Mental Health IssueNCT06513858
Evaluating the Community Drum Circle
A study testing Communal Drumming and Communal drumming recordings in people with Mental Health Issue and COVID-19, run by Yale University at 2 sites in United States.
Trial summary
Mental health vulnerability due to stress is increased America due to disproportionate effects of social factors such as racism, poverty, education, and criminal justice sentencing. Various meditation and mindfulness approaches have provided evidence of measured reductions in multiple negative dimensions of stress. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 16 to 65 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Mental Health Issue, COVID-19
- What is being tested?
- Communal Drumming and Communal drumming recordings
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 63 participants
- Where
- 2 sitesUnited States
- Study dates
- 1 Aug 2024to 15 Apr 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 16 to 65 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- ages 16 and older
Who cannot join
- ages 15 and younger
Trial locations and contacts
2 sites in 1 country.
United States2 sites
BLOOM
New Haven, Connecticut, 06515
Musical Intervention Studios
New Haven, Connecticut, 06520
About this study
Official title: Evaluating the Impact of Community-Based Mindfulness and Musical Programs on Psychiatric Measures, Drum Circle Study 2c.
Mental health vulnerability due to stress is increased America due to disproportionate effects of social factors such as racism, poverty, education, and criminal justice sentencing. Various meditation and mindfulness approaches have provided evidence of measured reductions in multiple negative dimensions of stress. However, the majority of these studies do not have an adequate representation of Persons of African Descent(PAD) or other marginalized groups and are not designed to be culturally relevant or community based. Music has been shown to alleviate multiple symptoms of stress and has been shown to be a preferred and effective support for meditation and mindfulness. However, its role in stress management in PADs engaged in meditation or mindfulness is seldom studied. This study aims to evaluate the effects of a community-based music mindfulness program on stress management in PAD community members with anxiety and depression during COVID19.
Component 2c. Drum Circle Study: Investigators will study the impact of participation in drum circles on anxiety and feelings of connectedness.
Read the detailed description
The investigators also propose a study to investigate the effects of communal drumming in reducing anxiety and increasing connectedness within drum circle community. Investigators hypothesize that these intervention will lead to reductions in scores on stress scales and will provide preliminary data for studies evaluating these types of community programs as an adjunct to the standard of care.
Individuals who attend periodic (i.e. weekly) drum circles will be recruited to join an 8-week paradigm. Drum circle sessions may audio recorded and participants will be informed of this during the consent process. Participants may be asked to undergo Electroencepholography, functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy, and/or other physiological measures before, during, and after the circles. Upon completion of the experiments, participants will be asked to take part in a focus group that will provide valuable feedback on their experience with the mindfulness intervention. Focus groups will last 30-minutes to 1 hour and will occur in-person.
- Conditions
- Mental Health Issue, COVID-19
- Being tested
- Communal Drumming, Communal drumming recordings
- Keywords
- Mindfulness, Meditation, Music
- Medical subject headings
- COVID-19
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Communal DrummingBehavioural
Communal drumming
Communal drumming recordingsBehavioural
Recordings of drumming taken from the music made during a previous component of the study
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Drum Circle- Cohort 1 | Experimental | Cohort 1 will listen together to recordings of drumming and be allowed to drum along while listening.
The facilitator will lead participants in procedures such as checking in (e.g. "How are you doing today?" before and after the circle) and breathing exercise. Receives: Behavioral: Communal Drumming; Behavioral: Communal drumming recordings |
| Drum Circle Control Group- Cohort 2 | Active comparator | Control investigations will also be conducted to better understand the contribution communal drumming has on effects of anxiety and connectedness. All control investigations will take place in the same space and at the same frequency as the associated experimental arm but with no drumming. All participants will be asked to complete the same surveys and at the same frequency to those completed in the experimental arm. Receives: Behavioral: Communal drumming recordings |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Rating of Absorption in music pre vs post sessions
These ratings are classified on a scale from 0 to 1, with 0 indicating no absorption and 1 indicating complete absorption.
Measured: Baseline on day of study visit before drum circle, during drum circle (45min), 30 min after music listening
Secondary outcomes (1)
Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale
This scale has 94 statements and below each statement is a line with the endpoints "No, not more than usually" and "Yes, much more than usually." Each participant will rate to what extent the statements apply to their particular experience, compared to normal waking consciousness, by making a vertical mark on the line below the statements. Normal waking consciousness corresponds to a mark at the very left end of the scale, i.e.: "No, not more than usually."
Measured: Baseline on day of study visit before drum circle, during drum circle (45min), 30 min after music listening
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted22 Jul 2024
- Study start1 Aug 2024
- Primary completion15 Apr 2026
- Study completion15 Apr 2026
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Mental Health IssueStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Yale UniversityThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 63 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Yale University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- AZA Allsop, MD, PhD, Principal investigator, Yale University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06513858
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2000028866_c
- Other IDs
- 2R25MH071584-11
- Status last verified
- Oct 2026
- First submitted
- 10 Jul 2024
- Last updated
- 19 Oct 2026
- Results posted
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: De-identified, aggregate data will be shared through pre-prints, publications, and community town hall meetings.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 19 Oct 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Evaluating the Impact of Community-Based Mindfulness and Musical Programs on Psychiatric Measures, Drum Circle Study 2c.
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06513858
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 2000028866_c
- Conditions
- Mental Health Issue, COVID-19
- Keywords
- Mindfulness, Meditation, Music
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 63 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Yale UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Study start
- 1 Aug 2024 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 15 Apr 2026 (actual)
- Study completion
- 15 Apr 2026 (actual)
- First posted
- 22 Jul 2024 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Mental health vulnerability due to stress is increased America due to disproportionate effects of social factors such as racism, poverty, education, and criminal justice sentencing. Various meditation and mindfulness approaches have provided evidence of measured reductions in multiple negative dimensions of stress. However, the majority of these studies do not have an adequate representation of Persons of African Descent(PAD) or other marginalized groups and are not designed to be culturally relevant or community based. Music has been shown to alleviate multiple symptoms of stress and has been shown to be a preferred and effective support for meditation and mindfulness. However, its role in stress management in PADs engaged in meditation or mindfulness is seldom studied. This study aims to evaluate the effects of a community-based music mindfulness program on stress management in PAD community members with anxiety and depression during COVID19.
Component 2c. Drum Circle Study: Investigators will study the impact of participation in drum circles on anxiety and feelings of connectedness.
Detailed description
The investigators also propose a study to investigate the effects of communal drumming in reducing anxiety and increasing connectedness within drum circle community. Investigators hypothesize that these intervention will lead to reductions in scores on stress scales and will provide preliminary data for studies evaluating these types of community programs as an adjunct to the standard of care.
Individuals who attend periodic (i.e. weekly) drum circles will be recruited to join an 8-week paradigm. Drum circle sessions may audio recorded and participants will be informed of this during the consent process. Participants may be asked to undergo Electroencepholography, functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy, and/or other physiological measures before, during, and after the circles. Upon completion of the experiments, participants will be asked to take part in a focus group that will provide valuable feedback on their experience with the mindfulness intervention. Focus groups will last 30-minutes to 1 hour and will occur in-person.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Drum Circle- Cohort 1 | Experimental | Behavioral: Communal Drumming, Behavioral: Communal drumming recordingsCohort 1 will listen together to recordings of drumming and be allowed to drum along while listening. The facilitator will lead participants in procedures such as checking in (e.g. "How are you doing today?" before and after the circle) and breathing exercise. |
| Drum Circle Control Group- Cohort 2 | Active comparator | Behavioral: Communal drumming recordingsControl investigations will also be conducted to better understand the contribution communal drumming has on effects of anxiety and connectedness. All control investigations will take place in the same space and at the same frequency as the associated experimental arm but with no drumming. All participants will be asked to complete the same surveys and at the same frequency to those completed in the experimental arm. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 16 to 65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- ages 16 and older
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- ages 15 and younger
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Communal DrummingCommunal drumming | Behavioural | Drum Circle- Cohort 1 |
| Communal drumming recordingsRecordings of drumming taken from the music made during a previous component of the study | Behavioural | Drum Circle Control Group- Cohort 2, Drum Circle- Cohort 1 |
Primary outcome
Rating of Absorption in music pre vs post sessions
Time frame: Baseline on day of study visit before drum circle, during drum circle (45min), 30 min after music listening
These ratings are classified on a scale from 0 to 1, with 0 indicating no absorption and 1 indicating complete absorption.
1 secondary outcome
Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale
Time frame: Baseline on day of study visit before drum circle, during drum circle (45min), 30 min after music listening
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 19 Oct 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. De-identified, aggregate data will be shared through pre-prints, publications, and community town hall meetings.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
AZA Allsop, MD, PhD principal investigator
Yale University
2 sites in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Communal Drumming and Communal drumming recordings in people with Mental Health Issue and COVID-19, run by Yale University at 2 sites in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 19 Oct 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 2 sites in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Rating of Absorption in music pre vs post sessions (time frame: Baseline on day of study visit before drum circle, during drum circle (45min), 30 min after music listening). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 19 Oct 2026.