Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39334310›Full record

ArticleBMC psychology2024

Interpersonal and individual effects of an app-based Christian and Islamic heart meditation intervention in healthy adults: protocol of a stratified randomised controlled trial.

Chung Fei Ng, Miguel Farias, Inti A Brazil

Registry-linked trialAbstract readClinical Trial Protocol
In one paragraph

Article in BMC psychology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06136676 (From the Heart Multi-Centre Study), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06136676 narecruitingnot on this map

From the Heart Multi-Centre Study: Comparing the Effects of Spiritual and Secular Meditation on Psychophysiology, Cognition, Mental Health, and Social Functioning in Healthy Adults

TypeinterventionalSponsorCoventry UniversityRan2024 to 2025Enrolled288ConditionsProsocial Behavior, Forgiveness, Empathy, PainArmsArm 1 - Heart-Centred Spiritual Meditation: Christian contemplation, Arm 1 - Heart-Centred Spiritual Meditation: Islamic contemplation, Arm 2 - Action Control: Mindfulness Meditation
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Chung Fei Ng *Brain, Belief, & Behaviour Lab, Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations, Coventry University, Coventry, England.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1537-3654
Miguel Farias *Brain, Belief, & Behaviour Lab, Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations, Coventry University, Coventry, England. miguel.farias@wolfson.ox.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5925-795X
Inti A Brazil *Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5824-0902

Funding

TWCF 0595
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe academic development and widespread adoption of meditation practices for well-being and therapy have predominantly focused on secularised adaptations of Buddhist and Hindu techniques. This study aims to expand the field by investigating Christian and Islamic meditation that emphasize the spiritual significance of the heart through elements of visualisation and recitation. It compares the effects of spiritual heart-centred meditation with mindfulness meditation and a waitlist control, focusing on dimensions of social functioning, psychophysiology, cognition, and mental health.

methodThis study employs a stratified 3-arm randomised controlled method with mixed-method repeated measures across three assessment time points: before intervention (T1), after an 8-week intervention (T2), and at a 3-month follow up (T3). The three conditions include spiritual meditation (either Christian or Islamic), mindfulness meditation (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction - MBSR), and a waitlist. Participants will be stratified into Christian and Muslim samples and randomly allocated to the spiritual meditation, MBSR, or waitlist control conditions. Importantly, participants assigned to the spiritual meditation condition will be matched to the spiritual meditation program corresponding to their religion. The intervention will be administered through a mobile phone app with daily 20-minute guided meditation sessions for eight weeks. Primary outcomes pertain to the domain of interpersonal functioning, focusing on prosociality, forgiveness, empathy, and perspective taking. Secondary outcomes include physiology: pain tolerance, pain intensity, stress reactivity assessed via heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV), psychophysiological reactivity associated with a forgiveness task as measured through HR and HRV, attention (alerting, orienting, and executive attention networks), and mental health (stress, depression, anxiety, subjective well-being, positive and negative affect). DISCUSSION: This trial aims to test the effects of an app-based Christian and Islamic meditation, compared to secular mindfulness and a waitlist, using a randomised controlled trial. If the results yield positive outcomes, this study will support the efficacy of these contemplations, offering practitioners a way to enhance their well-being within their religious framework.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT06136676. Registered on 18 November 2023. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06136676 .

Indexed as

IslamMeditationMindfulnessAdultChristianityFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedMobile ApplicationsRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicYoung AdultAttentionChristian spiritual meditationEmpathyForgivenessHeart-centred spiritualityIslamic spiritual meditationMindfulnessPainProsocial behaviourStressWell-being

Identifiers

PMID39334310
PMCPMC11437966

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.