Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences

Compassion in Everyday Life

  1. Home
  2. Research
  3. Volunteer for a research study

This study is now closed.

In this study, you are invited to engage in a regular meditation practice, for approximately 10-15 minutes every day for one week.

We will be asking you about your experience regularly and will ask you to complete a survey at the start and end of the week to measure your progress on a variety of metrics related to wellbeing and behaviour. This project will help us understand how and why different meditation practices work, and whether they really do what they claim to.

This is a Multi-Part study: there are two parts and all parts must be signed up for at the same time. Part 2 should be scheduled to occur 8 day(s) after Part 1, but should occur at exactly the same time of day.

During your participation across the two sessions, you will be asked to wear a non-invasive, lightweight heart-rate monitor. In each session, you will be asked to listen to a short 10-minute guided meditation, complete a 10-minute reflective writing task, and complete an online questionnaire.

In the 7 days between sessions, we will ask you to wear a lightweight heart monitor every day. Seven times a day, we will send you an SMS text message with a URL link to complete a short, approximately 2-minute survey asking you about your recent experiences of compassion.
We may also request that you complete a daily, 10 minute guided meditation.

The heart-rate monitors we will ask you to wear are simple to use, lightweight (approximately 28 grams), and non-invasive. You can wear these comfortably and easily under your regular clothes. They are composed of two stick-on electrodes – one worn just below the collarbone, and the other just below the ribcage, and are connected by a wire. You can attach and remove the heart-rate monitor yourself, and do not need to wear it during exercise or intense physical activity, while showering/bathing, or during sleep.

Prior to the in-person sessions you must not consume caffeine or alcohol one hour prior to each session. Please ensure your smartphone has adequate charge to be used during each session.

Please note that if you have body hair in these locations, shaving the small area where electrodes attach will increase comfort.
 

Eligibility 

To be eligible for this study you must:

  • Be able to take part in both sessions
  • Must not already have a current daily meditation practice
  • Must own a smartphone (iPhone, Andriod, etc.)
  • Must be fluent in both written and spoken English
  • Must be 18 years or older
  • Must be able to wear the heart-rate monitor for the majority of the 7 day period between sessions.

Participant Benefits 

Participants will receive $40-$60 for their participation and, if interested, will be able to receive a summary of the study results when the study is ready for publication.

Register your interest 

To register your interest please contact the researcher, Deanna Varley at d.varley@uq.edu.au 

This study has been approved by The University of Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee [Approval No. 2020001868​]