# Mechanisms and Predictors of Change in App-Based Mindfulness Training for Adolescents

> **NIH NIH R01** · MCLEAN HOSPITAL · 2021 · $660,856

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Mindfulness-based smartphone apps have surged in popularity in recent years. Headspace – among the most
popular of these platforms – has over 42 million users. Recent surveys indicate that 11% of U.S. adolescents
have used mindfulness apps as a means of coping with anxiety or depressive symptoms, which increase
substantially during the adolescent years. A growing body of research implicates rumination as being a
transdiagnostic risk factor involved in the development of depression and anxiety in youth. Critically,
mindfulness meditation has shown significant promise in targeting rumination, and ultimately improving
depressive and anxiety symptoms. Mindfulness apps offer a convenient and cost-effective means for
accessing mindfulness training, while being interactive and engaging for youth. Despite their growing popularity
among teens, strikingly little research has been conducted on these apps. Two critical questions have yet to be
addressed, which are strongly aligned with the NCCIH Strategic Plan: (1) what are the underlying neural and
cognitive mechanisms that account for the beneficial effects of these apps and (2) for whom is app-based
mindfulness well-suited. To address these gaps, adolescents (ages 13-18) will be randomly assigned to an
app-delivered mindfulness course vs. an active control condition and will complete pre- and post-intervention
resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans to probe static and dynamic functional
connectivity within – and between – brain networks strongly implicated in mindfulness training and rumination
(i.e., Default Mode Network and Salience Network). In addition, cognitive tasks will be administered at pre- and
post-intervention to assess attentional control abilities putatively enhanced by mindfulness training. Finally,
mindfulness skills and changes in rumination will be assessed via a smartphone-based ecological momentary
assessment (EMA) protocol developed in the PI’s lab. First, we will test whether changes in (1) brain functional
connectivity, (2) attentional control and (3) acquisition and use of mindfulness skills mediate between-group
(i.e., app vs. control) differences in the reduction of rumination. Second, we will test whether a machine
learning model incorporating baseline clinical, demographic, and psychosocial characteristics can be used to
identify which adolescents are predicted to benefit from app-based mindfulness training. Recent advances in
machine learning allow for the development of algorithms predicting outcome at the individual level, as well as
the integration of numerous predictors rather than relying on single variables that may, in isolation, have limited
clinically-useful predictive value. Ultimately, such an algorithm may inform individual risk-benefit assessments
that could be used to objectively communicate the probability of experiencing positive vs. adverse outcomes to
users prior to engaging with a mindfulness app. Collectiv...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10207235
- **Project number:** 1R01AT011002-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** MCLEAN HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Christian Anthony Webb
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $660,856
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-06-15 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10207235

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10207235, Mechanisms and Predictors of Change in App-Based Mindfulness Training for Adolescents (1R01AT011002-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10207235. Licensed CC0.

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