Mindfulness

OBJECTIVES: Preventing migraine headaches and improving the quality of life for patients with migraine remains a challenge. We hypothesized intensive meditation training would reduce the disease burden of migraine. METHOD: An unblinded trial was analyzed as a single cohort exposed to a silent 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat that included 100 hr of sitting meditation. Participants with chronic or episodic migraine were enrolled and followed for 1 year. The primary outcome was a change in mean monthly migraine days at 12 months from baseline...

OBJECTIVES: Mothers with infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are at increased risk of psychological distress, which can have lasting negative impacts on both mother and infant. However, few interventions are available to promote these mothers' mental health and wellbeing. In the context of a pilot randomized controlled trial testing a mindfulness intervention for mothers with infants in the NICU, we explore the experiences of the mothers participating in the mindfulness-based intervention, with mothers in the control group as comparison, and the ways they felt it influenced their time in the NICU...

OBJECTIVES: Mindfulness is theorized to decrease the affective amplification of chronic pain by facilitating a shift from emotionally-laden, catastrophic pain appraisals of nociceptive input to reappraising chronic pain as an innocuous sensory signal that does not signify harm. Understanding of these hypothetical psychological mechanisms of mindfulness-based analgesia has been limited by a lack of direct measures. We conducted a series of psychometric and experimental studies to develop and validate the Mindful Reappraisal of Pain Sensations Scale (MPRS)...

OBJECTIVES: The primary aim was to explore state- and trait-level effects and candidate mechanisms of four Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) practices. METHOD: One hundred sixty adults self-selected from the general population were randomized to one of four mindfulness practices: body scan, mindful movement, breath and body, and befriending. Study 1 explored state-level self-compassion, mindfulness, decentering (mechanisms), and pleasantness of thoughts, emotions, and body sensations at multiple time points using two single mindfulness sessions...

OBJECTIVES: The beliefs and expectations people bring into mindfulness practice can affect the measurement outcomes of interventions. The aim of this mixed-method study was to examine the key beliefs in the powers of mindfulness-understood as non-judgmental awareness of the present moment-to transform the individual and the society, and to develop and validate the Belief in the Powers of Mindfulness Scale (BPMS). METHOD: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with mindfulness meditators ( n  = 32), including follow-up interviews ( n  = 22)...

OBJECTIVES: The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic is recognized as a mass traumatic event in which COVID-19-related stress (CS) can indicate other trauma- and/or stressor-related disorder. The facets of mindfulness (observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreacting) have been linked to reductions in stress-related symptoms and thus may protect against CS. We extended previous research by evaluating mindfulness facets as resilience skills negatively related to CS...

OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a dramatic increase in Web-based education, lacking face-to-face student-teacher and student-student interaction, and consequently impairing students' sense of belonging to a community, interoceptive awareness, and academic self-efficacy. This study examined how a brief mindfulness-based intervention in an online university course can be effective in enhancing attention resources, developing a stronger sense of academic self-efficacy, and improving the sense of belonging to a community, which represent critical factors affecting students' participation in online and blended courses...

OBJECTIVES: The current study explored the mediating role of work interference on family guilt (WIFG) and family interference on work guilt (FIWG) in association with parents' self-compassion and mindful parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic, while controlling for the effects of educational level and marital status. METHOD: In May 2020, a sample of 398 mothers (26-50 years) participated in the study and completed an online survey that included a sociodemographic form and measures of self-compassion, work-family guilt, and mindful parenting...

OBJECTIVE: Post-migration stress and trauma impact the way Latino/a immigrants in the USA experience everyday life. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) reduce stress and strengthen mental health by improving the response to stressors and promoting physical and psychological well-being; however, they have not been tested extensively with Latino/a immigrants in the USA, particularly MBIs implemented online. Thus, more information is needed about the feasibility of online MBIs adapted for Latino/a immigrants...

OBJECTIVES: This multi-arm randomized controlled online trial explored the effects of two key mindfulness characteristics (dose and type) over 2 weeks on mental well-being, along with psychological distress and dispositional mindfulness, in a healthy community sample. METHOD: Participants were randomly assigned to one of four mindfulness interventions (~ 10 min or ~ 30 min of sitting or movement meditation) to practice daily for 2 weeks; 161 participants fully completed the study and were included in the final sample...

OBJECTIVES: When parenting-related stressors and coping resources are chronically imbalanced, there is risk of parental burnout, and consequent negative impact on parent and child wellbeing. The objective of this study was to determine the relations between structural and social determinants of health inequities, self-compassion (a theoretically indicated coping practice), and parental burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: Participants were parents ( n  = 2324) with at least one child aged 4-17 in the household recruited from NORC's AmeriSpeak Panel (a probability-based panel providing coverage of 97% of the US household population)...

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the linguistic markers of an interest in mindfulness. Specifically, it examined whether individuals who follow mindfulness experts on Twitter use different language in their tweets compared to a random sample of Twitter users. This is a first step which may complement commonly used self-report measures of mindfulness with quantifiable behavioural metrics. METHOD: A linguistic analysis examined the association between an interest in mindfulness and linguistic markers in 1...

OBJECTIVES: Stigma towards persons with mental illness is widespread. Mindfulness may protect against stigma by cultivating accepting attitudes, non-reactivity, and prosocial emotions. This study aimed to assess whether higher trait mindfulness among nurses was linked to lower stigma towards psychiatric patients, and whether compassion mediated this relationship. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study among nurses in four tertiary care hospitals in Sri Lanka, stigma towards psychiatric patients was assessed using the Attribution Questionnaire (AQ-9), which assesses nine separate domains of stigma...

OBJECTIVES: Preliminary research on self-compassion as a target for reducing forms of bias is promising, yet healthcare provider self-compassion has not yet been explored in relationship to weight bias. Healthcare providers commonly endorse weight stigma and bias, contributing to health disparities for patients with "obesity." The current study explores the feasibility of the self-compassion loving kindness meditation (LKM) as a brief intervention that reduces weight bias in nursing students...

OBJECTIVES: Over the last decade, the mental health of undergraduate students has been of increasing concern and the prevalence of psychological disorders among this population has reached an unprecedented high. Compassion-based interventions have been used to treat shame and self-criticism, both of which are common experiences among undergraduate students and transdiagnostic vulnerability factors for an array of psychological disorders. This randomized controlled study examined the utility of a brief online self-compassionate letter-writing intervention for undergraduate students with high shame...

OBJECTIVES: This study examined specificity in the effects of three perinatal mindfulness-based prevention programs that differed in their timing (prenatal, postpartum) and target (maternal well-being, parenting). Effects on maternal mental health (depression, anxiety, resilience), mindfulness, and observed parenting, as well as observed, physiological, and mother-report indicators of infant self-regulation, were examined. METHODS: The programs were evaluated in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of first-time mothers ( n  = 188) living in low-income contexts using intention-to-treat analysis...

OBJECTIVES: Response shift refers to variations in self-reported evaluations at different times from changes in one's internal standards, values, and meanings. The current study explored the utility of the then-test to detect a potential mindfulness-based response shift occurrence during a mindfulness- and yoga-based intervention for student musicians, and to ascertain to what extent effect sizes could differ when adjusting for it. METHOD: Participants ( n  = 31) completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) halfway through the intervention (Time 1-FFMQ), post-intervention (Time 2-FFMQ), and immediately after Time 2-FFMQ with a then-test approach that asked participants to rate the FFMQ based on retrospective reflections on their mindfulness at Time 1 (then-test-FFMQ)...

OBJECTIVES: Mindfulness and mindfulness-based constructs, such as self-compassion and mindful eating, have been positively associated with healthier eating and body related perceptions. Exploration of mindfulness and related concepts have not been investigated extensively in gay and bisexual men, a population where eating and body related concerns have been found to be widespread. METHOD: Participants completed an online questionnaire, assessing mindfulness, self-compassion, mindful eating, body image and body acceptance...

OBJECTIVES: Despite the well-documented psychological benefits of meditation practice, limited research has examined factors associated with meditation practice persistence. Like other health behaviors (e.g., exercise), non-persistence may undermine the effectiveness of meditation. METHODS: We examined rates and correlates of meditation persistence using a population-based sample ( n = 953) in the United States. Persistence was operationalized in two ways: number of lifetime practice sessions (i...

OBJECTIVES: Preliminary evidence has supported the notion that mindful movement-based practices may offer benefits for self-regulation, particularly for vulnerable children. However, this evidence has principally stemmed from subjective assessments of behavioral change, leaving the underlying mechanisms undetermined. The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of an in-school mindful movement intervention (MMI) for at-risk children within an urban public school for enhancing motor, cognitive, and emotional-behavioral regulation, including control of disruptive and inattentive behaviors characteristic of ADHD...