Browsing by Subject "Mindfulness"

Effective emotion regulation plays an important role in psychological health. Two commonly-researched emotion regulation strategies are reappraisal, a cognitive change-based strategy, and mindfulness, an acceptance-based strategy. Although their potential in facilitating adaptive emotion regulation has been empirically demonstrated, little work has directly compared their cognitive and emotion regulatory effects, particularly in a symptomatic population. Using an analogue depressed sample, this study examined the relative effects of mindfulness and reappraisal in reducing sad mood and whether individual differences in trait mindfulness and habitual use of reappraisal moderated the effects. The study also compared the extent to which implementation of these strategies incurred cognitive resources and affected attitudes towards negative experiences. One hundred and twenty-nine participants were randomly assigned to receive training in mindfulness, reappraisal, or no training prior to undergoing an autobiographical sad mood induction. Following mood induction, participants rated their sadness on a visual analog scale before completing a Stroop test. Results showed that mindfulness and reappraisal were superior to no training, and equivalent in their effects in lowering sad moods. Compared to the mindfulness group, the reappraisal group reported significantly higher Stroop interference scores, reflecting greater depletion of cognitive resources. Higher trait mindfulness predicted greater reductions in sadness in the reappraisal group, but not in the mindfulness group. Habitual reappraisal did not moderate the effects of either mindfulness or reappraisal. Mindfulness, relative to reappraisal or no training, resulted in significant increases in acceptance of negative experiences and decreases in maladaptive beliefs about rumination. Overall, the study suggests that although mindfulness and reappraisal are equally effective in down-regulating sad mood, they incur different levels of cognitive costs and lead to differential changes in attitudes towards negative experiences.

Attention is considered a fundamental component of mindfulness and current theory suggests that it is a primary mechanism of change that contributes to the substantive improvements in physical and psychological functioning attributed to mindfulness-based interventions including Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Using the Attention Network Test (ANT) and an Inattentional Blindness (IB) task, the current study assessed differences in subsystems of attention in a group of experienced MBSR practitioners and a group of meditation naïve controls. MBSR practitioners demonstrated superior conflict monitoring performance relative to the control participants; however, groups did not differ with regards to their performance on the alerting and orienting components of the ANT. Additionally, although the MBSR practitioners were nearly half as likely as their control counterparts to evidence IB, this difference was not significant. Finally, self-reported mindfulness was higher in meditators relative to meditation naïve control participants, though scores did not correlate with performance on the attention tasks. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

The effect of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training on experimental measures of attention and emotion regulation was assessed. Two laboratory based measures of attention and emotion regulation were employed. Amongst a number of hypotheses, the effect of MBSR on return to emotional baseline was assessed. Analyses indicated that MBSR training had no effect on physiological indices of emotion regulation. Self-report measures indicated that MBSR training led to faster return to baseline negative emotional experience following a stressor. Implications and future directions are discussed.

The current study tested the effects of a brief, behavioral intervention for problems with emotion perception, the ability to perceive other people’s emotions, across a range of psychiatric disorders. The intervention was delivered through an in-person training session in which participants learned a mindful breathing skill, followed by a testing phase in which participants received phone-based reminders to practice the skill for one week. A sample of 80 adults with self-reported emotion regulation difficulties was recruited for this study and was randomized to either the Mindful Breathing condition, a Habituation condition, or a Control condition. Findings from this study suggested that, in the training session, participants in the Mindful Breathing condition had higher accuracy for perception of positive emotions and lower accuracy for perception of negative emotions than the control condition at the second and third timepoints. After the week of receiving phone reminders, participants in the mindful breathing condition had lower accuracy for perception of negative emotions than the control condition. Findings also suggest that the mindful breathing intervention reduces distress, which was associated with emotion perception performance. Therefore, this study’s findings provide preliminary evidence for a method of targeting emotion perception deficits that are associated with many psychiatric disorders. By combining both in-person and digital treatment components, this intervention also provides a feasible and effective complement to mainstream mental health services.

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Weight bias internalization is considered a chronic discriminatory stressor and a threat to health. Weight bias internalization has known associations with health-depleting behaviors (i.e., disordered eating, social isolation) and avoidance of health-promoting behaviors (i.e., physical activity, adherence to healthcare guidelines). Despite the numerous deleterious health effects of weight bias internalization, relatively few efficacious interventions have been identified for this critical treatment target. Self-compassion training presents itself as a potential intervention, though has not been rigorously tested in those with elevated internalized weight bias. Ruby was a two-arm randomized control designed to reduce internalized weight bias. Ruby tested the efficacy of a 4-week digitally-delivered self-compassion intervention compared to wait list control. Participants in the intervention group received daily text messages which included psychoeducation videos, writing prompts, and guided mindfulness audio files to facilitate daily mindful self-compassion practices ranging from 4-21 minutes per day. The main outcome of this trial was the 4-week reduction in weight bias internalization as measured by the Weight Bias Internalization Scale, compared to wait list control. Trial outcomes were analyzed using linear mixed models and one-way analysis of covariance models using an intent-to-treat framework. Ruby participants were 121 adults with elevated internalized weight bias (i.e., WBIS score > 4.0) and a body mass index over 30 kg/m2. Participants in the intervention demonstrated greater reductions in weight bias internalization compared to the wait list control (Net difference: -0.84, CI: -1.21 to -0.48, p < .0001). Participants in the intervention demonstrated similar reductions in secondary outcomes, including weight self-stigma, weight-related experiential avoidance, and fear of self-compassion (p’s < .05). Additionally, they reported increases in self-compassion, mindfulness, body appreciation, intuitive eating, and physical activity. Mediation analyses suggest that reductions in weight bias internalization are likely partially driven by increases in self-compassion. Ruby was the first digital standalone self-compassion based intervention targeting weight bias internalization. Results suggest that a brief mindful self-compassion intervention can meaningfully reduce internalized weight bias over 4 weeks. Additionally, a mindful self-compassion intervention can reduce several other secondary outcomes related to internalized weight bias. Due to its standalone digital delivery, Ruby may be a highly-scalable treatment for internalized weight bias that can be delivered on its own or combined with other treatments. Ruby is poised to expand a burgeoning body of literature related to psychological intervention for internalized weight bias.

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When behavior is directed toward activities, people, and experiences that people find most important in their lives, they are engaged in valued living. Given that valued living is associated with well-being, quality of life, and happiness, understanding ways in which value-concordant behavior can be promoted, enhanced, and maintained is of utmost importance. Two studies sought to examine the associations between mindfulness--as a dispositional trait and as developed through training--and valued living. In Study 1 dispositional mindfulness was strongly related to three aspects of valued living: the general tendency for people to understand their values and act in value-consistent ways; directing behavior toward valued activities; and clarity of, action toward, and feelings of success and satisfaction with action toward specific important values. Study 2 compared valued living scores of people participating in a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program to a control group. Mindfulness training was related to increased general valuing processes and value-relevant behavior but was not related to increased clarity of, action, or success or satisfaction with action toward specific values.

The two studies also explored the mechanisms underlying the relationship between mindfulness and valued living. In Study 1, self-compassion, psychological flexibility, and self-clarity each partially mediated the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and valued living, but decentering did not. In Study 2, change in attention mediated the relationship between group (MBSR or control) and valued living, but acceptance, self-compassion, psychological flexibility, self-clarity, and decentering did not. Lastly, both studies found that valued living mediated the relationship between mindfulness and well-being. Taken together, these findings add to the growing body of literature demonstrating the benefits of mindfulness and highlight the important influence that clearly identifying and behaving in accordance with important values has on well-being.

Traditional in-person psychotherapies are proving incapable of addressing mental health needs globally. Computer-based interventions are one promising solution to closing the large gap between mental health treatment need and actual treatment received. The overarching aim of this study is to contribute to the body of literature focused on providing new insights into effective ways of leveraging technology to implement large-scale mental health initiatives that are financially feasible, easily transportable and quickly scalable in low-resource setting. Although many meta-analyses have provided evidence to support the efficacy of self-guided, computer-based interventions, most report low rates of treatment engagement (high attrition, low adherence). Accordingly, this dissertation investigates the efficacy of an adjunctive treatment component that uses task-sharing, where mental health care is provided by non-specialist providers (NSP; e.g., nurses, clergy, community members), to enhance engagement in a self-directed, web-based mindfulness intervention for stress and depression among Chinese students.

Fifty-four students from 36 universities across China reporting at least mild stress, anxiety and/or depression were randomly assigned to a brief (4-week online mindfulness intervention (MIND) or to the intervention plus NSP support (MIND+). Fifty-six volunteer NSP candidates without formal training in the delivery of mental health services were screened, ten were invited to participate in a 1-day training, and four were selected. NSPs were instructed to provide six brief (15-20 minute) weekly meetings, with the intention of supporting and encouraging participants in their completion of the online intervention. NSPs received weekly online group supervision. Participants completed daily monitoring of mindfulness practice and mood, as well as baseline and post-treatment self-report packet assessing depression, anxiety and stress symptoms and trait mindfulness.

The study found that participants assigned to the MIND+ (vs. MIND) condition showed significantly less attrition and more adherence, as indicated by a greater likelihood of completing post-treatment assessments and a greater percentage of course completion, respectively. There were no significant between-group differences in daily self-reports of frequency and duration of mindfulness practice across the trial. However, results indicated that participation in the online intervention was associated with significant improvements in pre- to post-treatment mindfulness and mental health outcomes. In addition, individuals in the MIND+ condition reported significant improvements in daily ratings of stress and depression across the trial, compared to individuals in the MIND condition. These findings suggest that volunteer NSPs receiving brief training and weekly supervision may significantly improve participants’ indices of treatment engagement and mental health outcomes in an online mindfulness intervention among college and graduate students in China.