Mindfulness and College Students

Last registered on December 02, 2024
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Mindfulness and College Students
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014851
Initial registration date
November 19, 2024

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
December 02, 2024, 11:05 AM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Heather Royer
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Lester Lusher
PI Affiliation
PI Name
Chad Stecher
PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2024-10-02
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Education, Health
Additional Keywords
mindfulness
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study explores how incentives for using a mindfulness app (Insight Timer) affect use and outcomes such stress levels, sleep, ability to focus. This study conducted at UC Santa Barbara in Fall 2024, will recruit a large sample of undergraduate students. Data on app download and usage and survey data will be collected from participants.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Lusher, Lester, Heather Royer and Chad Stecher. 2024. "Mindfulness and College Students." AEA RCT Registry. December 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14851-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This study tests strategies to encourage mindfulness app use among college students and examines its impact on student success. UCSB students are recruited and randomly assigned to one of four groups: a control group and three treatment groups with varying incentives to engage with a mindfulness app. Incentives include eligibility for weekly prize drawings and additional rewards for consistent app usage. Participants in the treatment groups receive curated mindfulness content and weekly encouragement via text messages, while the control group receives no app-related intervention.
Intervention Start Date
2024-10-14
Intervention End Date
2024-12-08

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Whether or not the app is used in a week
2. Number of times app is used in a week
3. Mindfulness
4. Stress
5. Anxiety
6. Sleep
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
An invitation email is sent to all undergraduate students at UCSB through a listserv email. Students are directed to a Qualtrics survey and asked to fill out a 10-minute survey where they are randomized to 1 of 4 groups: 1) control, 2) incentive group who earns a raffle ticket each day they use the mindfulness app for more than 4 minutes, 3) bonus incentive group who earns a raffle ticket each day they use the mindfulness app for more than 4 minutes but earns 3 tickets per day for 3 participant-chosen weeks, 4) same as bonus incentive group but is shown a figure showing the decline in mindfulness app use over time. Students earn $5 for completing the baseline survey and students in treatment groups 2)-4) earn $10 for downloading the mindfulness app app and befriending the UCSB Student Success profile. The incentive program lasts 8 weeks and each week a winner is drawn for $100. At the incentive program, we survey participants again and they earn $5 for completion of the endline survey.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Qualtrics draws a random number for each survey respondent which then determines their treatment assignment.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
NA
Sample size: planned number of observations
1000 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
250 control and 250 in each treatment arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
For a test of 5% size and 80% power and 1,000 participants, the minimum detectable effect size is 0.18 of a standard deviation.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
UC Santa Barbara
IRB Approval Date
2024-10-04
IRB Approval Number
37-24-0615
Analysis Plan

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