contemplative practice

Mindfulness is Associated with Greater Resilience and Less Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Adolescents

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Mindfulness is Associated with Greater Resilience and Less Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Adolescents

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness practice could be beneficial to teens, helping them cultivate empathy, as well as skills for concentration and impulse control. In short, mindfulness can help adolescents navigate the challenges of adolescence.” – Sarah Rundell Beach

 

Adolescence is a time of mental, physical, social, and emotional growth. It is during this time that higher levels of thinking, sometimes called executive function, develops. But adolescence can be a difficult time, fraught with challenges. During this time the child transitions to young adulthood; including the development of intellectual, psychological, physical, and social abilities and characteristics. There are so many changes occurring during this time that the child can feel overwhelmed and unable to cope with all that is required. This can lead to emotional and behavioral problems.

 

Indeed, up to a quarter of adolescents suffer from depression or anxiety disorders, and an even larger proportion struggle with subclinical symptoms. Mindfulness training in adults has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression levels and improve resilience and emotional regulation. In addition, in adolescents it has been shown to improve emotion regulation and to benefit the psychological and emotional health.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness, Life Skills, Resilience, and Emotional and Behavioral Problems for Gifted Low-Income Adolescents in China.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00594/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1293822_69_Psycho_20200407_arts_A), Huang and colleagues recruited low-income gifted high school students and measured them for emotional and behavioral problems, including both internalizing and externalizing behaviors, resilience, life skills, including  self-control, assertiveness, refusal and relaxation, and mindfulness.

 

They found that the higher the levels of mindfulness the higher the levels of resilience and life skills and the lower the levels of emotional and behavioral problems. They also found that the higher the levels of life skills the higher the levels of mindfulness and resilience and the lower the levels of emotional and behavioral problems. Structural modelling revealed that mindfulness and life skills were associated with reduced emotional and behavioral problems both directly and indirectly by being associated with higher levels of resilience that was in turn associated with lower levels of emotional and behavioral problems.

 

These results are interesting but correlational and as such causation cannot be determined. Nevertheless, they suggest that the emotional and behavioral problems of gifted adolescents from low-income families are to some extent reduced by having strong mindfulness, resilience, and life skills. Additionally, the findings suggest that mindfulness and life skills are not only directly related to less emotional and behavioral problems but also indirectly by being related to higher levels of resilience. It remains for future research to determine if these connections are causal by training adolescents in mindfulness and life skills and observing if there are increases in resilience and decreases in emotional and behavioral problems.

 

So, mindfulness is associated with greater resilience and less emotional and behavioral problems in adolescents.

 

“Mindfulness processes and practices can help young people develop emotional resilience, self-awareness and regulation skills that assist them in taking greater responsibility for their behaviors, decisions and relationships.” – Jennifer Frank

 

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

 

Huang C-C, Chen Y, Jin H, Stringham M, Liu C and Oliver C (2020) Mindfulness, Life Skills, Resilience, and Emotional and Behavioral Problems for Gifted Low-Income Adolescents in China. Front. Psychol. 11:594. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00594

 

In contrast to emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs), which can disrupt normal adolescent development, resilience can buffer the effects of stress and adverse childhood experiences and can help youth overcome adversity. While research has looked at the relationship between adolescent resilience and EBPs, current literature relatively lack a discussion of a strengths-based approach of resilience framework, nor discuss non-western sociocultural contexts. In this study, we utilized the resilience theory to examine the effects of individual mindfulness and life skills on resilience and consequently on EBPs in a group of low-income and gifted adolescents in China. A secondary data of 152 adolescents from a specialized school for low-income and gifted students in Guangzhou, China was used for the analysis. The findings from structural equation modeling indicated that mindfulness and life skills were associated with heightened resilience and reduced EBPs. In addition, resilience reduced EBPs for this group of adolescents. These findings underscore the promise of mindfulness and life skills training on increasing resilience and reducing EBPs in gifted adolescents.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00594/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1293822_69_Psycho_20200407_arts_A

 

Improve the Aging Brain and Well-Being with Mindfulness Training

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Improve the Aging Brain and Well-Being with Mindfulness Training

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“On average, the brains of long-term meditators were 7.5 years younger at age 50 than the brains of non-meditators, and an additional 1 month and 22 days younger for every year after 50.” – Grace Bullock

 

The aging process involves a systematic progressive decline in every system in the body, the brain included. This includes our cognitive (mental) abilities which decline with age including impairments in memory, attention, and problem-solving ability. It is inevitable and cannot be avoided. Research has found that mindfulness practices reduce the deterioration of the brain that occurs with aging restraining the loss of neural tissue. Indeed, the brains of practitioners of meditation and yoga have been found to degenerate less with aging than non-practitioners. Tai Chi and Qigong have also been shown to be beneficial in slowing or delaying physical and mental decline with aging.

 

In today’s Research News article “Long-Term Physical Exercise and Mindfulness Practice in an Aging Population.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00358/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1293822_69_Psycho_20200407_arts_A), Tang and colleagues recruited healthy older participants who practiced for an hour a day 6 – 7 days a week for 12 years either physical exercise, aerobic walking, or integrated mind-body training, including body relaxation, mental imagery and mindfulness training. The participants underwent brain imaging with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). They had their heart rate, respiration. and skin conductance recorded during a fitness exercise session. Salivary Secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), an index of mucosal immunity and Cortisol levels, an index of stress, were measured at rest, during stress, and during training. They also completed scales measuring general health and quality of life.

 

They found that the mindfulness group had significantly higher resting heart rate and respiration, high frequency heart rate variability, quality of life, and sIgA levels and significantly lower cortisol levels and skin conductance than the exercise group. In addition, they found that the mindfulness group compared to the exercise group had significantly larger brain striatum including the caudate and putamen and significantly greater functional connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the striatum and also the insula.

 

These results are interesting and suggest that long-term mindfulness practice results in differences in the psychological, physical, and neural states compared to physical exercise. Psychological well-being improvement in the mindfulness group was suggested by the greater reported quality of life. Physiological improvements in the mindfulness group were suggested by greater relaxation as indexed by greater autonomic nervous system, parasympathetic activity and measured by heart rate variability and skin conductance and lower stress hormone, cortisol, levels. The greater volume of the striatum and greater connectivity with the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex also suggest greater physiological relaxation. The mindfulness group also showed greater immune system function as indexed by sIgA levels. On the other hand, the aerobic walking group demonstrated greater physical fitness as indexed by lower resting heart rate and respiration.

 

In sum, these findings suggest the long-term aerobic walking exercise is good for the physical fitness of older adults. But long-term mindfulness training is better for their overall psychological and physical well-being. These results correspond with other prior findings that shorter-term mindfulness practice results in greater autonomic relaxation, quality of life, and neuroplastic changes in brain systems and that this training reduces the physiological and psychological deterioration occurring with aging.

 

So, improve the aging brain and well-being with mindfulness training.

 

“Mind and body practices, in particular, including relaxation techniques and meditative exercise forms such as yoga, tai chi, and qi gong are being used by older Americans, both for fitness and relaxation, and because of perceived health benefits.” –  National Center for Complementayy and Integrative Health

 

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

 

Tang Y-Y, Fan Y, Lu Q, Tan L-H, Tang R, Kaplan RM, Pinho MC, Thomas BP, Chen K, Friston KJ and Reiman EM (2020) Long-Term Physical Exercise and Mindfulness Practice in an Aging Population. Front. Psychol. 11:358. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00358

 

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that physical exercise and mindfulness meditation can both lead to improvement in physical and mental health. However, it is unclear whether these two forms of training share the same underlying mechanisms. We compared two groups of older adults with 10 years of mindfulness meditation (integrative body-mind training, IBMT) or physical exercise (PE) experience to demonstrate their effects on brain, physiology and behavior. Healthy older adults were randomly selected from a large community health project and the groups were compared on measures of quality of life, autonomic activity (heart rate, heart rate variability, skin conductance response, respiratory amplitude/rate), immune function (secretory Immunoglobulin A, sIgA), stress hormone (cortisol) and brain imaging (resting state functional connectivity, structural differences). In comparison with PE, we found significantly higher ratings for the IBMT group on dimensions of life quality. Parasympathetic activity indexed by skin conductance response and high-frequency heart rate variability also showed more favorable outcomes in the IBMT group. However, the PE group showed lower basal heart rate and greater chest respiratory amplitude. Basal sIgA level was significantly higher and cortisol concentration was lower in the IBMT group. Lastly, the IBMT group had stronger brain connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the striatum at resting state, as well as greater volume of gray matter in the striatum. Our results indicate that mindfulness meditation and physical exercise function in part by different mechanisms, with PE increasing physical fitness and IBMT inducing plasticity in the central nervous systems. These findings suggest combining physical and mental training may achieve better health and quality of life results for an aging population.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00358/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1293822_69_Psycho_20200407_arts_A

 

Improve the Symptoms of Psychosis with Mindfulness

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Improve the Symptoms of Psychosis with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“There is increasing evidence that specially adapted mindfulness techniques can be used safely and effectively in the management and treatment of severe mental health problems, such as psychosis.” – Carly Samson

 

Psychoses are mental health problems that cause people to perceive or interpret things differently from those around them. This might involve hallucinations; seeing and, in some cases, feeling, smelling or tasting things that aren’t objectively there, or delusions; unshakable beliefs that, when examined rationally, are obviously untrue. The combination of hallucinations and delusional thinking can often severely disrupt perception, thinking, emotion, and behavior, making it difficult if not impossible to function in society without treatment. Psychoses appear to be highly heritable and involves changes in the brain. The symptoms of psychoses usually do not appear until late adolescence or early adulthood. There are, however, usually early signs of the onset of psychoses which present as cognitive impairments.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to be beneficial for patients with psychosis. Implementing interventions early in the disease progression may maximize the benefits. This training improves a number of different facets of mindfulness. These include describing, observing, acting with awareness, non-judging, and nor-reacting facets. It has not been established which of these facets is critical for symptom improvement

 

In today’s Research News article “The Role of Five Facets of Mindfulness in a Mindfulness-Based Psychoeducation Intervention for People With Recent-Onset Psychosis on Mental and Psychosocial Health Outcomes.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7078358/), Chien and colleagues recruited patients in the early stages of psychosis (< 5 years since onset) including schizophrenia, schizophreniform/schizoaffective disorders or other psychotic disorders. They were randomly assigned to receive either mindfulness-based psychoeducation, conventional psychoeducation, or treatment-as-usual. The mindfulness-based psychoeducation program was a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) modified for psychotic patients and consisted of one session every other week for 24 weeks along with daily practice of 20 minutes. They were measured before and after the program and 6 and 18 months later for positive and negative psychotic symptoms, process of recovery, insight, treatment attitude, level of functioning, and mindfulness.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the control groups the patients who received mindfulness-based psychoeducation had significantly greater increases in mindfulness that persisted at the 18-month follow-up. They also found that greater the increases in mindfulness the greater the improvements in positive and negative psychotic symptoms, process of recovery, insight, treatment attitude, and level of functioning. Psychosocial functioning was the most highly related symptom while psychotic symptoms were less associated. Of the facets of mindfulness, only the observing and acting with awareness facets were significantly associated with the symptom improvements.

 

These results are interesting and suggest that mindfulness can be improved in psychotic patients with training and that these improvements are related to improvements in symptoms. It appears that training that improves the patient’s ability to observe what is occurring in the present moment and to act with awareness in response to what is occurring are the most important aspects of mindfulness for symptom improvement. It would make sense that these abilities would be particularly useful for psychosocial functioning. Psychotic symptoms are extremely difficult to treat. So, these results suggest that mindfulness training may be a helpful program for psychotic patients in the early stages of the disease.

 

So, improve the symptoms of psychosis with mindfulness.

 

“There is emerging evidence that mindfulness for psychosis – when used in an adapted form – is safe and therapeutic.” – Paul Chadwick

 

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

 

Chien, W. T., Chow, K. M., Chong, Y. Y., Bressington, D., Choi, K. C., & Chan, C. (2020). The Role of Five Facets of Mindfulness in a Mindfulness-Based Psychoeducation Intervention for People With Recent-Onset Psychosis on Mental and Psychosocial Health Outcomes. Frontiers in psychiatry, 11, 177. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00177

 

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to examine how five facets of mindfulness may be associated with the changes in psychotic patients’ health outcomes after participating in a mindfulness-based psychoeducation group (MBPEG) program.

Methods: Longitudinal follow-up data from two pragmatic randomized controlled trials of MBPEG for psychotic patients were used for this study. A total of 124 patients who completed the MBPEG program were included in this analysis. Patient outcomes (psychotic symptoms, functioning, insight into illness/treatment, subjective recovery) and five facets of mindfulness were assessed at baseline and six, 12 and 24 months post-intervention. Areas under the curve of individual outcomes in repeated-measures were computed using trapezoidal method, rescaled to the original possible range of the underlying variable and used for correlation and regression analyses.

Results: All mean scores of the five facets increased across time and were significantly correlated with the improvements in all patient outcomes (p-values ranged from <0.001 to <0.05), except “non-judging” facet and symptom severity. Regression analyses revealed that only “observing” and “acting with awareness” were significantly associated with positive changes across all outcomes (increase in adjusted R2 ranged from 5.9% to 24.2%, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Two facets of mindfulness, “observing” and “acting with awareness,” were related to positive outcomes of psychotic patients after participating in the MBPEG. More efforts in addressing these two facets of mindfulness can be considered to increase the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions in psychosis.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7078358/

 

Improve Generalized Anxiety Disorder with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

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Improve Generalized Anxiety Disorder with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a type of psychotherapy gaining popularity in the treatment of anxiety disorders like generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). It is also used to treat other conditions including depression, eating disorders, chronic pain, and substance use disorders.” – Deborah Glasofer

 

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 40 million adults, or 18% of the population. A characterizing feature of anxiety disorders is that the suffer overly identifies with and personalizes their thoughts. The sufferer has recurring thoughts, such as impending disaster, that they may realize are unreasonable, but are unable to shake. 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.

 

A therapeutic technique that contains mindfulness training is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). It is a mindfulness-based psychotherapy technique that is employs many of the techniques of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and has also been shown to relieve anxiety. ACT focuses on the individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior and how they interact to impact their psychological and physical well-being. It then works to change thinking to alter the interaction and produce greater life satisfaction. ACT employs mindfulness practices to increase awareness and develop an attitude of acceptance and compassion in the presence of painful thoughts and feelings. ACT teaches individuals to “just notice”, accept and embrace private experiences and focus on behavioral responses that produce more desirable outcomes.

 

In today’s Research News article “A Multiple-Baseline Evaluation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Focused on Repetitive Negative Thinking for Comorbid Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7082425/), Ruiz and colleagues recruited 6 adults with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and also depression. They received a 3 session Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) protocol of 90, 60, and 60 minutes focused on repetitive negative thinking implemented at different times on a multiple baseline. They were measured weekly over the internet for emotional symptoms (a combination of anxiety, depression and perceived stress), worry, experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, perseverative thinking, and valuing.

 

They found that all participants demonstrated no significant changes during the 5 or more weeks of the baseline period in emotional symptoms or worry. But once Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was provided all participants immediately demonstrated a precipitous decline in emotional symptoms, worry, experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, and perseverative thinking that was maintained for 3 months. Effect sizes were very large and 5 of the 6 participants had clinically significant changes in emotional symptoms and worry.

 

It is well established that mindfulness training reduces anxiety, depression, perceived, stress, and worry. Nevertheless, the results of the present study are striking. Administration of a brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)  focused on repetitive negative thinking produced dramatic clinically significant improvements in the core symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and depression. The fact that this was accomplished in 3-sessions is important as it reduces the investment of therapists in treatment, reducing costs and improving the numbers of people being able to be treated. These findings suggest that this brief form of mindfulness-based therapy be implemented for anxiety and deprressive disorders.

 

So, improve Generalized Anxiety Disorder with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

 

“ACT helps you take action on your values, instead of letting your anxiety dictate your decisions and your days.” –  Margarita Tartakovsky

 

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

 

Ruiz, F. J., Luciano, C., Flórez, C. L., Suárez-Falcón, J. C., & Cardona-Betancourt, V. (2020). A Multiple-Baseline Evaluation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Focused on Repetitive Negative Thinking for Comorbid Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 356. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00356

 

Abstract

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a core feature of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and depression. Recently, some studies have shown promising results with brief protocols of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) focused on RNT in the treatment of emotional disorders in adults. The current study analyzes the effect of an individual, 3-session, RNT-focused ACT protocol in the treatment of severe and comorbid GAD and depression. Six adults meeting criteria for both disorders and showing severe symptoms of at least one of them participated in the study. A delayed multiple-baseline design was implemented. All participants completed a 5-week baseline without showing improvement trends in emotional symptoms (Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale – 21; DASS-21) and pathological worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire; PSWQ). The ACT protocol was then implemented, and a 3-month follow-up was conducted. Five of the six participants showed clinically significant changes in the DASS-21 and the PSWQ. The standardized mean difference effect sizes for single-case experimental design were very large for emotional symptoms (d = 3.34), pathological worry (d = 4.52), experiential avoidance (d = 3.46), cognitive fusion (d = 3.90), repetitive thinking (d = 4.52), and valued living (d = 0.92 and d = 1.98). No adverse events were observed. Brief, RNT-focused ACT protocols for treating comorbid GAD and depression deserve further empirical tests.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7082425/

 

Reduce Anxiety and Depression in Coronary Heart Disease Patients with Tai Chi

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Reduce Anxiety and Depression in Coronary Heart Disease Patients with Tai Chi

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Tai chi is an interesting, promising exercise option. I think based on what we found, it’s a reasonable and safe step to offer tai chi within cardiac rehab.” – Elena Salmoriago-Blotcher

 

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer, claiming more lives than all forms of cancer combined. There are myriads of treatments that have been developed to treat cardiovascular disease including a variety of surgical procedures and medications. Importantly, lifestyle changes have proved to be quite effective. These include quitting smoking, weight reduction, improved diet, physical activity, and reducing stresses. 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 be helpful for producing the kinds of other lifestyle changes needed such as smoking cessation, weight reduction and stress reduction.

 

Cardiac rehabilitation programs for patients recovering from implantation of a stent for coronary heart disease, emphasize lifestyle changes. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, 60% of coronary heart disease patients decline participation, making these patients at high risk for a heart attack.  Tai Chi and Qigong are ancient mindfulness practices involving slow prescribed movements. They are gentle and completely safe, can be used with the elderly and sickly, are inexpensive to administer, can be performed in groups or alone, at home or in a facility or even public park, and can be quickly learned. In addition, they can also be practiced in social groups without professional supervision. This can make it fun, improving the likelihood of long-term engagement in the practice. Since Tai Chi is both a mindfulness practice and a gentle exercise, it may be an acceptable, safe, and effective treatment for coronary heart disease patients.

 

In today’s Research News article “The 24-Form Tai Chi Improves Anxiety and Depression and Upregulates miR-17-92 in Coronary Heart Disease Patients After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7078346/), Liu and colleagues recruited coronary heart disease patients who had a myocardial infarction and a stent implanted less than 4 days prior. The patients received usual care and were randomly assigned to receive either no further treatment or Tai Chi practice twice a day for 60 minutes for 10 months. They were measured before and after the 10-month practice period for anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and quality of life. In addition, blood was drawn and measured for miR-17-92.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the control group, the group that received Tai Chi training had significantly lower levels of anxiety, depression, and perceived stress and significantly higher levels of quality of life and miR-17-92. In addition, they found that the higher the levels of miR-17-92 the lower the levels of anxiety, depression, and perceived stress.

 

It should be noted that the control condition was not active. Future research should have an active control that performed some other activity of comparable duration, perhaps another type of exercise or health education. Nevertheless, the results show that Tai Chi practice can significantly improve the psychological well-being of coronary heart disease patients after surgery to insert a stent.

 

Prior research has demonstrated the RNA segments are associated with anxiety and depression. The current research also detected this relationship. But the study also demonstrated that the improvements in anxiety, depression, and perceived stress were associated with increased levels of miR-17-92. This may indicate a mechanism of action by which Tai Chi practice improves psychological well-being. It remains for future research to further explore this interesting possibility.

 

So, reduce anxiety and depression in coronary heart disease patients with Tai Chi.

 

“Tai chi shows promise for patients with existing heart disease. Participants in the intensive tai chi program were significantly more active, lost more weight and reported a higher quality of life.” – CardioSmart

 

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, J., Yu, P., Lv, W., & Wang, X. (2020). The 24-Form Tai Chi Improves Anxiety and Depression and Upregulates miR-17-92 in Coronary Heart Disease Patients After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention. Frontiers in physiology, 11, 149. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.00149

 

Abstract

Background

Anxiety and depression are common symptoms in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The 24-form Tai Chi may exert a protective function for CHD patients after PCI by improving anxiety and depression.

Methods

Patients who received PCI after 1–4 days were randomly assigned to the 24-form Tai Chi group (TG) and the control group (CG). The differences in anxiety and depression, using the Medical Outcomes Study 36−item Short−Form Health Survey (SF-36), before and after an average of 10 months of Tai Chi intervention were compared in both groups to analyze the effects of Tai Chi on the emotion and the life quality of CHD patients. Meanwhile, the relative levels of miR-17-92 were measured by using real-time qPCR. The association between the relative levels of miR-17-92 and the anxiety and the depression of CHD patients after PCI was analyzed. Adjusted Cox models were used to explore the effect of Tai Chi exercise in CHD patients.

Results

After 10 months of intervention, the changes in the anxiety subscale (P = 0.002), in the depression subscale (P = 0.008), and in the stress (P = 0.015) scores were higher in the TG group when compared to those of the CG group. The proportion of anxious (P = 0.045) and depressed subjects (P = 0.042) in the TG group was lower than that in the CG group. On the other hand, the increase in the SF-36 scores and in the relative levels of miR-17-92 was significantly higher in the TG group when compared with that of the CG group (P < 0.05). The serum level of miR-17-92 had a negative correlation with the anxiety, the depression, and the stress scores (P < 0.01).

Conclusion

The 24-form Tai Chi improved the anxiety and the depression symptoms and upregulated the miR-17-92 levels in CHD patients after PCI.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7078346/

 

Improve Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents with Yoga Practice

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Improve Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents with Yoga Practice

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Yoga appears to be a promising complementary therapy and stress-management tool for children and adolescents, with very low reports of adverse effects. Yoga, as a therapeutic intervention, has positive effects on psychological functioning, especially in children coping with emotional, mental, and behavioral health problems.” – Pediatrics

 

Childhood and adolescence can be difficult times, fraught with challenges. During this time the child transitions to young adulthood; including the development of intellectual, psychological, physical, and social abilities and characteristics. There are so many changes occurring during this time that the child or adolescent can feel overwhelmed and unable to cope with all that is required.

 

Mindfulness training for children and adolescents has been shown to have very positive effects. These include academic, cognitive, psychological, and social domains. Mindfulness training has been shown to improve emotion regulation and to benefit the psychological and emotional health of adolescents. Importantly, mindfulness training with children and adolescents appears to improve the self-concept, improves attentional ability and reduces stress. Yoga is a mindfulness practice that includes physical exercise. This may be better suited to children and adolescents than quiet meditation practices. The research findings on the psychological benefits of yoga practice for children and adolescents is accumulating. So, it makes sense to step back and review what has been learned.

 

In today’s Research News article “Yoga as an Intervention for the Reduction of Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7082809/), James-Palmer and colleagues review, summarize, and perform a meta-analysis of the effects of yoga practice on anxiety and depression in children and adolescents (< 18 years of age). They identified 27 published research studies.

 

They report that the studies generally showed reductions in symptoms of anxiety and marginal reductions in symptoms of depression. The studies did not produce clear-cut positive results. On the other hand, in adults, yoga practice produces clear and significant improvements in depression and anxiety. One difference may be the durations of yoga practice. In the reviewed studies the majority of studies that failed to find significant improvements employed less than 6 weeks of yoga practice. Studies in adults frequently include 6 months or so of practice.

 

Regardless, the results of the published research are promising and suggest that yoga practice is a safe and effective treatment to relieve anxiety and depression in children and adolescents. The findings justify conducting larger well controlled studies in the future that employ longer durations of yoga practice.

 

So, improve anxiety and depression in children and adolescents with yoga practice.

 

“Being healthy is important for all children and can be especially important for children with depression or anxiety. In addition to getting the right treatment, leading a healthy lifestyle can play a role in managing symptoms of depression or anxiety.” – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 

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

 

James-Palmer, A., Anderson, E. Z., Zucker, L., Kofman, Y., & Daneault, J. F. (2020). Yoga as an Intervention for the Reduction of Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in pediatrics, 8, 78. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2020.00078

 

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this review is to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of yoga for the reduction of symptoms of anxiety and depression in youth. To our knowledge, there are no systematic reviews to date looking at the reduction of symptoms of both anxiety and depression.

Methods: Numerous scientific databases were searched up to November 2018 for experimental studies assessing changes in symptoms of anxiety and/or depression in youths following yoga interventions. Quality and level of evidence were assessed, and information was synthesized across studies.

Results: Twenty-seven studies involving youth with varying health statuses were reviewed. Intervention characteristics varied greatly across studies revealing multiple factors that may impact intervention efficacy, however 70% of the studies overall showed improvements. For studies assessing anxiety and depression, 58% showed reductions in both symptoms, while 25% showed reductions in anxiety only. Additionally, 70% of studies assessing anxiety alone showed improvements and 40% of studies only assessing depression showed improvements.

Conclusion: The studies reviewed, while of weak to moderate methodological quality, showed that yoga, defined by the practice of postures, generally leads to some reductions in anxiety and depression in youth regardless of health status and intervention characteristics.

Keywords: child, adolescent, anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, mental health, complementary therapies, exercise, yoga

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7082809/

 

Improve Psychological Well-Being at Work with a Mindfulness App

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Improve Psychological Well-Being at Work with a Mindfulness App

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

“Mindfulness is not about living life in slow motion. It’s about enhancing focus and awareness both in work and in life. It’s about stripping away distractions and staying on track with individual, as well as organizational, goals.” Jacqueline Carter

 

Work is very important for our health and well-being. We spend approximately 25% of our adult lives at work. Indeed, the work environment has even become an important part of our social lives, with friendships and leisure time activities often attached to the people we work with. But, more than half of employees in the U.S. and nearly 2/3 worldwide are unhappy at work. This is partially due to work-related stress which is epidemic in the western workplace. Almost two thirds of workers reporting high levels of stress at work. This stress can result in impaired health and can result in burnout; producing fatigue, cynicism, and professional inefficacy.

 

To help overcome unhappiness, stress, and burnout, mindfulness practices have been implemented in the workplace. These mindfulness practices have been shown to markedly reduce the physiological and psychological responses to stress. As a result, it has become very trendy for business to incorporate meditation into the workday to help improve employee well-being, health, and productivity.

 

The vast majority of the mindfulness training techniques, however, require a trained teacher. The participants must be available to attend multiple sessions at particular scheduled times that may or may not be compatible with busy employee schedules and at locations that may not be convenient. As an alternative, apps for smartphones 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. But the question arises as to the effectiveness of these apps in inducing mindfulness and reducing stress and improving psychological well-being in employees in real-world work settings.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness on-the-go: Effects of a mindfulness meditation app on work stress and well-being.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6215525/), Bostock and colleagues recruited healthy adults in the workplace and randomly assigned them to either a wait-list control condition or to 45 days of daily mindfulness training with the “Headspace” app for their smartphones. They were measured before and after the intervention and 8 weeks later for blood pressure and daily well-being at 5 different times during the day, psychological well-being, anxiety, depression, job strain, job status, workplace social support, and mindfulness.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the wait-list controls the participants who used the mindfulness training app had significantly higher levels of psychological well-being, daily positive emotions, and workplace social support and significantly lower levels of blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and job strain. They found that these benefits only occurred in participants who completed 10 or more practice sessions. Most of these improvements were maintained at the 8-week follow-up.

 

The research design contained a control condition but the condition was not active. This leaves open the possibility of placebo effects, demand characteristics, and experimenter bias. Employees that used the app less than 10 times, however, could be seen as an active control and they did not show improvements. Nevertheless, the results suggest that using a mindfulness training smartphone app can improve the psychological well-being of employees in the workplace. Since they can receive the training at their own convenience and schedule, it is especially applicable to busy real-world work environments. The low cost of this training suggests that it can be used over large numbers of employees, at diverse locations.

 

So, improve psychological well-being at work with a mindfulness app.

 

“mindfulness and mindfulness-based practices improve self-regulation of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, linking them to both performance and employee well-being in the workplace.” Theresa Glomb

 

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

 

Bostock, S., Crosswell, A. D., Prather, A. A., & Steptoe, A. (2019). Mindfulness on-the-go: Effects of a mindfulness meditation app on work stress and well-being. Journal of occupational health psychology, 24(1), 127–138. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000118

 

Abstract

We investigated whether a mindfulness meditation program delivered via a smartphone application (app) could improve psychological well-being, reduce job strain, and reduce ambulatory blood pressure during the workday. Participants were 238 healthy employees from two large UK companies that were randomized to a mindfulness meditation practice app or a wait-list control condition. The app offered 45 pre-recorded 10–20 minute guided audio meditations. Participants were asked to complete one meditation per day. Psychosocial measures, and blood pressure throughout one working day, were measured at baseline and 8 weeks later; a follow-up survey was also emailed to participants 16 weeks after the intervention start. Usage data showed that during the 8-week intervention period, participants randomized to the intervention completed an average of 17 meditation sessions (range 0 to 45 sessions). The intervention group reported significant improvement in well-being, distress, job strain, and perceptions of workplace social support compared to the control group. In addition, the intervention group had a marginally significant decrease in self-measured workday systolic blood pressure from pre to post intervention. Sustained positive effects in the intervention group were found for well-being and job strain at the 16-week follow-up assessment. This trial suggests that short guided mindfulness meditations delivered via smartphone and practiced multiple times per week can improve outcomes related to work stress and well-being, with potentially lasting effects.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6215525/

 

Long-Term Meditators have More Frequent Lucid Dreams

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How Tame Impala, Pink Floyd And The Doors Will Give You Lucid ...Long-Term Meditators have More Frequent Lucid Dreams

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“All that we see or seem/Is but a dream within a dream.” – Edgar Allan Poe

 

We spend about a third of our lives in sleep, but we know very little about it. It is known that sleep is not a unitary phenomenon. Rather, it involves several different states that can be characterized by differences in physiological activation, neural activity, and subjective experiences. Dreaming occurs several times each night during a particularly deep stage of sleep called rapid eye movement or REM sleep. Dreams have been the subject of much speculation and theorization but little empirical research.

 

An intriguing form of dreaming is the lucid dream where the individual is aware that they are dreaming. They may even be able to affect the content of the dream. These are quite common with about three quarters of people having a lucid dream at least once. It has been reported that meditation and mindfulness may increase the likelihood of lucid dreams. But there is very little empirical research on the subject.

 

In today’s Research News article “Increased lucid dream frequency in long-term meditators but not following MBSR training.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6490164/), Baird and colleagues recruited adults who were meditation naïve and long-term meditators who meditated at least 200 minutes per week for over 5 years. The meditation naïve participants were randomly assigned to a wait-list condition or to receive 9-week programs of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or Health education. Training occurred over 9 weeks for 2.5 hours each week and included daily home practice. Participants were measured before and after training and 6 months later for how often they recalled dreams, lucid dreams, and mindfulness.

 

They found that long-term meditators had almost 2 and a half times more lucid dreams than meditation naïve participants while the groups did not differ on dream recall frequencies. There were no differences in lucid dream frequency with different meditation practices or amount of meditation experience. Among the long-term meditators those that had frequent lucid dreams were significantly higher in mindfulness especially the observing, acting with awareness, and decentering facets. Further, they found that neither the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or Health education programs produced any significant changes in lucid dreaming in the meditation naïve participants.

 

These findings have to be interpreted with caution as the types of people who engage in long-term meditation might be significantly different than those individuals who do not choose to meditate. It could be that people who have frequent lucid dreams are exactly the same kinds of people who are attracted to meditation practice. The fact that mindfulness training with the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) did not influence lucid dream frequency supports this interpretation. Additionally, the fact that there the amount of meditation experience was unrelated to lucid dreaming also supports this interpretation.

 

Nevertheless, the results suggest that long-term meditators have relatively frequent lucid dreams. It is not known why this might be true. But it can be speculated that this is due to the fact that meditation practice improves meta-cognition, the ability to be aware of one’s own thoughts. This ability may make the individual more aware of their conscious process during dreams, lucid dreaming. It is also possible that increased mindfulness produced by meditation practice promotes lucid dreaming. It remains for future research to investigate these potential mechanisms.

 

But it is clear that long-term meditators have more frequent lucid dreams.

 

“You know that magical moment when you wake up within a dream and know you’re dreaming? That’s lucid dreaming. It’s a skill you can develop and a beneficial meditation practice you can do.” – Andrew Holecek

 

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

 

Baird, B., Riedner, B. A., Boly, M., Davidson, R. J., & Tononi, G. (2019). Increased lucid dream frequency in long-term meditators but not following MBSR training. Psychology of consciousness (Washington, D.C.), 6(1), 40–54. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000176

 

Abstract

Strong conceptual and theoretical connections have been made between meditation practice, mindfulness and lucid dreaming. However, only a handful of empirical studies have evaluated the relationship between lucid dreaming and meditation, and conclusions remain tempered by methodological limitations. Here we evaluate the relationship between meditation, mindfulness and lucid dream frequency using several complementary methods. First, using a cross-sectional design, we evaluate differences in lucid dream frequency between long-term meditators and meditation naïve individuals. Second, we evaluate the relationship between lucid dream frequency and specific facets of trait mindfulness in both meditators and non-meditators. Third, using a blinded randomized-controlled design, we evaluate the impact of an 8-week mindfulness course on lucid dreaming frequency. Our results show that lucid dreaming is more frequent in long-term meditators compared to meditation naïve individuals. Additionally, lucid dream frequency in meditation-naïve individuals was associated with a capacity to verbalize experience, while lucid dream frequency in long-term meditators was associated with observational and decentering facets of trait mindfulness. However, an 8-week mindfulness course did not increase the frequency of lucid dreams. Together these results support a continuity between increased awareness of waking and sleeping states, provide a novel form of evidence linking meditation training to meta-awareness, and support an association between meditation practice and lucid dreaming, but leave open the specific nature of this connection.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6490164/

Reduce Burnout in Medical Residents with Mindfulness

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Reduce Burnout in Medical Residents with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“while they appreciate the great meaning in their work, clinicians’ ability to disconnect and recharge may be even more critical than it is for others when it comes to how they view work environments and feel as employees.” – David Gregg

 

Stress is epidemic in the western workplace with almost two thirds of workers reporting high levels of stress at work. In high stress occupations, like healthcare, burnout is all too prevalent. Burnout is the fatigue, cynicism, emotional exhaustion, sleep disruption, and professional inefficacy that comes with work-related stress. It is estimated that over 45% of healthcare workers experience burnout. It not only affects the healthcare providers personally, but also the patients, as it produces a loss of empathy and compassion. Burnout, in fact, it is a threat to the entire healthcare system. Currently, over a third of healthcare workers report that they are looking for a new job. Hence, burnout contributes to the shortage of doctors and nurses.

 

Preventing burnout has to be a priority. Unfortunately, it is beyond the ability of the individual to change the environment to reduce stress and prevent burnout. So, it is important that methods be found to reduce the individual’s responses to stress; to make the individual more resilient when high levels of stress occur. Contemplative practices have been shown to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress and improve well-being. Indeed, mindfulness has been shown to be helpful in treating and preventing burnout, increasing resilience, and improving sleep. Hence, mindfulness may be a means to reduce burnout and improve well-being in hospital residents.

 

In today’s Research News article “Evidence-Based Interventions that Promote Resident Wellness from the Council of Emergency Residency Directors.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7081870/), Parsons and colleagues review and summarize the published research regarding methods to reduce burnout in medical residents. From this research they formed conclusions  and recommendations.

 

They report that the published studies demonstrate that medical resident burnout is mitigated by interventions that emphasize mindfulness, stress management, and resilience training. The evidence is fairly strong from well conducted controlled trials. It should be noted that mindfulness training improves both stress management and resilience. So, mindfulness training may be the key to all of the effective training strategies. They also report that working conditions tend to produce fatigue and stress that contribute to burnout. Reduction in burnout can be accomplished by adjustments to the work environment including shift scheduling.

 

So, reduce burnout in medical residents with mindfulness.

 

“Research exploring the effects of mindfulness training suggests it produces broad and significant improvements in attributes applicable to patient care and physician well-being.” – American Medical Association

 

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

 

Parsons, M., Bailitz, J., Chung, A. S., Mannix, A., Battaglioli, N., Clinton, M., & Gottlieb, M. (2020). Evidence-Based Interventions that Promote Resident Wellness from the Council of Emergency Residency Directors. The western journal of emergency medicine, 21(2), 412–422. https://doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2019.11.42961

 

Abstract

Initiatives for addressing resident wellness are a recent requirement of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in response to high rates of resident burnout nationally. We review the literature on wellness and burnout in residency education with a focus on assessment, individual-level interventions, and systemic or organizational interventions.

Best Practice Recommendations for Individual Interventions

  • Mindfulness training should be incorporated into residency training to improve wellness and reduce burnout (Level 1b, Grade B).
  • Consider incorporating behavioral interventions, such as reframing, self-compassion, and empathy into residency training (Level 4, Grade C)
  • Encourage self-care with respect to physical, psychological, and emotional health. This should include an emphasis on sleep, healthy eating, regular exercise, development of social and professional support networks, PCP visits, resources for substance abuse, and counseling or mentoring programs (Level 4, Grade C)
  • Program faculty should meet privately with residents potentially suffering from burnout to identify the unique causes and appropriate interventions. Close follow-up meetings should assess improvement (Level 4, Grade C)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7081870/

 

Improve Emotion Regulation and Reduce Pain with Mindful Acceptance

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Improve Emotion Regulation and Reduce Pain with Mindful Acceptance

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Individuals with minimal mindfulness meditation experience can quickly learn how to moderate their brains’ responses to painful experiences and negative images using a technique called mindful acceptance’” – Christopher Berglund

 

There is an accumulating volume of research findings to demonstrate that mind-body therapies have highly beneficial effects on the health and well-being of humans. Mindfulness practices have been shown to improve emotion regulation producing more adaptive and less maladaptive responses to emotions. In other words, mindful people are better able to experience yet control their responses to emotions. The ability of mindfulness training to improve emotion regulation is thought to be the basis for a wide variety of benefits that mindfulness provides to mental health

Indeed, mindfulness practices are effective in treating pain in adults.

 

We all have to deal with pain. It’s inevitable, but hopefully it’s mild and short lived. For a wide swath of humanity, however, pain is a constant in their lives. Pain involves both physical and psychological issues. The stress, fear, and anxiety produced by pain tends to elicit responses that actually amplify the pain. So, reducing the emotional reactions to pain may be helpful in pain management. Emotional and pain experiences are processed in the nervous system. So, it’s likely that mindfulness practices somehow alters the brain’s processing of emotions and pain.

 

In today’s Research News article “Let it be: mindful acceptance down-regulates pain and negative emotion.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7057281/), Kober and colleagues recruited healthy adults and instructed them to on cue to “react naturally, whatever your response might be” and on another cue to accept. They were instructed for the accept condition to be mindful in the present moment and not judge what is happening but to accept it as it is. They then underwent brain scanning with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). While in the scanner they were presented with a cue to either react or accept their experience. They were then presented with either neutral or emotionally negative images or a warm or hot thermal stimulus on their forearm. Afterward they rated how negatively they felt.

 

They found that the participants rated the emotionally negative picture and the hot stimulus as more negative than the neutral pictures or warm stimulus. But after the accept cue they reported lower negative ratings to both the negative images and hot stimulus. Hence, expressing an attitude of mindful acceptance produced lesser negative reactions to negative emotional and thermal stimuli.

 

The brain activity to the stimuli revealed that during the accept condition there was less activity in the amygdala than during the react condition. The painful, hot, thermal stimulus produced increased brain activity in widespread regions but during the mindful acceptance condition, the activations were significantly lower. Hence, expressing an attitude of mindful acceptance produced less brain activation to negative stimuli.

 

It should be pointed out that the study design contains considerable demand characteristics. Instructing a participant to take on an attitude of non-judging acceptance cues the participant that less reaction is expected. This demand characteristic may account for the ratings. It is less likely, though, that it could account for differential brain activations. Of course, demand characteristics probably have their effects by altering brain processing of the conditions.

 

Regardless, these findings are interesting and demonstrate that a brief mindfulness instruction is sufficient to alter the participants’ experiences of and the responses of their brains to neutral and negative experiences. In addition, the instruction appears to be sufficient to alter the experience of and brain activity to painful stimuli. This suggest that the mindful acceptance instruction produced an improved ability to regulate emotional reactions and experiences of pain and the brains responses to these conditions.

 

It has been repeatedly demonstrated in prior research that mindfulness improves emotion regulation and reduces pain perception. So, the present findings are compatible with prior findings. The contribution of the present study is the demonstration that a brief instruction and training in taking on an attitude of mindful acceptance is sufficient to produce these effects. It remains for future research to determine if this instruction is sufficient to alter real world reactions.

 

So, improve emotion regulation and reduce pain with mindful acceptance.

 

“The ability to stay in the moment when experiencing pain or negative emotions suggests there may be clinical benefits to mindfulness practice in chronic conditions as well — even without long meditation practice.” – Hedy Kober

 

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

 

Kober, H., Buhle, J., Weber, J., Ochsner, K. N., & Wager, T. D. (2019). Let it be: mindful acceptance down-regulates pain and negative emotion. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 14(11), 1147–1158. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsz104

 

Abstract

Mindfulness training ameliorates clinical and self-report measures of depression and chronic pain, but its use as an emotion regulation strategy—in individuals who do not meditate—remains understudied. As such, whether it (i) down-regulates early affective brain processes or (ii) depends on cognitive control systems remains unclear. We exposed meditation-naïve participants to two kinds of stimuli: negative vs. neutral images and painful vs. warm temperatures. On alternating blocks, we asked participants to either react naturally or exercise mindful acceptance. Emotion regulation using mindful acceptance was associated with reductions in reported pain and negative affect, reduced amygdala responses to negative images and reduced heat-evoked responses in medial and lateral pain systems. Critically, mindful acceptance significantly reduced activity in a distributed, a priori neurologic signature that is sensitive and specific to experimentally induced pain. In addition, these changes occurred in the absence of detectable increases in prefrontal control systems. The findings support the idea that momentary mindful acceptance regulates emotional intensity by changing initial appraisals of the affective significance of stimuli, which has consequences for clinical treatment of pain and emotion.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7057281/