Combining Behavioral Economics-Based Incentives With the Anchoring Strategy: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled...

Area of Science:

• Behavioral economics and mobile health interventions.
• Mindfulness meditation adherence and habit formation.

Background:

• Chronic stress is linked to various health issues.
• Mindfulness meditation apps offer accessible stress management but suffer from poor adherence.
• Anchoring new behaviors to existing routines aids habit formation but needs testing for app-based meditation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate novel combinations of behavioral economics incentives and anchoring for meditation app adherence.
• To establish and maintain adherence to a prescribed dose of daily meditation using a mobile app.

Main Methods:

• A 16-week, 5-arm, randomized controlled trial.
• Varied self-monitoring messages (behavior vs. outcome) and financial incentives (anytime vs. anchored meditation).
• Participants aimed for ≥10 minutes of daily meditation over 8 weeks, followed by 8 weeks of observation.

Main Results:

• Meditation adherence measured as completing ≥10 minutes for ≥4 days/week.
• Anchoring plan adherence measured by meditation timing relative to chosen anchors.
• Secondary outcomes included stress, anxiety, PTSD, sleep disturbance, and habit strength.

Conclusions:

• The study addresses a gap in mobile health by testing new approaches for mindfulness meditation adherence.
• Successful interventions could provide scalable stress self-management tools.
• Findings may help combat stress in the United States.