From the Heart: Comparing the Effects of Spiritual and Secular Meditation on Psychophysiology, Cognition, Mental Health, and Social Functioning in Healthy Adults
Study Details
Study Description
Brief Summary
The purpose of this study is to investigate and compare the effects of Christian and Islamic heart-centred spiritual meditation to mindfulness meditation and waitlist control conditions, respectively, in healthy adults. The potential effects will be studied at multiple levels, with a focus on psychophysiology, cognition, mental health, and social functioning.
| Condition or Disease | Intervention/Treatment | Phase |
|---|---|---|
|
N/A |
Detailed Description
Background
Secular forms of meditation have been widely accepted as an effective tool to promote well-being and as therapeutic strategies. The popularity of such practices, most notably mindfulness meditation, can be attributed to the substantial body of research on their beneficial effects in the past few decades. While these practices are loosely based on Eastern traditions, and actively reduce emotional reactivity, some Western spiritual meditations have retained their God-centred focus and aim to elicit strong emotions. The current study aims to examine the effects of heart-centred contemplation based on Christian and Islamic traditions on mental, physical, cognitive, and social well-being, compare the outcomes of these exercises to mindfulness meditation, and investigate the external correlates of the outcomes.
Aims
The present study aims to recruit healthy adults to investigate and compare the effects of Christian and Islamic heart-centred spiritual meditation to mindfulness meditation (Mindfulness-based stress reduction; MBSR) and waitlist control, respectively. The potential effects will be examined using measures from multiple domains, with a focus on psychophysiology, cognition, mental health, and social functioning. Additionally, the study aims to examine the possible external correlates of the outcomes by testing perspective-taking, affect, religiosity, spiritual experiences, closeness to God, closeness to the offender, and credibility/expectancies about the spiritual meditation program. The study seeks to understand the impact of different types of meditation practices on the well-being of individuals.
Participants
This study will apply a mixed method repeated measures design to examine a three-arm stratified randomised control trial with healthy samples of Christians and Muslims in multiple testing centres, including Hong Kong and India. Assessments will be conducted at three time points: pre-intervention (T1), after intervention (T2), and at a 3-month follow-up (T3). Eligible participants will be first stratified into Christian and Islamic samples and then randomly allocated to one of the three conditions: religious contemplation (either Christian or Islamic spiritual meditation based on their religions), mindfulness meditation, or waitlist control.
Administration of intervention
The intervention will consist of an 8-week app-based program, including approximately 20-minute daily audio-guided instructions of either one of the spiritual meditations or mindfulness meditation. Participants from the waitlist control will not receive any intervention, but they will be given access to Christian or Islamic meditation app after the experiment is completed.
Outcome measures
Outcome measures consist of domains related to interpersonal functioning, physiology, attention, mental health, spirituality.
Primary outcomes will be the interpersonal functioning domain including measures of prosociality, forgiveness, empathy, and perspective taking.
Secondary outcomes include domains concerning physiology, attention, and mental health. Physiology domain encompasses pain threshold, pain intensity, stress reactivity (heart rate and heart rate variability), psychophysiological reactivity associated with forgiveness (heart rate and heart rate variability). Attention domain includes measures of alerting attention, orienting attention, and executive attention networks. Mental health domain involves self-reported stress, depression, anxiety, subjective welling, and positive and negative affect.
Study Design
Arms and Interventions
| Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
|---|---|
| Experimental: Heart-centred spiritual meditation Intervention 1: Christian contemplation and Intervention 2: Islamic contemplation |
Behavioral: Arm 1 - Heart-Centred Spiritual Meditation: Christian contemplation
Participants assigned to this condition will receive daily audio instructions of approximately 20 minutes daily over the course of 8 weeks focused on Christian contemplation delivered through a mobile app. The intervention will consist of a core contemplative practice focused on heart visualisation based on Christian tradition and prayer recitation with breathing to focus their attention on and connection to God.
Behavioral: Arm 1 - Heart-Centred Spiritual Meditation: Islamic contemplation
Participants assigned to this condition will receive daily audio instructions of approximately 20 minutes daily over the course of 8 weeks, focused on Islamic contemplation delivered through a mobile app. The intervention will consist of a core contemplative practice focused on heart visualisation based on Islamic tradition and prayer recitation with breathing to focus attention on and connection to God.
|
| Active Comparator: Mindfulness Meditation (MBRS) Intervention 3: Mindfulness Meditation (MBRS) |
Behavioral: Arm 2 - Action Control: Mindfulness Meditation
Participants assigned to this condition will receive daily audio instructions of approximately 20 minutes daily over the course of 8 week, focused on mindfulness meditation delivered through a mobile app. The intervention will consist of the mindfulness-based stress reduction program which emphasizes focused attention on breathing and sensations as well as the practice of non-judgemental acceptance of the present experience.
|
| No Intervention: Waitlist control No Intervention: Participants in this condition will not receive any intervention and the outcome measures will be only collected at time points T1 and T2. After T2 testing, they will be given access to either the Christian or Islamic intervention. |
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcome Measures
- Interpersonal functioning: Change in Prosociality (1) [Pre-intervention (collected up to 3 hours before the intervention), and post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
The number of game points (0-10) that a participant is willing to allocate to another individual as measured by the Dictator Game
- Interpersonal functioning: Change in Prosociality (2) [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention), and post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
Social value orientation scores as measured by the social value orientation slider measure. The higher scores represent greater prosocial preferences while lower scores represent greater self-interest preferences
- Interpersonal functioning: Change in Prosociality (3) [Post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
The percentage of compensation fees that participants are willing to donate to a charity
- Interpersonal functioning: Changes in self-reported Forgiveness [Pre-intervention (collected up to 3 hours before the intervention), and post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
A self-reported forgiveness scale assessed within a forgiveness task, ranging from 0 (Not at all) to 20 (Completely). High scores reflect a higher level of forgiveness, while lower scores indicate a lower level of forgiveness
- Interpersonal functioning: Changes in self-reported Empathy [Pre-intervention (collected up to 3 hours before the intervention), and post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
A self-reported empathy scale assessed within a forgiveness task, ranging from 0 (Not at all) to 20 (Completely). High scores reflect a higher level of empathy, while lower scores indicate a lower level of empathy.
- Interpersonal functioning: Change in Perspective Taking [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention), post-intervention (collected up to 2 weeks after the intervention), and at 3-month follow-up (collected up to 2 weeks following 3 months after the end of the intervention)]
Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) - Perspective Taking scale. The 7-item Perspective Taking scale from IRI measures one's tendency to take the point of view of others. Participants are asked to rate how closely the statements describe them on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from A (Does not describe me well) to E (Describes me very well). The total scores range from 0 - 28. Higher scores indicate greater perspective-taking
Secondary Outcome Measures
- Physiology: Change in Pain Tolerance [Pre-intervention (collected up to 3 hours before the intervention), and post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
The duration (in seconds) that a participant endures painful stimulation assessed during an endurance task
- Physiology: Change in Pain Intensity [Pre-intervention (collected up to 3 hours before the intervention), and post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
0-10 Numerical Rating Scale
- Physiology: Change in Stress Reactivity (1) [Pre-intervention (collected up to 3 hours before the intervention), and post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
Heart rate
- Physiology: Change in Stress Reactivity (2) [Pre-intervention (collected up to 3 hours before the intervention), and post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
Heart rate variability
- Physiology: Change in psychophysiological reactivity associated with forgiveness (1) [Pre-intervention (collected up to 3 hours before the intervention), and post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
Heart rate assessed during a forgiveness task.
- Physiology: Change in psychophysiological reactivity associated with forgiveness (2) [Pre-intervention (collected up to 3 hours before the intervention), and post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
Heart rate variability assessed during a forgiveness task
- Attention: Change in Alerting Attention network [Pre-intervention (collected up to 3 hours before the intervention), and post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
Reaction time assessed through a 10-minute version of Attentional Network Task (CRSD-ANT)
- Attention: Change in Orienting Attention network [Pre-intervention (collected up to 3 hours before the intervention), and post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
Reaction time assessed through a 10-minute version of Attentional Network Task (CRSD-ANT)
- Attention: Change in Executive Attention network [Pre-intervention (collected up to 3 hours before the intervention), and post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
Reaction time assessed through a 10-minute version of Attentional Network Task (CRSD-ANT)
- Mental health: Change in self-reported Stress [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention), post-intervention (collected up to 2 weeks after the 8-week intervention), and at 3-month follow-up (collected up to 2 weeks following 3 months after the end of the intervention)]
The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 Items (DASS-21) is a 21-item self-report questionnaire that comprises three distinct subscales: depression, anxiety, and stress, with each containing 7 items. Participants are asked to rate the extent of the statements applied to them over the past week using a 4-point rating scale, ranging from 0 ("Did not apply to me at all") to 3 ("Applied to me very much or most of the time"). Higher scores on stress scale reflect a greater severity of the stress symptoms, whereas lower scores indicate a milder experience of these symptoms
- Mental health: Change in self-reported Depression [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention), post-intervention (collected up to 2 weeks after the 8-week intervention), and at 3-month follow-up (collected up to 2 weeks following 3 months after the end of the intervention)]
The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 Items (DASS-21): Depression subscale, ranging from 0 ("Did not apply to me at all") to 3 ("Applied to me very much or most of the time"). Higher scores on depression scale reflect a greater severity of the depression symptoms, whereas lower scores indicate a milder experience of these symptoms
- Mental health: Change in self-reported Anxiety [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention), post-intervention (collected up to 2 weeks after the 8-week intervention), and at 3-month follow-up (collected up to 2 weeks following 3 months after the end of the intervention)]
The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 Items (DASS-21): Anxiety subscale, ranging from 0 ("Did not apply to me at all") to 3 ("Applied to me very much or most of the time"). Higher scores on anxiety scale reflect a greater severity of the anxiety symptoms, whereas lower scores indicate a milder experience of these symptoms
- Mental health: Change in Subjective Wellbeing [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention), post-intervention (collected up to 2 weeks after the 8-week intervention), and at 3-month follow-up (collected up to 2 weeks following 3 months after the end of the intervention)]
Well-Being Index (WHO-5). WHO-5 is a 5-item self-report questionnaire measuring subjective wellbeing. Participants are asked to rate their feelings in the past 2 weeks using a 6-Likert scale, ranging from 0 (At no time) to 5 (All of the time). The raw score is multiplied by 4 and the final scores range from 0-100. A score of 0 indicates the lowest possible level of wellbeing, whereas a score of 100 reflects the highest possible level of wellbeing
- Mental health: Change in self-report Positive and Negative Affect (1) [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention), post-intervention (collected up to 2 weeks after the 8-week intervention), and at 3-month follow-up (collected up to 2 weeks following 3 months after the end of the intervention)]
International Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) Short Form (I-PANAS-SF). I-PANAS-SF is a 10-item self-report questionnaire measuring 5 items of positive affect and 5 items of negative affect. Participants are asked to rate their general feelings and emotions on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Never) to 5 (Always). Higher scores indicate a greater level of positive affect, and lower scores represent a lower level of negative affect
- Mental health: Change in self-report Positive and Negative Affect (2) [Throughout the 8 weeks intervention]
5-item Smiley Face Likert scale within the meditation app. The scale assesses participants' feelings before and after their daily contemplative / mindfulness practices. Participants are asked to choose one out of the five emoji faces on the scale to indicate their current feelings ranging from a very sad face to a very happy face
Other Outcome Measures
- Spirituality: Change in Spiritual Experiences [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention), post-intervention (collected up to 2 weeks after the 8-week intervention), and at 3-month follow-up (collected up to 2 weeks following 3 months after the end of the intervention)]
The Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES). DSES is a 16-item self-report questionnaire. Participants are asked to rate their daily spiritual experiences. 15 items are rated on a 6-point Likert scale from 1 (Many times a day) to 6 (Never or almost never) and 1 item is rated on a 4-point Likert scale from 1 (Not close) to 4 (As close as possible). Higher scores indicate greater spirituality
- Spirituality: Change in Closeness to God [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention), post-intervention (collected up to 2 weeks after the 8-week intervention), and at 3-month follow-up (collected up to 2 weeks following 3 months after the end of the intervention)]
Inclusion-of-God-in-the-self scale (adapted from Inclusions of Others in Self scale). The scale consists of 7 pairs of pictorial circles with one circle of each pair being labelled as Self, and the other circle being labelled as God. Participants are asked to choose 1 of the 7 pairs of circles that best describes their relationship with God. The pairs of circles have different degrees of overlap, ranging from the 1st pair (no overlap) to the 7th pair (most overlap). The greater the overlap in the circles corresponds to a closer relationship with God
- Spirituality: Religiosity [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention)]
Duke University Religiosity Index (DUREL). DUREL is a 5-item self-report questionnaire measuring three major dimensions of religious involvement with three subscales: organizational religious activity (ORA), non-organizational religious activity (NORA), and intrinsic religiosity (IR). Participants are asked to rate their religious involvement (ORA and NORA) on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Never) to 6 (More than once a week/day) and rate their religious beliefs or experience (IR) on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Definitely not true) to 5 (Definitely true of me). Higher scores indicate a higher religiosity
- Credibility/Expectancy of the meditation practices [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention)]
Credibility/Expectancy questionnaire. This is a 4-item self-report questionnaire that assesses participants' beliefs about the efficacy and credibility of the contemplative practices on a 9-point Likert scale from 1 (Not at all) to 9 (Very much). Higher scores indicate greater positive expectancies
- Closeness to the offender [Pre-intervention (collected up to 3 hours before the intervention)]
The Inclusion-of-Other-in-the-Self scale assessed within the forgiveness task. It is a pictorial scale consists of seven pairs of circles, with one circle of each pair labelled as Self and the other circle labelled as Other. Participants are asked to choose the pair of circles that best describes their relationship with the offender. The pairs of circles have different degrees of overlap, ranging from the 1st pair (no overlap) to the 7th pair (most overlap). The greater the overlap in the circles, the closer the relationship with the offender
- Demographics: Age [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention)]
Self-report assessment
- Demographics: Ethnicity [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention)]
Self-report assessment
- Demographics: Gender Identity [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention)]
Self-report assessment
- Demographics: Biological Sex [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention)]
Self-report assessment
- Socioeconomic Status: Employment status [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention)]
Self-report assessment
- Socioeconomic Status: Education level [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention)]
Self-report assessment
- Socioeconomic Status: Annual household income [Pre-intervention (collected up to 1 week before the intervention)]
Self-report assessment
- Potential adverse events in the meditative practices [Post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention)]
Self-report unpleasant events and harm questionnaire. The questionnaire is a self-report measure to assess the unpleasant events and harm in contemplative or mindfulness practices. It includes Likert ratings and free-text questions about unpleasant feelings and the harm that participants may have experienced during the contemplation or mindfulness practices
- Experiences of the App-based exercises [Post-intervention (collected up to two weeks after the 8-week intervention) and at 3-month follow-up (collected up to 2 weeks following 3 months after the intervention)]
Self-report assessment about participant's experiences with the App-based exercises
- Frequency of the contemplative or mindfulness practices after the end of the intervention [at 3-month follow-up (collected up to 2 weeks following 3 months after the end of the intervention)]
Self-report assessment about frequency of participant's practices after the end of the 8-week intervention
- Qualitative assessment: Themes emerging from participant's meditation diary [Throughout the 8 weeks intervention]
Key themes that emerge from participants' diaries for their reflection on their experiences of the daily meditative practices
- Qualitative assessment: Themes emerging from participant's daily meditative experiences [Throughout the 8 weeks intervention]
Key themes that emerge from participants' daily meditative experiences assessed within the App
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
-
18 to 60 years old
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able to read, speak and understand English
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willing to be randomly assigned to all the conditions, with religious affiliation restricting allocation to either the Christian or Islamic type of spiritual meditation conditions
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consider oneself to be a Christian or Muslim and pray at least weekly
Exclusion Criteria:
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currently suffer from any mental health conditions or use medication to manage mental health conditions
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long-term serious physical medical problems, such as liver, brain, kidney, or other life-threatening chronic diseases
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a history of a heart condition, high blood pressure, Raynaud syndrome, diabetes, or musculoskeletal condition
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the current use of anxiolytics/mood stabilizers.
Contacts and Locations
Locations
| Site | City | State | Country | Postal Code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong | China | ||
| 2 | MES College Marampally | Aluva | Kerala | India | 683107 |
| 3 | Kuriakose Elias College Mannanam | Kottayam | Kerala | India | 686561 |
Sponsors and Collaborators
- Coventry University
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour
- The University of Hong Kong
- Kuriakose Elias College Mannanam
- MES College Marampally
Investigators
None specified.Study Documents (Full-Text)
None provided.More Information
Publications
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