Mindfulness and exposure therapy may ease fear after ACL surgery
NCT ID NCT05949177
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether combining graded exposure therapy with mindfulness meditation (via the Headspace app) can reduce injury-related fear and improve reaction time in people who had ACL reconstruction. Fifty participants aged 14-35, who are 6 months to 10 years post-surgery and have elevated fear, will be randomly assigned to the program or a waitlist. The goal is to help them feel less anxious about re-injury and move more confidently.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- graded exposure therapy and mindfulness meditation via the Headspace app
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a simple, non-drug way to help people overcome fear of re-injury after ACL surgery and return to sports more confidently.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage trial with only 50 people, and it compares the program to a waitlist (no active control). The results may not apply to everyone, and the benefits might be modest.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 50 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Oct 2024
- Expected to finish
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Jul 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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14 to 35 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Ages 14-35 years * Have self-reported levels of fear on the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia-11 and the Photographic Series of Sports Activities for ACLR * Injured their knee playing or training for sports (recreational or organized) * Have a history of unilateral ACLR * 6 months to 10-years post-ACLR Exclusion Criteria: * History of secondary ACL injury * Do not exhibit elevated injury-related fear * Concomitant surgeries at the time of ACL reconstruction
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Woollen Gymnasium, 300 South Road
RECRUITINGChapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Can online therapy boost ACL recovery and return to sport?
- Can a 3D-Printed gadget speed up knee recovery?
- Saving the ligament: a trial tests whether repairing a torn ACL beats replacing it
- Which tendon graft helps female athletes recover best after ACL surgery?