Monroy María, Amster Michael, Eagle Jake, Zerwas Felicia K, Keltner Dacher, López Javier E
Department of Psychology, Yale University, 100 College St, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA.
College of Osteopathic Medicine, Touro University California, Vallejo, CA, USA.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 12;15(1):16453. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-96555-w.
Emerging evidence suggests that experiences of awe benefit health and well-being. The present investigation examined the efficacy of an awe intervention to improve the psychological health-stress, anxiety, depression, and well-being-of patients living with long COVID. The awe intervention, a Randomized-controlled Clinical Trial, was delivered in synchronous online sessions to patients, across the United States (in April 2023), who met the criteria for long COVID. Results revealed significant improvements in psychological health for those in the awe intervention (N = 30), compared to the control group (N = 38): including decreased stress, decreased depression symptoms, and increased well-being. There were no significant differences between groups in anxiety symptoms. Effect sizes ranged from medium to large (d = 0.78-0.96), demonstrating the robustness of these findings. This work is the first to document that awe can have salutary effects on psychological health, such as reducing symptoms of depression. These findings suggest that a brief awe intervention can improve psychological health in people dealing with chronic stress and physical ailments, as in the case of long COVID.Trial registration. The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05676008, 09/01/2023).
新出现的证据表明，敬畏体验有益于健康和幸福。本研究调查了一种敬畏干预措施对改善长期新冠患者心理健康（压力、焦虑、抑郁和幸福感）的效果。该敬畏干预是一项随机对照临床试验，于2023年4月在美国以同步在线会议的形式提供给符合长期新冠标准的患者。结果显示，与对照组（N = 38）相比，接受敬畏干预的患者（N = 30）心理健康有显著改善：包括压力减轻、抑郁症状减轻和幸福感增强。两组在焦虑症状方面没有显著差异。效应大小从中等到较大（d = 0.78 - 0.96），表明这些发现的稳健性。这项工作首次证明敬畏对心理健康有有益影响，比如减轻抑郁症状。这些发现表明，短暂的敬畏干预可以改善应对慢性压力和身体疾病的人的心理健康，就像长期新冠患者的情况一样。试验注册。该试验已在ClinicalTrials.gov注册（NCT05676008，2023年9月1日）。
