MBSR

Possibly Improve Dementia Patient Caregiver Mental Health with Mindfulness

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Possibly Improve Dementia Patient Caregiver Mental Health with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“One of the major difficulties that individuals with dementia and their family members encounter is that there is a need for new ways of communicating due to the memory loss and other changes in thinking and abilities. The practice of mindfulness places both participants in the present and focuses on positive features of the interaction, allowing for a type of connection that may substitute for the more complex ways of communicating in the past. It is a good way to address stress.” – Sandra Weintraub

 

Dementia is a progressive loss of mental function produced by degenerative diseases of the brain. Dementia patients require caregiving particularly in the later stages of the disease. Caregiving for dementia patients is a daunting intense experience that can go on for four to eight years with increasing responsibilities as the loved one deteriorates. This places tremendous psychological and financial stress on the caregiver. Hence, there is a need to both care for the dementia patients and also for the caregivers. Mindfulness practice for caregivers has been shown to help them cope with the physical and psychological demands of caregiving. In addition, mindfulness training has been found to help protect aging individuals from physical and cognitive declines.

 

There has accumulated a considerable body of research on the effectiveness of mindfulness to improve the psychological health of caregivers for dementia patients. In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness-based stress reduction for family carers of people with dementia.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6513415/), Liu and colleagues review, summarize, and perform a meta-analysis of the published research studies on the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training for the relief of the psychological distress produced by caring for a patient with dementia. The MBSR program generally consisted of 8 weekly group sessions involving meditation, yoga, body scan, and discussion. The patients were also encouraged to perform daily practice.

 

They found and included 5 controlled research studies containing a total of 201 caregivers. They report that the published research was generally of low quality with great concerns regarding the precision of measurements. Ignoring these concerns the studies that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training in comparison to active control conditions produced small reductions in caregivers levels of depression and anxiety.

 

In general, there are indications that the MBSR program produces small improvements in caregivers’ levels of anxiety and depression but the quality of the evidence is low. This is an important area as caregiving for dementia patients is needed but difficult and exacts a toll on the caregiver. So, relieving the caregivers suffering is very important. Hence, the review identified a great need for more better designed and executed research.

 

So, possibly improve dementia patient caregiver mental health with mindfulness.

 

“In regard to dementia care, mindfulness is not just a stress-reduction tool. It can also help with another critical aspect of dementia caregiving: the need to meet the person in the present moment, where they are most likely to reside and engage due to the dementia.” – Marguerite Manteau-Rao

 

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

 

Liu, Z., Sun, Y. Y., & Zhong, B. L. (2018). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for family carers of people with dementia. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 8(8), CD012791. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012791.pub2

 

Abstract

Background

Caring for people with dementia is highly challenging, and family carers are recognised as being at increased risk of physical and mental ill‐health. Most current interventions have limited success in reducing stress among carers of people with dementia. Mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) draws on a range of practices and may be a promising approach to helping carers of people with dementia.

Objectives

To assess the effectiveness of MBSR in reducing the stress of family carers of people with dementia.

Search methods

We searched ALOIS ‐ the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group’s Specialized Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (all years to Issue 9 of 12, 2017), MEDLINE (Ovid SP 1950 to September 2017), Embase (Ovid SP 1974 to Sepetmber 2017), Web of Science (ISI Web of Science 1945 to September 2017), PsycINFO (Ovid SP 1806 to September 2017), CINAHL (all dates to September 2017), LILACS (all dates to September 2017), World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), ClinicalTrials.gov, and Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI) up to 6 September 2017, with no language restrictions.

Selection criteria

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of MBSR for family carers of people with dementia.

Data collection and analysis

Two review authors independently screened references for inclusion criteria, extracted data, assessed the risk of bias of trials with the Cochrane ‘Risk of bias’ tool, and evaluated the quality of the evidence using the GRADE instrument. We contacted study authors for additional information, then conducted meta‐analyses, or reported results narratively in the case of insufficient data. We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane.

Main results

We included five RCTs involving 201 carers assessing the effectiveness of MBSR. Controls used in included studies varied in structure and content. Mindfulness‐based stress reduction programmes were compared with either active controls (those matched for time and attention with MBSR, i.e. education, social support, or progressive muscle relaxation), or inactive controls (those not matched for time and attention with MBSR, i.e. self help education or respite care). One trial used both active and inactive comparisons with MBSR. All studies were at high risk of bias in terms of blinding of outcome assessment. Most studies provided no information about selective reporting, incomplete outcome data, or allocation concealment.

  1. Compared with active controls, MBSR may reduce depressive symptoms of carers at the end of the intervention (3 trials, 135 participants; standardised mean difference (SMD) ‐0.63, 95% confidence interval (CI) ‐0.98 to ‐0.28; P<0.001; low‐quality evidence). We could not be certain of any effect on clinically significant depressive symptoms (very low‐quality evidence).

Mindfulness‐based stress reduction compared with active control may decrease carer anxiety at the end of the intervention (1 trial, 78 participants; mean difference (MD) ‐7.50, 95% CI ‐13.11 to ‐1.89; P<0.001; low‐quality evidence) and may slightly increase carer burden (3 trials, 135 participants; SMD 0.24, 95% CI ‐0.11 to 0.58; P=0.18; low‐quality evidence), although both results were imprecise, and we could not exclude little or no effect. Due to the very low quality of the evidence, we could not be sure of any effect on carers’ coping style, nor could we determine whether carers were more or less likely to drop out of treatment.

  1. Compared with inactive controls, MBSR showed no clear evidence of any effect on depressive symptoms (2 trials, 50 participants; MD ‐1.97, 95% CI ‐6.89 to 2.95; P=0.43; low‐quality evidence). We could not be certain of any effect on clinically significant depressive symptoms (very low‐quality evidence).

In this comparison, MBSR may also reduce carer anxiety at the end of the intervention (1 trial, 33 participants; MD ‐7.27, 95% CI ‐14.92 to 0.38; P=0.06; low‐quality evidence), although we were unable to exclude little or no effect. Due to the very low quality of the evidence, we could not be certain of any effects of MBSR on carer burden, the use of positive coping strategies, or dropout rates.

We found no studies that looked at quality of life of carers or care‐recipients, or institutionalisation.

Only one included study reported on adverse events, noting a single adverse event related to yoga practices at home

Authors’ conclusions

After accounting for non‐specific effects of the intervention (i.e. comparing it with an active control), low‐quality evidence suggests that MBSR may reduce carers’ depressive symptoms and anxiety, at least in the short term.

There are significant limitations to the evidence base on MBSR in this population. Our GRADE assessment of the evidence was low to very low quality. We downgraded the quality of the evidence primarily because of high risk of detection or performance bias, and imprecision.

In conclusion, MBSR has the potential to meet some important needs of the carer, but more high‐quality studies in this field are needed to confirm its efficacy.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6513415/

 

Improve Psychological Functioning with Mindfulness

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Improve Psychological Functioning with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

” the positive potential benefits of mindfulness practice are more attentional control, more effective emotional regulation, enhanced social relationships, reduced risk for physical ailments, enhanced immune system functioning, and better sleep quality.” – Jason Linder

 

Over the last several decades, research and anecdotal experiences have accumulated an impressive evidential case that the development of mindfulness has positive benefits for the individual’s mental, physical, and spiritual life. Mindfulness appears to be beneficial both for healthy people and for people suffering from a myriad of mental and physical illnesses. It appears to be beneficial across ages, from children to the elderly. And it appears to be beneficial across genders, personalities, race, and ethnicity. The breadth and depth of benefits is unprecedented. There is no other treatment or practice that has been shown to come anyway near the range of mindfulness’ positive benefits.

 

The clustering of these benefits may supply a clue as to how mindfulness training is working to improve mental health. This can be investigated by looking at the interrelationships between the effects of mindfulness training. In today’s Research News article “Does mindfulness change the mind? A novel psychonectome perspective based on Network Analysis.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6638953/), Roca and colleagues apply network analysis to investigate the interrelationships between a large number of effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training.

 

They recruited healthy adult participants in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. The MBSR program consisted of 32 hours of training separated into 8 weekly group sessions involving meditation, yoga, body scan, and discussion. The patients were also encouraged to perform daily practice. They were measured before and after MBSR training for meditation experience, and psychological and physical health problems, and 5 categories of mindfulness effects; 1) Mindfulness, including five facets, decentering, non-attachment, and bodily awareness, 2) Compassion, including compassion towards oneself and others and empathy, 3) Psychological well-being, including satisfaction with life, optimism, and overall well-being, 4) Psychological distress, including anxiety, stress, and depression, and 5) Emotional and cognitive control, including emotional regulation, rumination, thought suppression and attentional control.

 

They found that after MBSR training there were significant improvements in effectively all of the five categories. This is not new as much research has demonstrated that mindfulness training produces improvements in mindfulness, compassion, psychological well-being, psychological distress, and emotional and cognitive control.

 

These data were then subjected to network analysis. Prior to MBSR training the network analysis revealed clustering in three paths “mindfulness and self-compassion; clinical symptoms and rumination; and most of FFMQ mindfulness components with attentional control measure.” After MBSR training, however, there was a network reorganization such that the three paths disappeared and were replaced by two paths, psychopathological and adaptive.

 

Centrality measures in the network analysis indicated that both prior to and after MBSR training the most central, fundamental, and interrelated components were all facets of mindfulness and all well-being measures. In addition, Community Analysis revealed that mindfulness, compassion, and emotional regulation were the most highly associated components.

 

The results are complex but suggest that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training reorganizes the associations of psychological variables, simplifying them into two categories representing distress and adaptation. The training may help the individual see the interrelationships of the problems they have and the solutions employed. The results further suggest, not surprisingly, that mindfulness, compassion, and emotion regulation are central to the benefits of mindfulness training. Many other benefits flow from these.

 

So, improve psychological functioning with mindfulness.

 

“Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction . . . Participants experienced significant decreases in perceived stress, depression, anxiety, emotional dysregulation, and post-traumatic stress symptoms.” – Carolyn McManus

 

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

 

Roca, P., Diez, G. G., Castellanos, N., & Vazquez, C. (2019). Does mindfulness change the mind? A novel psychonectome perspective based on Network Analysis. PloS one, 14(7), e0219793. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0219793

 

Abstract

If the brain is a complex network of functionally specialized areas, it might be expected that mental representations could also behave in a similar way. We propose the concept of ‘psychonectome’ to formalize the idea of psychological constructs forming a dynamic network of mutually dependent elements. As a proof-of-concept of the psychonectome, networks analysis (NA) was used to explore structural changes in the network of constructs resulting from a psychological intervention. NA was applied to explore the effects of an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program in healthy participants (N = 182). Psychological functioning was measured by questionnaires assessing five key domains related to MBSR: mindfulness, compassion, psychological well-being, psychological distress and emotional-cognitive control. A total of 25 variables, covering the five constructs, were considered as nodes in the NA. Participants significantly improved in most of the psychological questionnaires. More interesting from a network perspective, there were also significant changes in the topological relationships among the elements. Expected influence and strength centrality indexes revealed that mindfulness and well-being measures were the most central nodes in the networks. The nodes with highest topological change after the MBSR were attentional control, compassion measures, depression and thought suppression. Also, cognitive appraisal, an adaptive emotion regulation strategy, was associated to rumination before the MBSR program but became related to mindfulness and well-being measures after the program. Community analysis revealed a strong topological association between mindfulness, compassion, and emotional regulation, which supports the key role of compassion in mindfulness training. These results highlight the importance of exploring psychological changes from a network perspective and support the conceptual advantage of considering the interconnectedness of psychological constructs in terms of a ‘psychonectome’ as it may reveal ways of functioning that cannot be analyzed through conventional analytic methods.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6638953/

 

Strengthen Character with Mindfulness

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Strengthen Character with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness opens the door to who we are, and character strengths are what is behind that door.” – Ryan Niemiec

 

Personality characteristics are thought to be relatively permanent traits that form an individual’s distinctive character. Engaging in mindfulness training has been shown to have a large number of beneficial effects on the psychological, emotional, and physical health of the individual and is helpful in the treatment of mental and physical illness. It also appears to be associated with healthy personality characteristics. Character strengths are group of positive personality characteristics that are highly valued such as “creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, love of learning, perspective, bravery, perseverance, zest, love, social intelligence, forgiveness, self-regulation, appreciation of beauty, gratitude, hope, and spirituality.” This suggests that mindfulness may be associated with and may improve these character strengths.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Mutual Support Model of Mindfulness and Character Strengths.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6647542/),  Pang and Ruch recruited participants online and had them complete an online questionnaire measuring mindfulness and 24 character strengths. They found that the higher the mindfulness scores the higher the character strengths. They then separated the participants in those who meditated and those who didn’t. They found that the meditators had significantly higher levels of mindfulness, and the character strengths of spirituality, gratitude, appreciation of beauty, curiosity, love of learning, curiosity, hope, bravery, leadership, zest, perspective, self-regulation, and humor.

 

In a second study they recruited adults and randomly assignee them to a wait-list control condition or to receive Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. The MBSR program consists of 8 weekly 2-hour group sessions involving meditation, yoga, body scan, and discussion. The participants are also encouraged to perform daily practice. They were measured before and after training and 1, 3, and 6 months later for mindfulness and the 24 character strengths. They found that in comparison to baseline and the wait-list controls, after training and the follow-up measures the participants who received MBSR training had significantly higher levels of mindfulness, love, appreciation of beauty, gratitude, spirituality, zest, and bravery.

 

The 2 studies suggest that mindfulness is associated with character strengths and increasing mindfulness with MBSR training produces enduring increases in the levels of these strengths. The character strengths that were most associated with mindfulness, hope, bravery, curiosity, social intelligence, zest, love, perspective, and gratitude, have been shown to be associated with greater life satisfaction. This underscores the contribution of mindfulness to psychological health and happiness.

 

So, strengthen character with mindfulness.

 

“The combination of practicing mindfulness with a focus on character strengths helps us to open the door to avenues to self growth. With improved awareness of our character strengths we can more easily overcome common obstacles that emerge when developing mindfulness and serve to “supercharge” both mindful living and formal mindfulness meditation.” – Susan Kuz

 

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

 

Pang, D., & Ruch, W. (2019). The Mutual Support Model of Mindfulness and Character Strengths. Mindfulness, 10(8), 1545–1559. doi:10.1007/s12671-019-01103-z

 

Abstract

Objectives

Numerous studies have confirmed robust relationships between general well-being and mindfulness or character strengths, respectively, but few have examined associations between mindfulness and character strengths. Two studies were carried out to explore these relationships comprehensively in the framework of the Values in Action (VIA) classification of character strengths.

Methods

In study 1, participants (N = 1335) completed validated assessments of mindfulness and character strengths, and the relationship between the two was investigated in a broad online sample. In study 2, the effect of a mindfulness training on specific character strengths was investigated using a randomized-control design (N = 42).

Results

The results of study 1 confirmed positive relationships between mindfulness and character strengths and further identified a list of character strengths that might overlap with mindfulness—i.e., creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, love of learning, perspective, bravery, perseverance, zest, love, social intelligence, forgiveness, self-regulation, appreciation of beauty, gratitude, hope, and spirituality. The findings of study 2 provided further support for the hypothesis that mindfulness training could help cultivate certain character strengths. Compared with participants in the waitlist control condition, those who attended an 8-week mindfulness-based training program showed significant increases in the strengths of love, appreciation of beauty, gratitude, and spirituality, and a trend toward significant increases in the strengths of zest and bravery.

Conclusions

The results provide initial evidence for a mutual support model of mindfulness and character strengths.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6647542/

 

Reduce Stress and Improve the Psychological Health of Teachers with Mindfulness

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Reduce Stress and Improve the Psychological Health of Teachers with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness training for teachers can help them cope better with stress on the job while also making the classroom environment more productive for learning.” – Jill Suttie

 

Stress is epidemic in the western workplace with almost two thirds of workers reporting high levels of stress at work. This often produces burnout; fatigue, cynicism, emotional exhaustion, and professional inefficacy. Teachers experience burnout at high rates. Roughly a half a million teachers out of a workforce of three million, leave the profession each year and the rate is almost double in poor schools compared to affluent schools. Indeed, nearly half of new teachers leave in their first five years.

 

Burnout frequently results from emotional exhaustion. This exhaustion not only affects the teachers personally, but also the students, as it produces a loss of enthusiasm, empathy, and compassion. Regardless of the reasons for burnout or its immediate presenting consequences, it is a threat to schools and their students. In fact, it is a threat to the entire educational systems as it contributes to the shortage of teachers. Hence, methods of reducing stress and improving teacher psychological health needs to be studied.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mixed-methods evaluation comparing the impact of two different mindfulness approaches on stress, anxiety and depression in school teachers.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6615820/), Todd and colleagues recruited primary and secondary school teachers who were attending mindfulness courses of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or .b Foundations. The MBSR program consists of 8 weekly 2-hour group sessions involving meditation, yoga, body scan, and discussion. The teachers are also encouraged to perform daily practice. The .b Foundations program consists of 8 weekly 1.5-hour group sessions involving mindfulness training in a classroom setting. The teachers are similarly encouraged to perform daily practice. They were measured before and after training for anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and completed semi-structured interviews.

 

They found that teachers who participated in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program had significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and perceived stress, while the teachers who participated in the .b Foundations program had significant reductions in anxiety and perceived stress, but not depression. The qualitative interviews revealed that both programs were found to be acceptable and a good experience and having profound impacts with no significant differences between the programs.

 

The weaknesses of this study were that there wasn’t a no-treatment or active control group and participants were not randomly assigned to conditions. As such the benefits of the training could have been due to subject expectancy effects, Hawthorne effects, experimenter bias, or just the effects of attending a social group for 8 weeks. But a large number of previous better controlled studies have shown that mindfulness training improves anxiety, depression, and perceived stress. So, it is likely that the reductions seen in the present study were due to the mindfulness training.

 

So, reduce stress and improve the psychological health of teachers with mindfulness.

 

“When administrators call you, you never know what they want. It could be a parent is upset with you, or you forgot something. I used to rush to meetings, grab a seat, and jump in. Now, I practice mindful walking. I think about where I’m going. When I arrive, I’m not revved up. I’m able to receive criticism or conversation without being triggered.” – Nicole Willheimer

 

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

 

Todd, C., Cooksey, R., Davies, H., McRobbie, C., & Brophy, S. (2019). Mixed-methods evaluation comparing the impact of two different mindfulness approaches on stress, anxiety and depression in school teachers. BMJ open, 9(7), e025686. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025686

 

Strengths and limitations of this study

  • This study is unique as there are currently no published studies comparing the two mindfulness courses in terms of acceptability, experience and effects on stress, anxiety and depression, despite current roll-out.
  • Strengths lie in the mixed-methods approach used to explore differences between .b and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.
  • Limitations lie in the numbers lost to follow-up, with future research needed to explore this further.

Abstract

Objectives

This study compared the impact of two different 8-week mindfulness based courses (.b Foundations and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)), delivered to school teachers, on quantitative (stress, anxiety and depression) and qualitative (experience, acceptability and implementation) outcomes.

Design

A mixed-methods design was employed. Matched-paired t-tests were used to examine change from baseline, with imputation conducted to account for those lost to follow-up. Qualitative methods involved 1:1 semistructured interviews (n=10). Thematic analysis was used to explore differences in experience between courses.

Setting

Courses took place in UK primary schools or nearby leisure centres, 1:1 interviews took place via telephone.

Participants

44/69 teachers from schools in the UK were recruited from their attendance at mindfulness courses (.b and MBSR).

Interventions

Participants attended either an MBSR (experiential style learning, 2 hours per week) or .b Foundations (more classroom focused learning, 1.5 hours per week) 8-week mindfulness course.

Outcome measures

Stress (Perceived Stress Scale), anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) were evaluated in both groups at baseline (n=44), end of intervention (n=32) and 3-month follow-up (n=19).

Results

Both courses were associated with significant reductions in stress (.b 6.38; 95% CI 1.74 to 11.02; MBSR 9.69; 95% CI 4.9 to 14.5) and anxiety (.b 3.36; 95% CI 1.69 to 5.0; MBSR 4.06; 95% CI 2.6 to 5.5). MBSR was associated with improved depression outcomes (4.3; 95% CI 2.5 to 6.11). No differences were found in terms of experience and acceptability. Four main themes were identified including preconceptions, factors influencing delivery, perceived impact and training desires/practical application.

Conclusion

.b Foundations appears as beneficial as MBSR in anxiety and stress reduction but MBSR may be more appropriate for depression. Consideration over implementation factors may largely improve the acceptability of mindfulness courses for teachers. Further research with larger samples is needed.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6615820/

 

Mindfulness Therapies May Be Cost-Effective for the Treatment of Mental Illness

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Mindfulness Therapies May Be Cost-Effective for the Treatment of Mental Illness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“[Mindfulness] is a cost-saving alternative to treatment as usual over the trial duration from both a healthcare and a societal perspective for patients with a diagnosis of depression, anxiety or stress and adjustment disorders.” – Sanjib Saha

 

There has developed a large volume of research findings supporting the effectiveness of mindfulness training for the treatment of mental illnesses. Effectiveness has been documented for a wide variety of psychological disorders including anxiety, depression, stress responses, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, addictions, and major mental illnesses. But there is little understanding of the cost-effectiveness of these mindfulness trainings. So, it is important take a serious look at the costs of implementing these therapies in comparison to the healthcare savings produced and/or the costs of other treatments of similar effectiveness.

 

In today’s Research News article “Are acceptance and mindfulness-based interventions ‘value for money’? Evidence from a systematic literature review.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6588093/), Duarte and colleagues review and summarize the published studies of the cost-effectiveness of acceptance and mindfulness-based interventions. The following acceptance and mindfulness-based interventions were identified:  Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) , Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT),  Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), mindfulness‐based relapse prevention (MBRP), and other mindfulness meditation and mindfulness training. They identified 10 published studies.

 

They reported that the published studies found mixed results depending on the type of economic analysis and the comparator condition. In general, they report that acceptance and mindfulness-based interventions are mildly cost-effective for the treatment of depression, emotional unstable personality disorder, and general mental health conditions. It is clear, however, that this issue needs to be further studied.

 

In an age of high healthcare costs, it is important to perform economic analyses of treatments. Before widespread implementation of a treatment it is important to know that the costs of implementing the treatments are less than the healthcare savings produced. Various acceptance and mindfulness-based interventions can be expensive to implement and the savings produced hard to evaluate. So, the analysis has produced ambiguous results. One way to improve the cost-effectiveness of acceptance and mindfulness-based interventions is to implement the therapies online or with smartphone technologies. This markedly reduces the costs while maintaining effectiveness.

 

So, mindfulness therapies may be cost-effective for the treatment of mental illness.

 

“MBSR reduced costs to society by $724 per year in comparison to usual care, and reduced healthcare costs to payers by $982; it also increased participants’ quality-adjusted life years.” – Patricia Herman

 

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

 

Duarte, R., Lloyd, A., Kotas, E., Andronis, L., & White, R. (2019). Are acceptance and mindfulness-based interventions ‘value for money’? Evidence from a systematic literature review. The British journal of clinical psychology, 58(2), 187–210. doi:10.1111/bjc.12208

 

Abstract

Objectives

Acceptance and mindfulness‐based interventions (A/MBIs) are recommended for people with mental health conditions. Although there is a growing evidence base supporting the effectiveness of different A/MBIs for mental health conditions, the economic case for these interventions has not been fully explored. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and appraise all available economic evidence of A/MBIs for the management of mental health conditions.

Methods

Eight electronic bibliographic databases (MEDLINE, MEDLINE In‐Process & Other Non‐Indexed Citations, EMBASE, Web of Science, NHS Economic Evaluation Database (EED), Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), Health Technology Assessment (HTA) database, and EconLit) were searched for relevant economic evaluations published from each database’s inception date until November 2017. Study selection, quality assessment, and data extraction were carried out according to published guidelines.

Results

Ten relevant economic evaluations presented in 11 papers were identified. Seven of the included studies were full economic evaluations (i.e., costs and effects assessed), and three studies were partial economic evaluations (i.e., only costs were considered in the analysis). The A/MBIs that had been subjected to economic evaluation were acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR). In terms of clinical presentations, the evaluation of cost‐effectiveness of A/MBIs has been more focused on depression and emotional unstable personality disorder with three and four economic evaluations, respectively. Three out of seven full economic evaluations observed that A/MBIs were cost‐effective for the management of mental health conditions. Nevertheless, the heterogeneity of included populations, interventions, and economic evaluation study types limits the extent to which firm conclusions can currently be made.

Conclusion

This first substantive review of economic evaluations of A/MBIs indicates that more research is needed before firm conclusions can be reached on the cost‐effectiveness of A/MBIs for mental health conditions.

Practitioner points

The findings of the review provide information that may be relevant to mental health service commissioners and decision‐makers as all economic evidence available on acceptance and mindfulness‐based interventions for mental health conditions is summarized.

Evidence relating to the cost‐effectiveness and cost‐saving potential of acceptance and mindfulness‐based interventions is focused mainly on depression and emotional unstable personality disorder to date.

Heterogeneity in the specific forms of acceptance and mindfulness‐based interventions may limit generalizability of the findings.

The number of health economic evaluations relating to acceptance and mindfulness‐based interventions remains relatively small. Further research in this area is required.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6588093/

 

Improve Quality of Life in Women with Ovarian Removal with Mindfulness

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Improve Quality of Life in Women with Ovarian Removal with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“midlife women with higher mindfulness scores experienced fewer menopausal symptoms. These findings suggest that mindfulness may be a promising tool to help women reduce menopausal symptoms and overall stress.” – Richa Sood

 

Women who carry genetic markers, BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, have a very high risk of developing ovarian cancer. Often as a preventative measure, women opt to have their ovaries and fallopian tubes surgically removed (salpingo-oophorectomy). A consequence of this procedure is to produce the onset of menopausal symptoms. These include hot flashes, (n + Add New Category ight) sweats, vaginal dryness, loss of sexual desire, and pain during intercourse. Hormone treatments may reduce the symptom intensity but do not eliminate them.

 

Hence, there is a need to find alternative treatment to help relieve these troubling symptoms following ovary removal. Mindfulness training has been shown to help reduce the symptoms of natural meonpause. But it is not known whether mindfulness training might also help alleviate these symptoms in women after surgical removal of the ovaries.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness-based stress reduction for menopausal symptoms after risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (PURSUE study): a randomised controlled trial.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6587763/), van Driel and colleagues recruited women who carried the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation and had undergone surgical removal of their ovaries and fallopian tubes before the age of 52 years. They continued care as usual and were randomly assigned to receive an 8-week program of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or no additional treatment. The MBSR program met for 2.5 hours once a week along with 30-45 minutes of daily home practice and consisted of discussion, meditation, yoga, and body scan practices. The women were measured before and after MBSR and 3 and 9 months later for menopausal-specific quality of life, sexual function, and sexual distress.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the usual care control group, the group that received MBSR training had significantly improved menopausal-specific quality of life, including improved vasomotor (i.e. burden caused by hot flushes, night sweats, and sweating in general) and physical symptoms (e.g. burden caused by stamina reduction, aches, and urination frequency) quality of life. These improvements were found immediately after MBSR training and 9 months later. No significant improvements were found for sexual function or distress.

In women

The study results suggest that MBSR training is a safe and effective treatment to produce long-term improvements in the menopausal quality of life in women who carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation and had undergone surgical removal of their ovaries and fallopian tubes. MBSR consists of a package of practices. It will remain for future research to determine which of these practices or which combination of practices are necessary and sufficient to produce the benefits.

 

So, improve quality of life in women with ovarian removal with mindfulness.

 

“Mindfulness cannot entirely remove the symptoms of menopause, but it can help you deal with them in a calmer and more compassionate way – and self compassion boosts mental health. Learning these simple techniques to focus our awareness, relax the body, and ride out the storm, (whether the storm is physical or emotional) can pay great dividends’” – Karita Cullen

 

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

 

van Driel, C., de Bock, G. H., Schroevers, M. J., & Mourits, M. J. (2019). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for menopausal symptoms after risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (PURSUE study): a randomised controlled trial. BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology, 126(3), 402–411. doi:10.1111/1471-0528.15471

 

Abstract

Objective

To assess the short‐ and long‐term effects of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) on the resulting quality of life, sexual functioning, and sexual distress after risk‐reducing salpingo‐oophorectomy (RRSO).

Design

Randomised controlled trial.

Setting

A specialised family cancer clinic of the university medical center Groningen.

Population

Sixty‐six women carriers of the BRCA1/2 mutation who developed at least two moderate‐to‐severe menopausal symptoms after RRSO.

Methods

Women were randomised to an 8‐week MBSR training programme or to care as usual (CAU).

Main outcome measures

Change in the Menopause‐Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL), the Female Sexual Function Index, and the Female Sexual Distress Scale, administered from baseline at 3, 6, and 12 months. Linear mixed modelling was applied to compare the effect of MBSR with CAU over time.

Results

At 3 and 12 months, there were statistically significant improvements in the MENQOL for the MBSR group compared with the CAU group (both P = 0.04). At 3 months, the mean MENQOL scores were 3.5 (95% confidence interval, 95% CI 3.0–3.9) and 3.8 (95% CI 3.3–4.2) for the MBSR and CAU groups, respectively; at 12 months, the corresponding values were 3.6 (95% CI 3.1–4.0) and 3.9 (95% CI 3.5–4.4). No significant differences were found between the MBSR and CAU groups in the other scores.

Conclusion

Mindfulness‐based stress reduction was effective at improving quality of life in the short‐ and long‐term for patients with menopausal symptoms after RRSO; however, it was not associated with an improvement in sexual functioning or distress.

Tweetable abstract

Mindfulness improves menopause‐related quality of life in women after risk‐reducing salpingo‐oophorectomy.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6587763/

Improve Weight-Related Eating Behaviors with a Mindfulness App

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Improve Weight-Related Eating Behaviors with a Mindfulness App

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“a slower, more thoughtful way of eating could help with weight problems and maybe steer some people away from processed food and unhealthy choices.” – Harvard Health

 

Eating is produced by two categories of signals. Homeostatic signals emerge from the body’s need for nutrients, is associated with feelings of hunger, and usually work to balance intake with expenditure. Non-homeostatic eating, on the other hand, is not tied to nutrient needs or hunger but rather to the environment and or to the pleasurable and rewarding qualities of food. These cues can be powerful signals to eat even when there is no physical need for food.

 

Mindful eating involves paying attention to eating while it is occurring, including attention to the sight, smell, flavors, and textures of food, to the process of chewing and may help reduce intake by affecting the individual’s response to non-homeostatic cues for eating. Indeed, high levels of mindfulness are associated with lower levels of obesity. Hence, mindful eating may counter non-homeostatic eating.

 

Mindfulness training programs over the internet and with smartphone apps have 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. These online and smartphone app trainings have been shown to be effective. It is not known if a mindful eating smartphone app may be effective in reducing body weight and weight-related eating behaviors.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Mindfulness App Trial for Weight, Weight-Related Behaviors, and Stress in University Students: Randomized Controlled Trial.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6479283/), Lyzwinski and colleagues recruited college students and randomly assigned them to receive apps for their smartphones for either mindfulness or a self-monitoring diet and exercise diary for an 11 week period. The mindfulness app consisted of body scan, diaphragmatic breathing, observing the breath, loving kindness meditation, concentration meditation, choiceless awareness mindfulness meditation, and Hatha yoga all adapted from the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. The students were measured before and after the 11-week training for body size, physical activity, eating behavior, mindful eating, mindfulness, perceived stress, and participant retention and adherence.

 

They found in comparison to baseline and to the diet and exercise diary group, the mindfulness group had significant increases in mindfulness and mindful eating, and significant decreases in emotional eating, uncontrolled eating, and perceived stress levels. The diet and exercise diary group had significantly higher levels of exercise. There were no significant changes in body size for either group. 80% of the participants completed the program and of the mindfulness app group only 14% reported completing all modules, while 61% reported sporadic use, and 23% reported using it very seldom.

 

The results are encouraging and suggest that the mindfulness smartphone app is a feasible and acceptable method of increasing mindfulness and improving weight-related eating behaviors. Although retention is good, adherence was not. The students recruited, though, were not particularly motivated to lose weight or practice mindfulness. Perhaps, a more motivated group of participants would have resulted in better adherence. There also may be a need to modify the app to make participation more interesting and fun.

 

The fact there no changes in weight were observed was no surprising as the 11-week period is short to detect significant changes in weight. A long-term study is needed here. In addition, maintaining a diet and exercise diary has been shown to reduce food intake and increase exercise. A comparison of the mindfulness app to a group participating in nutrition education ap might be better able to demonstrate changes in body size. Regardless, the results are encouraging and suggest that an app, training students in mindfulness, may be a convenient and inexpensive means to develop better eating habits.

 

So, improve weight-related eating behaviors with a mindfulness App.

 

“Increased mindful eating has been shown to help participants gain awareness of their bodies, be more in tune to hunger and satiety, recognize external cues to eat, gain self compassion, decrease food cravings, decrease problematic eating, and decrease reward-driven eating.” – Carolyn Dunn

 

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

 

Lyzwinski, L. N., Caffery, L., Bambling, M., & Edirippulige, S. (2019). The Mindfulness App Trial for Weight, Weight-Related Behaviors, and Stress in University Students: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7(4), e12210. doi:10.2196/12210

 

Abstract

Background

University students are at risk of weight gain during their studies. Key factors related to weight gain in this population include unhealthy weight-related behaviors because of stress. Mindfulness holds promise for weight management. However, there has not been any previous trial that has explored the effectiveness of a student-tailored mindfulness app for stress, weight-related behaviors, and weight. There is limited evidence that current mindfulness apps use evidence-based mindfulness techniques. A novel app was developed that combined evidence-based, mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindful eating (ME) techniques that were tailored to university students, with student-relevant themes for targeting weight behaviors, weight, and stress.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness, acceptability, and feasibility of a student-tailored mindfulness app for weight, weight-related behaviors, and stress. Testing this app in a rigorous randomized controlled trial (RCT) for these outcomes is a novelty and contribution to this emerging field.

Methods

A 2-arm RCT of an 11-week duration was undertaken at the University of Queensland. Students were either randomized to the mindfulness app (n=45) or to a behavioral self-monitoring electronic diary (e-diary; n=45) for diet and exercise. Analysis of covariance was used to compare differences in weight, stress, mindfulness, ME, physical activity, and eating behaviors between both groups.

Results

Neither the mindfulness app group nor the e-diary group lost weight and there were no differences between the groups at follow-up. The mindfulness app group had significantly lower stress levels (P=.02) (adherers only), lower emotional eating (P=.02), and uncontrolled eating (P=.02) as well as higher mindfulness (P≤.001) and ME levels overall (P≤.001). The e-diary group had higher metabolic equivalents of moderate activity levels (P≤.01). However, the effect sizes were small. Regular adherence to mindfulness exercises in the app was low in the group. The majority of students (94%) liked the app and found it to be acceptable. Compared with other exercises, the most helpful reported meditation was the short breathing exercise observing the breath (39.4% [13/33] preferred it).

This was the first RCT that tested a mindfulness app for weight and weight-related behaviors in students. The modest level of user adherence likely contributes to the lack of effect on weight loss. However, there was a small, albeit promising, effect on weight-related eating behavior and stress.

Conclusions

A mindfulness app demonstrated effectiveness for stress, eating behaviors, mindfulness, and ME, but the effect sizes were small. Future studies should be conducted over longer periods of time and with greater participant compliance.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6479283/

 

Mindfulness Training and Cognitive Therapy Improves Social Anxiety Disorder

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Mindfulness Training and Cognitive Therapy Improves Social Anxiety Disorder

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Using mindfulness, we can begin to notice what happens in the body when anxiety is present and develop strategies to empower clients to “signal safety” to their nervous system. Over time, clients feel empowered to slow down their response to triggers, manage their body’s fear response (fight-or-flight) and increase their ability to tolerate discomfort.” – Jeena Chi

 

It is a common human phenomenon that being in a social situation can be stressful and anxiety producing. Most people can deal with the anxiety and can become quite comfortable. But many do not cope well and the anxiety is overwhelming, causing the individual to withdraw. Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is characterized by a persistent, intense, and chronic fear of being watched and judged by others and feeling embarrassed or humiliated by their actions. This fear may be so severe that it interferes with work, school, and other activities and may negatively affect the person’s ability to form relationships.

 

Anxiety disorders have generally been treated with drugs. But there are considerable side effects and these drugs are often abused. There are a number of psychological therapies for anxiety. But, about 45% of the patients treated do not respond to the therapy. So, there is a need to develop alternative treatments. Recently, it has been found that mindfulness training can be effective for anxiety disorders including Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and also Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) have been shown to be effective in treating Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD).

 

In today’s Research News article “Emotional clarity and attention to emotions in cognitive behavioral group therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction for social anxiety disorder.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5879018/), Butler and colleagues recruited patients diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and a healthy control group and randomly assigned them to receive 12 weekly 2.5 hour sessions of either Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or to a wait-list control condition. They were measured before and after treatment and 12 months later for emotional clarity, attention to emotions, and social anxiety.

 

They found that at baseline the patients with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) had significantly greater social anxiety and lower emotional clarity than the healthy controls. After treatment the patients who had received either MBSR or CBGT had significantly higher levels of emotional clarity than the wait-list controls. The effect remained 12 months later. They also found that the greater the changes in emotional clarity observed after treatment and at the 12-month follow-up, the greater the improvement in Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). There were no significant effects on attention to emotions.

 

Emotional clarity is an aspect of emotional regulation which involves the ability to identify the emotion that is being experienced. The results suggest that this ability is enhanced by both Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and that this improvement is related to the treatments ability to improve the symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). This is in line with the repeated finding that mindfulness training improves emotion regulation. The results further refine this understanding by identifying emotional clarity and not attention to emotions as the component of emotional regulation that’s important for improvements in SAD. So, being more sensitive to what is the identity of the emotion being experienced is helpful in dealing with social anxiety, but paying more attention to emotions is not. This further suggests that treatment focusing on emotional clarity may be even more effective in treating SAD.

 

So, improve social anxiety disorder with mindfulness training or cognitive therapy.

 

“The power of a mindfulness practice, however, may come in the realization that one can live a meaningful life even with social anxiety. Schjerning, who participated in Fleming and Kocovski’s group, says that he still feels nervous in social situations but now feels compassion — not judgment — for himself, and sees that “I can be more the person I want to be.” – Jason Drwal

 

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

 

Butler, R. M., Boden, M. T., Olino, T. M., Morrison, A. S., Goldin, P. R., Gross, J. J., & Heimberg, R. G. (2018). Emotional clarity and attention to emotions in cognitive behavioral group therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction for social anxiety disorder. Journal of anxiety disorders, 55, 31–38. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2018.03.003

 

Highlights

We examined emotional clarity (EC) and attention to emotion in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD).

  • Patients demonstrated lower levels of EC than healthy controls.
  • Cognitive-behavioral group therapy increased EC more than a waitlist.
  • Mindfulness-based stress reduction did not increase EC more than a waitlist.
  • Changes in emotional clarity predicted changes in social anxiety.
  • Analyses involving attention to emotions were not significant.

Abstract

We examined (1) differences between controls and patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) in emotional clarity and attention to emotions; (2) changes in emotional clarity and attention to emotions associated with cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBGT), mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), or a waitlist (WL) condition; and (3) whether emotional clarity and attention to emotions moderated changes in social anxiety across treatment. Participants were healthy controls (n = 37) and patients with SAD (n=108) who were assigned to CBGT, MBSR, or WL in a randomized controlled trial. At pretreatment, posttreatment, and 12-month follow-up, patients with SAD completed measures of social anxiety, emotional clarity, and attention to emotions. Controls completed measures at baseline only. At pretreatment, patients with SAD had lower levels of emotional clarity than controls. Emotional clarity increased significantly among patients receiving CBGT, and changes were maintained at 12-month follow-up. Emotional clarity at posttreatment did not differ between CBGT and MBSR or between MBSR and WL. Changes in emotional clarity predicted changes in social anxiety, but emotional clarity did not moderate treatment outcome. Analyses of attention to emotions were not significant. Implications for the role of emotional clarity in the treatment of SAD are discussed.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5879018/

 

Improve Mental Well-Being with Mindfulness

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Improve Mental Well-Being with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“engaging in mindfulness meditation cultivates our ability to both focus and broaden our attention, which is a practical way to elicit psychological well-being.” Jennifer Wolkin

 

Over the last several decades, research and anecdotal experiences have accumulated an impressive evidential case that the development of mindfulness has positive benefits for the individual’s mental, physical, and spiritual life. Mindfulness appears to be beneficial both for healthy people and for people suffering from a myriad of mental and physical illnesses. It appears to be beneficial across ages, from children to the elderly. And it appears to be beneficial across genders, personalities, race, and ethnicity. The breadth and depth of benefits is unprecedented. There is no other treatment or practice that has been shown to come anyway near the range of mindfulness’ positive benefits.

 

There is a vast array of techniques for the development of mindfulness. They include a variety of forms of meditation, yoga, mindful movements, contemplative prayer, and combinations of practices. Some are recommended to be practiced for years while others are employed for only a few weeks. Regardless of the technique, they all appear to develop and increase mindfulness. One particularly effective mindfulness training program is Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). The MBSR program consists of 8 weekly group sessions involving meditation, yoga, body scan, and discussion. The patients are also encouraged to perform daily practice. It is unclear, however, exactly how the state of mindfulness of the participants at the beginning of training affect the effects of the MBSR program.

 

In today’s Research News article “The many facets of mindfulness and the prediction of change following mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5815955/), Gawrysiak and colleagues recruited participants in an 8-week, one 2.5-hour session per week of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. They were measured before and after treatments for perceived stress, positive and negative emotions, mindfulness, and decentering.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline, after the MBSR program there were large significant improvements in all measures including increases in mindfulness, positive emotions, and decentering and decreases in negative emotions, and perceived stress. They then examined the relationship of the levels of mindfulness facets at baseline and the changes in emotions and stress produced by the MBSR program. They found that in general, participants with high levels of mindfulness facets of awareness, acceptance, and decentering had significantly greater increases in positive emotions and decreases in negative emotions. On the other hand, participants with low levels of acceptance, and decentering had significantly greater decreases in stress, negative emotions.

 

These results clearly demonstrate that participating in an MBSR program produces improved mindfulness, emotional health, and stress reduction. These are in line with a number of previous findings that mindfulness training improves emotions and perceived stress levels. But, the results regarding baseline mindfulness facets on emotions and stress are complex and a bit counterintuitive. They suggest that participants who are already high in awareness, acceptance, and decentering benefited the most in regards to their emotions from the MBSR program. While, those low in acceptance, and decentering benefited the most in regards to their perceived stress levels. More research is needed to better understand these complex relationships.

 

So, improve mental well-being with mindfulness.

 

“The practice of mindfulness is an effective means of enhancing and maintaining optimal mental health and overall well-being, and can be implemented in every aspect of daily living.” – Rezvan Ameli

 

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

 

Gawrysiak, M. J., Grassetti, S. N., Greeson, J. M., Shorey, R. C., Pohlig, R., & Baime, M. J. (2017). The many facets of mindfulness and the prediction of change following mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Journal of clinical psychology, 74(4), 523–535. doi:10.1002/jclp.22521

 

Abstract

Objectives

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) promotes numerous psychological benefits, but few studies have identified for whom MBSR is most effective. The current study tested the hypothesis that lower baseline mindfulness invites more “room to grow” and, thus, predicts greater improvement during MBSR.

Design

We examined three facets of mindfulness (awareness, acceptance, decentering), among 131 MBSR participants prior to enrollment, to test the hypothesis that lower baseline mindfulness predicts greater improvements in perceived stress, positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) following MBSR.

Results

Lower acceptance and decentering predicted greater decreases in perceived stress. Higher awareness, acceptance, and decentering predicted greater increases in PA. Higher awareness predicted greater reductions in NA. Lower decentering predicted greater reductions in NA.

Conclusions

Findings partly supported the hypothesis that lower baseline mindfulness predicts greater improvement following MBSR and emphasize the importance of assessing multiple mindfulness facets given their unique, contrasting relations to outcomes.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5815955/

 

Improve the Psychological State of Heart Disease Patients with Mindfulness

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Improve the Psychological State of Heart Disease Patients with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Not only can meditation improve how your heart functions, but a regular practice can enhance your outlook on life and motivate you to maintain many heart-healthy behaviors, like following a proper diet, getting adequate sleep, and keeping up regular exercise,” – John Denninger

 

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer, claiming more lives than all forms of cancer combined. “Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. About 610,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year–that’s 1 in every 4 deaths. Every year about 735,000 Americans have a heart attack.” (Centers for Disease Control). A myriad of treatments has been developed for heart disease including a variety of surgical procedures and medications. In addition, lifestyle changes have proved to be effective including quitting smoking, weight reduction, improved diet, physical activity, and reducing stresses. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, 60% of heart failure patients decline participation, making these patients at high risk for another attack.

 

Safe and effective alternative treatments for cardiovascular disease are contemplative practices, such as meditation, tai chi, and yoga, have also been shown to be helpful for heart health. These practices have also been shown to reduce the physiological and psychological responses to stress and to be helpful for producing the kinds of lifestyle changes needed to prevent heart disease such as smoking cessation, and weight reduction. They have also been shown to be effective in maintaining cardiovascular health and the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Hence it is reasonable to continue studying the effects of mindfulness training on patients with cardiovascular disease.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction program on quality of life in cardiovascular disease patients.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6465573/), Jalali and colleagues recruited patients with cardiovascular disease and randomly assigned them either to a wait-list control or to receive and 8-week program of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)  that includes body scan and focused meditations, yoga practice, and discussion. Training occurred once a week for 2.5 hours and included daily home practice. They were measured before and after training and 3 months later for self-efficacy and their health.

 

They found that compared to baseline and the wait-list control group, the group that received the program of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) had significantly increased self-efficacy and quality of life that persisted 3 months after treatment. Hence. MBSR training appears to be safe, effective, and lasting treatment that is very helpful for patients with cardiovascular disease, improving self-efficacy and quality of life.

 

The improved self-efficacy is very important. It suggests that the patients feel better able to control their health. It suggests that they are more willing to take control of their lives to improve their health. It is well known that changes in lifestyle are very important for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. So, improved self-efficacy would predict that the patients would be more likely to adopt and maintain these lifestyle changes. This would inevitably lead to an improved health and quality of life.

 

So, improve the psychological state of heart disease patients with mindfulness.

 

“Given the proven role of stress in heart attacks and coronary artery disease, effective meditation would be appropriate for almost all patients with coronary artery disease.” – Joon Sup Lee

 

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

 

Jalali, D., Abdolazimi, M., Alaei, Z., & Solati, K. (2019). Effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction program on quality of life in cardiovascular disease patients. International journal of cardiology. Heart & vasculature, 23, 100356. doi:10.1016/j.ijcha.2019.100356

 

Abstract

Introduction

Cardiovascular disease is one of the most fatal physical illnesses that impose many financial losses on societies every year.

Aim

This study was to investigate the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on self-efficacy and quality of life in patients with cardiovascular disease.

Material and methods

The samples of this clinical trial were 60 patients who were selected by convenience sampling from patients were diagnosed, clinically interviewed by a cardiologist and randomized to two groups; experimental and control, and then completed Sherer et al. General Self-Efficacy Scale and 36-item Short Form Survey three times; pre-test, post-test, and after 3 months of follow-up. MBSR Program includes the methods that patients learn to calm their minds and body to help them cope with disease that was based on self-efficacy and quality of life. Data analysis was performed by the SPSS v22 using t-test and ANOVA.

Results

The results show that the mean pre-test scores of self-efficacy and quality of life of patients were not significantly different between the experimental and control groups (P > 0.05). However, the mean scores of the two variables were found to be significantly different between the experimental group and the control group on the post-test and follow-up as the research hypotheses were examined (P < 0.01). So that the means of self-efficacy were 60.80 ± 5.91 and 60.40 ± 7.03 and quality of life were 103.80 ± 9.35 and 101.10 ± 9.13 at post-test and 3 months later respectively in experimental group.

Conclusion

Self-efficacy and quality of life of cardiovascular patients could be improved by providing an MBSR program.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6465573/