Compassion Training and Mindfulness Training for Social Well-Being and Mental Health

Summary

Study Design, Aims, and Population:

The present study is a three-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT). The primary aim is to test the relative efficacy of two 8-week online interventions - Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) - in promoting diverse university students' social well-being (i.e., reduced loneliness, and enhanced social connectedness and perceived social support) compared to a Waitlist (WL) control group.

The secondary aim is to examine the effects of CCT versus MBSR on the mental health of diverse university students compared to the WL group. Mental health is defined in this research as both positive mental health (i.e., happiness, positive emotions, meaning and purpose) and negative mental health (i.e., stress, anxiety, and depression).

Additionally, another aim is to enroll 75% students of color and 50% male identifying students, whose social well-being and mental health is currently understudied, to better represent the sociodemographic diversity of the university student population in the literature.

Study Rationale:

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered widespread disruptions in social connections and relational bonds that robustly support a variety of mental and physical health-protective processes. University students' social well-being may have been especially impacted as universities provide a central context for socialization. At the same time, the pandemic exacerbated a pre-existing rise in cases of mental health conditions in university students. If found effective, online-based CCT and MBSR might serve as scalable psychological interventions to foster social thriving and mental health among diverse university students.

Conditions

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Stress
• Burnout
• Emotion Regulation
• Social Acceptance
• Loneliness
• Compassion

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT)

CCT is a secular, empirically supported 8-week program that integrates meditation practices, interactive discussions, and educational lectures to improve self-compassion and other-oriented compassion, emotion and stress management, and happiness and well-being. It includes a weekly 2-hour educational lecture with discussion and in-class exercises, a recommendation of 15-30 minutes of daily meditation, and real-world assignments to practice compassion. The program is taught by a certified instructor with more than 5 years experience.

BEHAVIORAL

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

MBSR is among the most studied mindfulness-based interventions in the literature and is a secular, 8-week psycho-educational group-based intervention. The program structure (slightly modified to match CCT) includes a weekly 2-hour class, a prescription of 15-30-minutes of daily mindfulness practice, and a one-day optional retreat (6 hours) between week six and seven. The program is taught by a certified instructor with more than 5 years experience.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Yale University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Marc Brackett, PhD · Yale University

• James Floman, PhD · Yale University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-02-16

Primary Completion

2022-05-02

Completion

2022-12-12

Countries

• United States

Study Locations