The goal of this randomized controlled study is to learn whether a 21-day mindful eating program can improve mental well-being and eating behavior outcomes in university students. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does participation in a 21-day mindful eating program improve students' well-being (e.g., anxiety, stress, affect, life satisfaction, perceived health)? Does the program improve students' eating behavior outcomes (e.g., mindful eating, emotional eating)? Researchers will compare students who complete the mindful eating program immediately to students in a waitlist control group to see whether participation in the program leads to greater improvements in well-being and eating behavior outcomes. Participants will sign up online and provide informed consent, be randomly assigned to either the intervention group or a waitlist control group, receive daily mindful eating tasks and reminders via Telegram for 21 days (intervention group), reflect daily about the task with a chatbot, as well as complete online questionnaire surveys at baseline, post-intervention, and a 2-week follow-up for those who opt in.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
250
The intervention is a 21-day, digitally delivered mindful eating program consisting of daily, brief, mindful eating tasks as well as brief post-task reflections with an AI bot, designed to support eating behavior and mental well-being in university students. The program includes low-intensity mindful eating practices that can be completed independently without specialized equipment or prior training, e.g. observing one's meal for one minute before taking the first bite. Participants assigned to the intervention group receive one structured mindful eating task per day for 21 consecutive days. Tasks are delivered via a Telegram channel, accompanied by brief reminders to prompt engagement. Each task is designed to be short in duration, flexible in timing, and feasible within daily meal routines, emphasizing consistency. Participants then reflect on the tasks with an AI bot. The intervention is self-guided and asynchronous, with no in-person contact, live sessions, or direct supervision.
Singapore Management University, Online
Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
State Anxiety
State anxiety will be measured using the 6-item State-Trait Anxiety Inventory STAI-6. Six items (e.g., "I felt upset these past 2 weeks.") rated from 1 (Not at all) to 4 (Very much so) will be averaged. Higher composite scores indicate higher levels of anxiety.
Time frame: Enrollment to the end of intervention at 3 weeks and the end of follow-up at 5 weeks
Stress
Perceived stress will be measured by an adapted version of the 4-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). One sample item is "In the last 2 weeks, how often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things in your life? ", and items are scored from 0 (Never) to 4 (Very often). The composite score is calculated by averaging the scores of all items after reverse coding two of the items; higher scores indicate greater levels of perceived stress.
Time frame: Enrollment to the end of intervention at 3 weeks and the end of follow-up at 5 weeks
Positive and Negative Affect
Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA) will be evaluated using the affect scale developed by Conner and Silvia, according to principles of the Circumplex Model of Affect. Participants will rate feelings such as 'Enthusiastic' and 'Hostile' experienced over the past two weeks, from a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = Not at all, 5 = Extremely). Composite scores will be calculated by averaging the positive affect items and negative affect items accordingly.
Time frame: Enrollment to the end of intervention at 3 weeks and the end of follow-up at 5 weeks
Mindful eating
Mindful eating will be measured by the 17-item Mindful Eating Behavior Scale (MEBS) which consists of 4 domains: Focused Eating (e.g. "I notice flavors and textures when I'm eating my food"), Hunger and Satiety Cues (e.g. "I trust my body to tell me when to eat"), Eating with Awareness (reverse scored, e.g. "I snack without being aware that I am eating"), and Eating Without Distraction (reverse scored, e.g. "My thoughts tend to wander while I am eating.") Each item is scored from 1 (Never) to 5 (Very often). Scores will be averaged across domains.
Time frame: Enrollment to the end of intervention at 3 weeks and the end of follow-up at 5 weeks
Eating Behavior
Eating behavior is measured by the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). Items are scored by calculating the average score for three eating styles of restrained eating, emotional eating and external eating. It contains 33 items (11 each style), each rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Never, 5 = Very Often). Scores are averaged across domains.
Time frame: Enrollment to the end of intervention at 3 weeks and the end of follow-up at 5 weeks
Life Satisfaction
Life satisfaction will be measured using an adapted version of Diener's Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). The scale consists of 5 items e.g. "The conditions of my life these past 2 weeks are excellent." and is scored from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree). Scores will be averaged and higher scores indicate higher life satisfaction.
Time frame: Enrollment to the end of intervention at 3 weeks and the end of follow-up at 5 weeks
Perceived Health
Perceived physical and mental health will be assessed using a self-report single-item measure of general health status. Participants will respond to the question, "How would you rate your physical(mental) health over the past two weeks?" Responses will be rated on a 5-point scale from 1 (Poor) to 5 (Excellent). Higher scores indicate better perceived physical health.
Time frame: Enrollment to the end of intervention at 3 weeks and the end of follow-up at 5 weeks
AI Attitude
AI Attitude is measured by the 12-item Attitudes towards artificial intelligence Scale (ATTARI). One example item is "I look forward to future AI developments", and items are scored from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). There are three facets: Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral. Scores are averaged across domains and higher scores indicate more favorable attitudes toward AI.
Time frame: Enrollment to the end of intervention at 3 weeks and the end of follow-up at 5 weeks
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