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Haptic Feedback for Improved Interoceptive Awareness and Mental Well-being
Haptic Feedback for Improved Interoceptive Awareness and Mental Well-being

NCT07809958

CompletedNA

Sponsor: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Conditions: Interoceptive Awareness, Interoception, Alexithymia, Anxiety, Depression Disorders

Interventions: Heart rate feedback from smartwatch

Countries: United States

This study investigates the relationship between heart-beat haptic feedback on interoceptive awareness and mental-wellbeing. Previous research showed non-significant results in short-term emotion regulation tasks when given heartbeat haptic feedback, suggesting the need for an extended adjustment training period to build trust with interoceptive feedback systems. To address this, the experimenters propose an in-the-wild study where participants wear a Bangle.js smartwatch for one week each under two conditions: (1) Real heartbeat feedback and (2) Off-set heartbeat feedback. This design aims to examine the influence of haptic feedback on psychological characteristics, including alexithymia, anhedonia, depression, anxiety, and general mental health. The experimenters will also explore the usability and comfort levels related to prolonged wearable use, as well as the participants' ability to distinguish between real and off-set heartbeat feedback, particularly across different levels of alexithymia traits.

Eligibility overview

Sex: ALL

Age: 18 Years to 65 Years

Healthy volunteers: Yes

Study type: INTERVENTIONAL

Eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria:

* High alexithymia score at screening (TAS-20 \>= 50)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Severe psychiatric condition
* Any type of heart arrythmia
Locations (1)
  • Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States