Gratitude

Increase Hopefulness and Well-Being with Gratitude and Mindfulness

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Gratitude for the present moment and the fullness of life now is the true prosperity.” – Eckhart Tolle

 

Gratitude involves an appreciation of the positive facets of our lives. It is important for well-being as it underlines the good that is in our lives, which are often forgotten or missed. Gratitude also makes us more hopeful. Mindfulness is also important for well-being and would help to amplify gratitude and hopefulness. Gratitude, mindfulness, and hopefulness all work to promote positive emotional states which can improve well-being. There has, however, been little research on the interactions of mindfulness, gratitude, and hopefulness on well-being.

 

In today’s Research News article “Exploring the Nexus Between Mindfulness, Gratitude, and Wellbeing Among Youth With the Mediating Role of Hopefulness: A South Asian Perspective.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9346554/ ) Ali and colleagues recruited adults and had them complete measures of gratitude, mindfulness, well-being, and hopefulness. The data were subjected to analysis with structural equation modelling.

 

They found that when both mindfulness and gratitude were high, so was hopefulness. But only gratitude and not mindfulness was positively associated with well-being. But, they found that both mindfulness and gratitude were related positively to well-being indirectly by being associated with higher hopefulness which in turn was associated with higher well-being.

 

These findings are correlative and as such caution must be exercised in interpreting causation. But it would seem that people who are mindful and have gratitude have greater well-being.

 

“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” – Brene Brown

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Ali SB, Ahmad MJ, Ramzan I, Ali M, Khan K. Exploring the Nexus Between Mindfulness, Gratitude, and Wellbeing Among Youth With the Mediating Role of Hopefulness: A South Asian Perspective. Front Psychol. 2022 Jul 19;13:915667. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.915667. PMID: 35936309; PMCID: PMC9346554.

 

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between mindfulness, gratitude, and psychological wellbeing of young individuals in Pakistan with the potential role of hopefulness as a mediator between mindfulness, gratitude, and wellbeing. Data were collected from young individuals (18–40 years old) from Pakistan. A total sample of 500 participants was collected by employing the online survey questionnaire, and 374 questionnaires were duly filled and returned. The PLS-SEM technique was used to test the proposed hypotheses. The results of the study found that there is a strong direct relationship between gratitude, mindfulness, and hopefulness, and mindfulness is also strongly correlated with wellbeing. However, the relationship between gratitude and wellbeing was not statistically significant. Moreover, the mediation results reveal that the relationship between mindfulness, gratitude, and wellbeing is significantly mediated by hopefulness. This shows that gratitude and mindfulness are crucial in enhancing wellbeing through hopefulness. This study is an important contribution to validating the broaden-and-build theory, which suggests that hopelessness is a significant factor of a depressive state. It can be indicated that inducing hopefulness could be a significant element of the treatment plan of professional clinical psychologists.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9346554/

 

Improve Psychological Health with a Self-Guided, Smartphone-Based Mindfulness App

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Improve Psychological Health with a Self-Guided, Smartphone-Based Mindfulness App

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Another part of the appeal of smartphone-based apps is their anonymity. “The apps also allow for privacy and confidentiality and can be a safe space for individuals who may be too ashamed to admit their mental health issues in person or who may feel that they will be negatively labeled or stigmatized by others,” – Sal Raichback

 

Mindfulness training has been shown through extensive research to be effective in improving physical and psychological health. But the vast majority of the mindfulness training techniques, however, require a trained therapist. This results in costs that many clients can’t afford. In addition, the participants must be available to attend multiple sessions at particular scheduled times that may or may not be compatible with their busy schedules and at locations that may not be convenient. As an alternative, mindfulness training with smartphone apps has been developed. These have tremendous advantages in decreasing costs, making training schedules much more flexible, and eliminating the need to go repeatedly to specific locations. In addition, research has indicated that mindfulness training via smartphone apps can be effective for improving the health and well-being of the participants.

 

In today’s Research News article “Testing the Efficacy of a Multicomponent, Self-Guided, Smartphone-Based Meditation App: Three-Armed Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR mental health.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7732708/ ) Goldberg and colleagues recruited adults who did not have extensive meditation experience and randomly assigned them to a wait-list control condition or to receive either of 2 8-week smartphone app mindfulness training with the Healthy Minds Program. They received 4 weeks of awareness training including awareness of breathing and awareness of sounds. They were then again randomly assigned to receive 4 weeks of either Connection training consisting or gratitude and kindness practices or Insight Training consisting of “the changing nature of the phenomenon (ie, impermanence) and examining how thoughts and emotions influence perception” practices. They were measured before after the first 4-week module and after the second 4-week module for mindfulness, psychological distress, perceived stress, interpersonal connections, interpersonal reactivity, compassion, self-reflection, rumination, and defusion.

 

They found that compared to baseline and the wait-list control group both intervention conditions produced significant increases in mindfulness, social connection, self-reflection and defusion and significant decreases in psychological distress, and rumination with no significant differences between the smartphone interventions. There were no differences between the wait-list controls and the intervention in compassion and empathy.

 

These are interesting findings that correspond to the finding in prior research that training the increases mindfulness produces significant increases in social connection, self-reflection and defusion and significant decreases in psychological distress, and rumination. They demonstrate that smartphone trainings that improve mindfulness produce improvement in the psychological health of the participants.

 

It was a bit surprising that the benefits of the awareness plus connection training did not significantly differ from the benefits of awareness plus insight training. But since both trainings equivalently higher mindfulness and increased mindfulness has been shown to produce these benefits, it is reasonable to conclude that any training the improves mindfulness will improve psychological health..

 

So, improve psychological health with a self-guided, smartphone-based mindfulness App.

 

“Using a smartphone app, may provide immediate effects on mood and stress while also providing long-term benefits for attentional control. . . there is evidence that with continued usage, [mindfulness training] via a smartphone app may provide long-term benefits in changing how one relates to their inner and outer experiences.” – Kathleen Marie Walsh

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Goldberg, S. B., Imhoff-Smith, T., Bolt, D. M., Wilson-Mendenhall, C. D., Dahl, C. J., Davidson, R. J., & Rosenkranz, M. A. (2020). Testing the Efficacy of a Multicomponent, Self-Guided, Smartphone-Based Meditation App: Three-Armed Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR mental health, 7(11), e23825. https://doi.org/10.2196/23825

 

Abstract

Background

A growing number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) suggest psychological benefits associated with meditation training delivered via mobile health. However, research in this area has primarily focused on mindfulness, only one of many meditative techniques.

Objective

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of 2 versions of a self-guided, smartphone-based meditation app—the Healthy Minds Program (HMP)—which includes training in mindfulness (Awareness), along with practices designed to cultivate positive relationships (Connection) or insight into the nature of the self (Insight).

Methods

A three-arm, fully remote RCT compared 8 weeks of one of 2 HMP conditions (Awareness+Connection and Awareness+Insight) with a waitlist control. Adults (≥18 years) without extensive previous meditation experience were eligible. The primary outcome was psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and stress). Secondary outcomes were social connection, empathy, compassion, self-reflection, insight, rumination, defusion, and mindfulness. Measures were completed at pretest, midtreatment, and posttest between October 2019 and April 2020. Longitudinal data were analyzed using intention-to-treat principles with maximum likelihood.

Results

A total of 343 participants were randomized and 186 (54.2%) completed at least one posttest assessment. The majority (166/228, 72.8%) of those assigned to HMP conditions downloaded the app. The 2 HMP conditions did not differ from one another in terms of changes in any outcome. Relative to the waitlist control, the HMP conditions showed larger improvements in distress, social connectedness, mindfulness, and measures theoretically linked to insight training (d=–0.28 to 0.41; Ps≤.02), despite modest exposure to connection- and insight-related practice. The results were robust to some assumptions about nonrandom patterns of missing data. Improvements in distress were associated with days of use. Candidate mediators (social connection, insight, rumination, defusion, and mindfulness) and moderators (baseline rumination, defusion, and empathy) of changes in distress were identified.

Conclusions

This study provides initial evidence of efficacy for the HMP app in reducing distress and improving outcomes related to well-being, including social connectedness. Future studies should attempt to increase study retention and user engagement.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7732708/

 

Improve Brain Systems Underlying Mental Well-Being with Gratitude Meditation

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Improve Brain Systems Underlying Mental Well-Being with Gratitude Meditation

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

“benefit of meditation. Or, rather, some ancient benefit that is just now being confirmed with fMRI or EEG. The practice appears to have an amazing variety of neurological benefits – from changes in grey matter volume to reduced activity in the “me” centers of the brain to enhanced connectivity between brain regions.” – Alice Walton

There has accumulated a large amount of research demonstrating that meditation has significant benefits for psychological, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. Its positive effects are so widespread that it is difficult to find any other treatment of any kind with such broad beneficial effects on everything from mood and happiness to severe mental and physical illnesses. This raises the question of how meditation could do this. One possibility is that mindfulness practice results in beneficial changes in the nervous system.

The nervous system is a dynamic entity, constantly changing and adapting to the environment. It will change size, activity, and connectivity in response to experience. These changes in the brain are called neuroplasticity. Over the last decade neuroscience has been studying the effects of contemplative practices on the brain and has identified neuroplastic changes in widespread areas. In other words, mindfulness practice appears to mold and change the brain, producing psychological, physical, and spiritual benefits.

These neuroplastic changes, however, result from the summation of individual changes occurring to the nervous system in real time produced by the immediate behavior. In order to better understand the process by which behavior affects the nervous system, it is important to look initially at the short-term changes produced by behavior. Loving-kindness meditation has been shown to produce improvement in the regulation of emotions and also changes the areas of the nervous system involved in emotion regulation. To better understand the processes involved it is important to look at the short-term effects of focusing on gratitude on the nervous system.

In today’s Research News article “Effects of gratitude meditation on neural network functional connectivity and brain-heart coupling.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5506019/, Kyeong and colleagues recruited meditation-naïve adults. They were measured before testing for depression, competence, relatedness, and autonomy. The participants laid in a brain scanner and were instructed to think deeply in a gratitude condition and a resentment condition while their heart rate was recorded and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (f-MRI) was performed. In the gratitude condition the participants were instructed to think about and visualize their mother for 4 minutes and tell her in their mind how much they love and appreciate her. In the resentment condition the participants were instructed to think about and visualize a person who made them angry. The two conditions were presented in counterbalanced order to two randomly assigned groups.

They found that the heart rate was significantly lower during the gratefulness condition indicating the positive emotional effects of gratitude. In addition, they found that the functional connectivity of brain areas was significantly related to heart rate in the gratefulness condition but not the resentment condition. Hence, experiencing gratefulness connects central and peripheral mechanisms of emotion. They found that the functional connectivity of neural systems were altered during and after the two conditions. But, the gratitude condition altered the functional connectivity of brain areas associated with emotions and motivation.

These results suggest that the immediate focusing on gratitude produces momentary alterations of brain systems associated with the regulation of emotions and self-motivation. When carried out over a period of time this could sum to produce relatively permanent changes in these neural systems. This may be the mechanism by which loving-kindness meditation improves emotional well-being. These results are a useful start at unravelling the processes by which mental contents can produce relatively permanent alterations of the nervous system and thereby produce relatively permanent changes in the individual’s mood and regulation of that mood.

So, improve brain systems underlying mental well-being with gratitude meditation.

“Being distracted exacts a cost on our well-being, If we become more mindful of our everyday activities, we can learn well-being and become happier.” – Ritchie Davidson

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are available at the Contemplative Studies Blog http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/
They are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

Study Summary

Kyeong, S., Kim, J., Kim, D. J., Kim, H. E., & Kim, J.-J. (2017). Effects of gratitude meditation on neural network functional connectivity and brain-heart coupling. Scientific Reports, 7, 5058. http://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-05520-9

Abstract
A sense of gratitude is a powerful and positive experience that can promote a happier life, whereas resentment is associated with life dissatisfaction. To explore the effects of gratitude and resentment on mental well-being, we acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging and heart rate (HR) data before, during, and after the gratitude and resentment interventions. Functional connectivity (FC) analysis was conducted to identify the modulatory effects of gratitude on the default mode, emotion, and reward-motivation networks. The average HR was significantly lower during the gratitude intervention than during the resentment intervention. Temporostriatal FC showed a positive correlation with HR during the gratitude intervention, but not during the resentment intervention. Temporostriatal resting-state FC was significantly decreased after the gratitude intervention compared to the resentment intervention. After the gratitude intervention, resting-state FC of the amygdala with the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex were positively correlated with anxiety scale and depression scale, respectively. Taken together, our findings shed light on the effect of gratitude meditation on an individual’s mental well-being, and indicate that it may be a means of improving both emotion regulation and self-motivation by modulating resting-state FC in emotion and motivation-related brain regions.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5506019/