older adults. Half of the participants took a weekly "awe walk" while the other half took a weekly walk with no further instructions.

Condition or Disease Intervention/Treatment Phase
  • Behavioral: Awe Walk
  • Behavioral: Control Walk
 N/A

Detailed Description

Awe fosters well-being and positive emotions that promote social relationships. Awe shifts attention from ourselves to the outside world and is associated with diminished self-focused attention. We aimed to increase awe in healthy older adults to test whether greater awe experience would lead to gains in other types of positive emotional experience and reductions in negative emotional experience.

Study Design

Study Type:
Interventional
Actual Enrollment :
60 participants
Allocation:
Randomized
Intervention Model:
Parallel Assignment
Masking:
Single (Participant)
Primary Purpose:
Prevention
Official Title:
Effects of Awe on Mental Health and Well-Being
Actual Study Start Date :
Dec 5, 2016
Actual Primary Completion Date :
Dec 10, 2017
Actual Study Completion Date :
May 26, 2018

Arms and Interventions

Arm Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: Awe Walk Condition

Participants were instructed to take at least one (~15 minute) walk per week for 8 consecutive weeks. Participants were told to seek the experience of feeling awe. Participants were told to keep a fairly light to moderate pace and were encouraged to walk alone and without interruption from a mobile device.

Behavioral: Awe Walk
To examine the effect of weekly awe walks in cognitively healthy older adults.
Active Comparator: Control Walk Condition

Participants were instructed to take at least one (~15 minute) walk per week for 8 consecutive weeks. Participants were told to keep a fairly light to moderate pace and were encouraged to walk alone and without interruption from a mobile device.

Behavioral: Control Walk
To examine the effect of weekly walks in cognitively healthy older adults.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

  1. Daily awe experience questionnaire [8 weeks]

    Increase in awe experience

Secondary Outcome Measures

  1. Daily compassion experience questionnaire [8 weeks]

    Increase in daily compassion experience

  2. Daily negative emotional experience questionnaire [8 weeks]

    Decrease in daily negative emotional experience

  3. Generalized Anxiety Disorder- 7 Item Scale [8 weeks]

    Decrease in anxiety

  4. Satisfaction With Life Scale [8 weeks]

    Increase in well-being

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:
40 Years to 90 Years
Sexes Eligible for Study:
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Yes
Inclusion Criteria:

  • Stable medical condition for 3 months prior to screening

  • Reliant informant with frequent contact with participant who is available to provide observations of participant

  • Fluent in English or Spanish

  • Age: 40 and above

  • Able to complete baseline assessments

  • Education or work history sufficient to exclude mental retardation

  • Physically acceptable for this study as confirmed by medical history, physical exam, neurological exam and clinical tests

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Major memory concerns/diagnosed memory condition

  • Korsakoff encephalopathy

  • Active substance abuse

  • Brain tumor

  • Active neoplastic disease (skin tumors other than melanoma are not exclusionary)

  • Parkinson's disease

  • Multiple sclerosis (untreated)

  • Sleep apnea

  • History of clinically significant stroke

  • Current evidence or history in the past 2 years of epilepsy, focal brain lesion, cancer, steroid use, or DSM-IV criteria for any major psychiatric disorder including psychosis, major depression, bipolar disorder, alcohol or substance abuse

  • Blindness, deafness, language difficulties or any other disability which may prevent the participant from participating or cooperating in the protocol

Contacts and Locations

Locations

Site City State Country Postal Code
1 UCSF Memory and Aging Center San Francisco California United States 94158

Sponsors and Collaborators

  • University of California, San Francisco
  • University of California, Berkeley

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Virginia E Sturm, PhD, University of California, San Francisco

Study Documents (Full-Text)

More Information

Additional Information:

Publications

Responsible Party:
University of California, San Francisco
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT03550144
Other Study ID Numbers:
  • 16-20001
First Posted:
Jun 8, 2018
Last Update Posted:
Mar 22, 2022
Last Verified:
Mar 1, 2022
Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:
Undecided
Plan to Share IPD:
Undecided
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product:
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product:
No
Keywords provided by University of California, San Francisco
Awe
Compassion
Anxiety
Positive emotions
Aging

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Mar 22, 2022