Effects of meditation on academic performance

Last registered on May 14, 2019

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Effects of meditation on academic performance
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004197
Initial registration date
May 10, 2019

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
May 14, 2019, 12:03 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
University of Cologne
PI Affiliation
University of Zurich

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-05-15
End date
2021-12-31
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We investigate whether mindfulness meditation may improve academic performance. Among subjects at a university who indicated that they are interested in participating in a meditation course it is randomly determined who gets a place in the course and who does not. The course consists of eight weekly group sessions with an experienced meditation teacher and daily individual exercises. Pre and post intervention grade information from the university’s administrative records will be used to investigate whether the intervention improves academic performance. Pre and post intervention questionnaires allow us to additionally investigate channels (stress, mindfulness, mental health, cognitive and non-cognitive skills, study behavior, and health behavior) through which the intervention may affect grades.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Cassar, Lea, Mira Fischer and Vanessa Valero. 2019. "Effects of meditation on academic performance." AEA RCT Registry. May 14. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4197-1.0
Former Citation
Cassar, Lea, Mira Fischer and Vanessa Valero. 2019. "Effects of meditation on academic performance." AEA RCT Registry. May 14. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/4197/history/46532
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Subjects in the treatment group participate in a meditation course based on the well-known “mindfulness-based stress reduction” (MBSR) program. The course consists of eight weekly group sessions with an experienced meditation teacher and individual exercises three times a day with audios pre-recorded by the meditation teacher. The sessions take place on the university campus in the afternoon and will have 17 participants each.
Intervention Start Date
2019-05-15
Intervention End Date
2019-07-12

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Subjects’ grades from exams written in the end of the summer semester
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Subjects write different exams in the end of the summer semester. They are randomized into the treatment and control group such that, where possible, for every student in the treatment group who is writing an exam, there is a student in the control group writing the same exam. In our analysis, we will consider all of subjects’ grades from exams for which there is at least one subject in the treatment group and one subject in the control group.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
We investigate the potential channels through which the meditation course may influence grades. These are:
- stress
- mindfulness
- mental health (anxiety and depression)
- cognitive skills (self-control and attention/focus)
- non-cognitive skills (conscientiousness and neuroticism)
- study behavior
- health behavior
- meditation practice

Furthermore, we plan to investigate the long-term effect of the meditation intervention on academic performance using subjects’ grades from the subsequent winter semester, if available.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
We focus on variables that we know from the literature (i) are influenced by meditation, and (ii) are relevant for academic outcomes.

Scales:
- stress: Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
- mindfulness: mindfulness scale (shortened) of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study Innovation Sample ( SOEP-IS)
- anxiety: Generalized Anxiety Disorder - 7 (GAD-7)
- depression: Patient Health Questionnaire - 9 (PHQ-9)
- self-control: Brief Self-Control Scale
- attention/focus: Stroop task (incentivized)
- conscientiousness and neuroticism: Big Five Inventory
- study behavior: questions related to study behavior
- health behavior: questions related to health behavior
- meditation practice: questions related to frequency and quality of meditation practice

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
A free meditation course was advertised to students, who could apply to the course by registering and filling in a questionnaire on a website. They knew that the number of places was limited and consented to use of their grade information.
Students are randomly assigned to the treatment or the control group. The treatment group participates in eight weekly meditation sessions with a teacher and completes daily individual exercises. After the course, treatment and control subjects are paid to fill in a second online questionnaire and we access their pre and post intervention grade information from the university’s administrative records.
Experimental Design Details
Starting April 8, 2019, the meditation course was advertised via the mailing system, newsletters and social media accounts of the faculty of economics and social sciences of a major German university. Students could apply for a place in the course until April 24, 2019, by registering and filling in a questionnaire on a website. They also indicated at which session times offered they would be able to attend. Applicants who were eligible were randomly assigned to the treatment or the control groups at the individual level. Applicants who only write exams that few other applicants write were randomized stratified along these exams, such that, where possible, for every student in the treatment group who is writing an exam, there is a student in the control group writing the same exam. Applicants knew that the number of places was limited and consented to use of their grade information.
There are 17 people in each meditation group and a total of 6 groups. Each group meets once a week, either on Wednesday or on Friday afternoon, for a one hour teacher-led session. There are three sessions per afternoon. All sessions on the same day are taught by the same teacher. There are two teachers in total teaching the course. All subjects in the treatment group also practice three times per day using audios pre-recorded by the meditation teachers.
The Wednesday sessions start on May 15, 2019, and the Friday sessions start on May 17, 2019. The sessions take place every week except for the Whitsun break (June 10-14) and the last sessions are on July 10 and July 12, 2019, respectively. The exam period starts on July 15, 2019 and last for two weeks. The majority of exams will be written during this period.
Randomization Method
Students are randomized into treatment and control group at the individual level. Students who only write exams that few other students write are randomized stratified along these exams, such that, where possible, for every student in the treatment group who is writing an exam, there is a student in the control group writing the same exam.
Randomization Unit
Randomization is performed at the individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
224
Sample size: planned number of observations
224
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
102 observations in the treatment group and 122 observations in the control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
none
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Institutional Review Board of the University of Cologne
IRB Approval Date
2019-04-02
IRB Approval Number
N/A

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials