---
title: Tracking Mood and Language Change Across a Phone-based Mindfulness Intervention
nct_id: NCT04861844
overall_status: TERMINATED
phase: NA
sponsor: Northwestern University
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
primary_condition: Depression, Anxiety
countries: United States
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT04861844.md"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04861844"
ct_last_update_post_date: 2023-04-12
last_seen_at: "2026-05-12T06:35:10.385Z"
source: ClinicalTrials.gov (mirrored, no enrichment)
---
# Tracking Mood and Language Change Across a Phone-based Mindfulness Intervention

**NCT ID:** [NCT04861844](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04861844)

## Key Facts

- **Status:** TERMINATED
- **Why Stopped:** difficulty recruiting patients, staffing
- **Phase:** NA
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Target Enrollment:** 4
- **Lead Sponsor:** Northwestern University
- **Conditions:** Depression, Anxiety
- **Start Date:** 2021-04-01
- **Completion Date:** 2023-03-22
- **CT.gov Last Update:** 2023-04-12

## Brief Summary

The objective of this study is to administer a brief, phone(voice)-based training program in mindfulness (or control task of active listening to narrated articles) to older adults who receive primary care services at NM. Older adults represent a population that is at risk for depression and anxiety, especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic and the social isolation it entails. Many older adults also possess relatively low access to application-based mindfulness training opportunities. The monitoring aims are:

1. To determine whether the experimental intervention (mindfulness training) performs better than a control task (active listening) in improving mood assessed using the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and/or anxiety assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).
2. To determine whether the experimental and/or control intervention is associated with quantified changes in language use (e.g., frequency of negative word use), which may or may not also be associated with changes in mood and anxiety.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 55 Years
- **Sex:** ALL
- **Healthy Volunteers:** Yes

```
Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients part of the Northwestern Medicine Geriatrics Practice, or Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine ECMH program.
2. English-speaking; and
3. Able to verbally consent

Exclusion Criteria:

patients with dementia or otherwise not meeting inclusion criteria
```

## Arms

- **Mindfulness training** (EXPERIMENTAL)
- **Active listening** (ACTIVE_COMPARATOR)

## Interventions

- **mindfulness training** (BEHAVIORAL) — phone based mindfulness training on 4 consecutive days
- **active listening** (BEHAVIORAL) — The active listening intervention script asks the participant to attend by relaxing their body and visualizing themself in various exotic locations and narratives described in the script; it also asks the participant to rate their attention level of various points. The active listening scripts were compiled from National Geographic article excerpts (taken from the public domain)

## Primary Outcomes

- **Change in mood assessed using the Profile of Mood States (POMS)** _(time frame: 3 days)_ — The Profile of Mood States (POMS) is a widely used instrument that measures mood using a 65-item questionnaire with each item rated using a response scale of five categories ranging from "not at all" to "very strong". Higher score indicates worse mood.
- **Change in anxiety assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).** _(time frame: 3 days)_ — The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is psychological inventory consisting of 40 questions rated on a 4-point Likert scale. Higher score correlates with higher levels of anxiety.
- **Change in mood assessed using the Profile of Mood States (POMS)** _(time frame: 1 month)_ — The Profile of Mood States (POMS) is a widely used instrument that measures mood using a 65-item questionnaire with each item rated using a response scale of five categories ranging from "not at all" to "very strong". Higher score indicates worse mood.
- **Change in anxiety assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).** _(time frame: 1 month)_ — The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is psychological inventory consisting of 40 questions rated on a 4-point Likert scale. Higher score correlates with higher levels of anxiety.

## Locations (1)

- Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, United States

## Recent Field Changes (last 30 days)

- `eligibility.sex` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.overallStatus` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.whyStopped` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.primaryCompletionDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.completionDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.lastUpdatePostDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `design.phases` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `design.enrollmentCount` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.criteria` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.minAge` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `outcomes.primary` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `armsInterventions.arms` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `armsInterventions.interventions` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `sponsor.lead` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `results.hasResults` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `locations.northwestern memorial hospital|chicago|illinois|united states` — added _(2026-05-12)_

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT04861844.md*  
*Source data (authoritative): https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04861844*  
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