Randomized controlled trial of a mindfulness-based intervention in adolescents from the general population: The Mindfulteen neuroimaging study protocol.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to examine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in reducing stress reactivity and improving cognitive control in young adolescents from the general population.
Results Summary
The study is ongoing, but it is designed to measure psychological, neuroimaging, and biological outcomes to assess the impact of mindfulness interventions on anxiety and stress-associated dimensions in adolescents.
Population
Young adolescents aged 13-15 from the general population, with no current mental health disorders (except past mood disorders or current anxiety disorders).
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
8-week intervention
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
mindfulness-based interventions | decrease | stress reactivity | adults | - | have demonstrated their efficacy | #1 |
mindfulness-based interventions | decrease | anxiety | adults | - | have demonstrated their efficacy | #2 |
mindfulness-based interventions | neutral | structural and functional measures in the cortico-limbic network | young adolescents from the general population, aged between 13 and 15 years old, with no history of current mental health disorder (apart from past mood disorders or current anxiety disorders) | - | examining the effectiveness | #3 |
mindfulness-based interventions | neutral | anxiety | young adolescents from the general population, aged between 13 and 15 years old, with no history of current mental health disorder (apart from past mood disorders or current anxiety disorders) | - | examining the effectiveness | #4 |
mindfulness-based interventions | neutral | stress-associated dimensions | young adolescents from the general population, aged between 13 and 15 years old, with no history of current mental health disorder (apart from past mood disorders or current anxiety disorders) | - | examining the effectiveness | #5 |
mindfulness-based interventions | neutral | cortisol | young adolescents from the general population, aged between 13 and 15 years old, with no history of current mental health disorder (apart from past mood disorders or current anxiety disorders) | - | examining the effectiveness | #6 |
mindfulness-based interventions | neutral | inflammatory markers | young adolescents from the general population, aged between 13 and 15 years old, with no history of current mental health disorder (apart from past mood disorders or current anxiety disorders) | - | examining the effectiveness | #7 |
mindfulness-based interventions | neutral | redox markers | young adolescents from the general population, aged between 13 and 15 years old, with no history of current mental health disorder (apart from past mood disorders or current anxiety disorders) | - | examining the effectiveness | #8 |
AIM: Adolescence is a period of vulnerability to stress. Increased anxiety during this period has been associated with the later development of mental disorders, hence the growing interest for interventions that could decrease stress reactivity and improve cognitive control in adolescents. Mindfulness-based interventions have demonstrated their efficacy on stress reactivity and anxiety in adults, but evidence is lacking in youth. METHODS: The Mindfulteen Study is a 3-year longitudinal cohort with a nested randomized controlled trial examining the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions for adolescents. Young adolescents from the general population, aged between 13 and 15 years old, with no history of current mental health disorder (apart from past mood disorders or current anxiety disorders) are included and stratified into low or high anxiety based on trait anxiety scores before being randomized to early or late 8-week intervention groups. Primary outcomes are based on neuroimaging data (i.e., structural and functional measures in the cortico-limbic network) while secondary outcomes are psychological (i.e., anxiety and stress-associated dimensions) and biological (i.e., cortisol, inflammatory and redox markers). Assessments are performed at baseline, immediately after intervention or waiting time and after 18 months of intervention. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first randomized controlled trail examining the effect of a mindfulness-based intervention in young adolescents from the general population based on the measurement and analyses of psychological, neuroimaging and biological data.