Attachment Style

Mindfulness is Associated with Resilience

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Mindfulness is Associated with Resilience

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindful people … can better cope with difficult thoughts and emotions without becoming overwhelmed or shutting down (emotionally). Pausing and observing the mind may (help us) resist getting drawn into wallowing in a setback.” – Tom Jacobs

 

Being mindful increases happiness, improves the ability to bounce back from difficulties, resilience, and reduces physiological and psychological responses to stress. These effects are well established. But it is not known how mindfulness, resilience, and attachment security interact.

 

In today’s Research News article “The role of mindfulness and attachment security in facilitating resilience.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8924741/ ) Yang and Oka recruited university students online and had them complete measures of mindfulness, attachment, and resilience.

 

They found that the higher the levels of both mindfulness and resilience the lower the levels of attachment insecurity, attachment anxiety, and attachment avoidance and that the higher the levels of mindfulness the higher the levels of resilience. Further the relationship between mindfulness and resilience was affected by attachment avoidance such that the higher the levels of attachment avoidance the weaker the relationship between mindfulness and resilience.

 

Hence, being mindful is associated with being resilient but avoiding attachment weakens the relationship. This suggests the being able to form attachments is helpful in creating resilience. Further research is needed to establish whether there are causal relationships between the variables.

 

“The emotional soup that follows a stressful event can whip up negative stories about yourself or others that goes on and on, beyond being useful. Mindfulness reduces this rumination and, if practiced regularly, changes your brain so that you’re more resilient to future stressful events.” – Shamash Alidina

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

Yang, F., & Oka, T. (2022). The role of mindfulness and attachment security in facilitating resilience. BMC psychology, 10(1), 69. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00772-1

 

Abstract

Background

In recent years, there has been growing interest in exploring ways to facilitate positive psychological dispositions, including resilience. The goal of the present study was to explore the possibility that trait mindfulness facilitates attachment security and thus enhances resilience.

Methods

We conducted two studies based on cross-sectional surveys. In Study 1, data of 207 students studying in Japan was collected. In Study 2, we used a different sample of 203 participants and different measurements to replicate the findings of Study 1.

Results

The results of Study 1 revealed that mindfulness positively predicted resilience, while attachment anxiety and avoidance were mediators between mindfulness and resilience. The results of Study 2 showed that mindfulness positively predicted resilience, and the mediating effect of attachment avoidance was significant, but the mediating effect of attachment anxiety was not significant.

Conclusions

It is possible to facilitate attachment security through cultivating trait mindfulness, and in this way, resilience could be enhanced. The effect of different components of mindfulness on attachment and resilience requires further studies.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8924741/

 

Improve Secure Attachment and Resilience in Adolescents with Meditation

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Improve Secure Attachment and Resilience in Adolescents with Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“meditation for teens. The practise of meditation will help you to let go of what is out of your control. To lessen the negative and draining energy of worry and anxiety.” – Tejay Dowe

 

Adolescence is a time of mental, physical, social, and emotional growth. 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 psychological and emotional health.

 

In today’s Research News article “Meditation and Five Precepts Mediate the Relationship between Attachment and Resilience.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8947555/ ) DeMaranville and colleagues recruited 10th – 12th grade students and had them complete measures of attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, positive behavioral characteristics, precept practice, and resilience.

 

They found that the higher the levels of both attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance the lower the levels of resilience and the higher the levels meditation and precept practices the higher the levels of resilience. They also found that attachment anxiety was negatively associated with resilience by being negatively associated with meditation and precept practices.

 

Resilience is very important during adolescence where adversity can derail the individuals social/emotional/psychological development. The results of the current study suggest that an adolescent’s inability to bond with other human beings (insecure attachment) lowers the adolescent’s ability to adapt to adversity (resilience). But meditation and precept practices improve that adaptability. Finally, the results suggest that insecure attachment is associated with lower levels of meditation and precept practices resulting in less facilitation of resilience.

 

So, poor ability to bond with others reduces adolescents’ adaptability while meditation increases adaptability.

 

“Mindfulness offers teens a sense of control over their emotions and circumstances and will help them experience more joy because they are more focused on the present moment instead of worrying about past or future stress.” – Erin VanLuven

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

DeMaranville, J., Wongpakaran, T., Wongpakaran, N., & Wedding, D. (2022). Meditation and Five Precepts Mediate the Relationship between Attachment and Resilience. Children (Basel, Switzerland), 9(3), 371. https://doi.org/10.3390/children9030371

 

Abstract

Secure attachment is fundamental to the development of resilience among adolescents. The present study investigated whether meditation and precept practices influence the relationship between attachment and resilience. This study recruited 453 10th–12th-grade boarding school students who completed the Experience of Close Relationship Questionnaire (revised), Resilience Inventory, Inner Strength-Based Inventory, and Precept Practice to assess attachment, resilience, meditation practice, and precepts adherence. The participants’ mean age was 16.35 ± 0.96 years; 87.9% were females, and 89.2% were Buddhists. A parallel mediation model within the structural equation framework was used for an analysis of the indirect effect of attachment on resilience through meditation and precept practices. The indirect effects of attachment anxiety and avoidance on resilience were β = −0.086, 95% CI = −0.125, −0.054, p < 0.001, and β = −0.050, 95% CI = −0.088, −0.021, p = 0.006, respectively. The indirect effect size resulting from meditation was significantly higher than that resulting from observance of the precepts. The parallel mediation model explained the 33% variance of the resilience scores, compared with 23% from the direct effect of attachment anxiety and avoidance only. This work provides evidence that meditation and precepts significantly affect the relationship between attachment and resilience.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8947555/

 

Improve Well-Being in Adults who Experienced Childhood Maltreatment with Mindfulness

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Improve Well-Being in Adults who Experienced Childhood Maltreatment with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness-based interventions can be beneficial for childhood maltreatment survivors to alleviate psychological symptoms including stress, anxiety, recurrent depression, substance use, and post-traumatic stress.” – Diane Joss

 

Childhood trauma can leave in its wake symptoms which can haunt the victims for the rest of their lives. These include persistent recurrent re-experiencing of the traumatic event, including flashbacks and nightmares, loss of interest in life, detachment from other people, increased depression, anxiety and emotional arousal, including outbursts of anger, difficulty concentration, and jumpiness, startling easily. Unfortunately, childhood maltreatment can continue to affect mental and physical health throughout the individual’s life. How individuals cope with childhood maltreatment helps determine the effects of the maltreatment on their mental health.

 

It has been found that experiencing the feelings and thoughts produced by trauma completely, allows for better coping. This can be provided by mindfulness. Indeed, mindfulness has been found to be effective for relieving trauma symptoms. But it is not known how mindfulness works to impact the psychological well-being of adults who experienced childhood maltreatment.

 

In today’s Research News article “Nonattachment Predicts Empathy, Rejection Sensitivity, and Symptom Reduction After a Mindfulness-Based Intervention Among Young Adults with a History of Childhood Maltreatment.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7205188/ ) Joss and colleagues recruited patience with a history of childhood maltreatment including physical and emotional abuse or neglect, and sexual abuse, verbal abuse, witnessing violence between parents or physical abuse of siblings.

 

They were assigned to either a wait-list control condition or to receive mindfulness training. The training was modelled after the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program and met once a week for eight weeks along with daily home practice and contained “breath awareness meditation, body scan meditation, mindful yoga, open awareness meditation, loving-kindness meditation, walking meditation, mountain meditation, mindful eating as well as noticing mindful moments in daily lives”. They were measured before and after training for mindfulness, childhood trauma, adverse childhood experiences, anxiety sensitivity, PTSD symptoms, rejection sensitivity, nonattachment, and interpersonal reactivity.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the wait-list control group, the group that received mindfulness training had significantly higher levels of mindfulness and nonattachment and significantly lower levels of PTSD symptoms, rejection sensitivity, and interpersonal reactivity. In addition, the greater the attendance at the mindfulness training sessions the greater the increases in mindfulness and nonattachment and decreases in personal distress and anxiety sensitivity. Further they found that mindfulness was associated with reduced rejection sensitivity indirectly by being associated with higher levels of nonattachment and empathy which were in turn associated with lower levels of rejection sensitivity.

 

The results suggest that mindfulness training improves the psychological well-being of young adults who had experienced childhood maltreatment in a dose dependent way. Nonattachment is a “flexible way of relating to one’s experiences without clinging to or suppressing them” and is increased by mindfulness training. In addition, empathy is “the capacity to understand others’ perspectives and to feel and share others’ feelings” and is increased by mindfulness training. These factors in turn appear to be important for the improvement in psychological well-being. In other words, mindfulness increases the ability to let go of experiences and not ruminate or worry about them and improves empathy and these factors improve the well-being of young adults who had experienced childhood maltreatment. All this suggests that mindfulness training should be recommended for people who experienced childhood maltreatment to reduce the impact of the trauma and improve psychological well-being.

 

So, improve well-being in adults who experienced childhood maltreatment with mindfulness.

 

“Mindfulness skills tend to be lower among adolescents and adults exposed to various forms of childhood maltreatment.” – Alan R. King

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

Joss, D., Lazar, S. W., & Teicher, M. H. (2020). Nonattachment Predicts Empathy, Rejection Sensitivity, and Symptom Reduction After a Mindfulness-Based Intervention Among Young Adults with a History of Childhood Maltreatment. Mindfulness, 11(4), 975–990. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01322-9

 

Abstract

Objectives:

Individuals with a childhood maltreatment history tend to have various psychological symptoms and impaired social functioning. This study aimed to investigate the related therapeutic effects of a mindfulness-based intervention in this population.

Methods:

We analyzed self-report questionnaire scores of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Non-Attachment Scale (NAS), Adult Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (A-RSQ), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), PTSD CheckList (PCL), and Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), from 16 (3 males) young adults (age range 22–29) with mild to moderate childhood maltreatment, compared to 18 matched participants (6 males) on a waiting list, during both pre- and post-intervention/waiting periods. Analyses were conducted with linear mixed effects models, partial correlation analyses and t-tests.

Results:

There were group by time interaction effects with the scores of MAAS, NAS, PCL, IRI-Fantasy, and A-RSQ (p < .05). The mindfulness group had significant increase in MAAS (17.325%) and NAS (8.957%) scores, as well as reduction in PCL (15.599%) and A-RSQ (23.189%) scores (p < .05). Changes in non-attachment, but not mindfulness, had significant contributions to the score changes of PCL (16.375%), ASI (36.244%), IRI-Personal Distress (24.141%), IRI-Empathic Concern (16.830%), and A-RSQ (10.826%) (p < .05). The number of intervention sessions attended was correlated with score changes of NAS (r = .955, p < .001), and ASI (r = −.887, p < .001), suggesting a dose-dependent effect.

Conclusions:

Findings from this pilot study suggest that the mindfulness-based intervention improved mindfulness, non-attachment and empathy, which contributed to reduced interpersonal distress, rejection sensitivity and other psychological symptoms.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7205188/

 

Mindfulness is Associated with Better Romantic Relationships

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Mindfulness is Associated with Better Romantic Relationships

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness comes from the Sanskrit words for “attend” and “stay.” Simply put, a mindful relationship is one where you pay attention to the other person, staying or being present to their here and now without judgment.” – Melinda Fouts

 

Relationships can be difficult as two individuals can and do frequently disagree or misunderstand one another. This is amplified in marriage where the couple interacts daily and frequently have to resolve difficult issues.

 

Attachment has been shown to affect the individual’s well-being and their relationships to others. There are a variety of ways that individuals attach to others. They are secure, insecure, avoidant, ambivalent, fearful, preoccupied, and disorganized attachment styles. Secure attachment style is healthy and leads to positive development and satisfying relationships while all of the others are maladaptive and unhealthy. These unhealthy attachment styles tend to stress relationships

 

Mindfulness trainings have been shown to improve a variety of psychological issues including emotion regulation, stress responses, trauma, fear and worry, anxiety, and depression, and self-esteem. Mindfulness training has also been found to improve relationships and to be useful in treating sexual problems.  In addition, mindfulness has been found to be an antidote to unhealthy attachment styles. So, it makes sense to investigate the associations of mindfulness and attachment styles with the satisfactoriness of couples’ relationships.

 

In today’s Research News article “Partners’ Relationship Mindfulness Promotes Better Daily Relationship Behaviours for Insecurely Attached Individuals.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7579090/ )  Gazder and colleagues recruited romantic couples and had both members of the couples complete measures of relationship attachment style. They also maintained daily diaries for 14 days measuring relationship mindfulness and positive and negative relationship behaviors.

 

They found that the higher the levels of relationship mindfulness, the lower the levels of attachment avoidance and negative relationship behaviors and the higher the levels of positive relationship behaviors. High mindfulness was associated with higher levels of positive relationship behaviors and lower levels of negative relationship behaviors on the same day and on the next day. They also found that low mindfulness in insecurely attached individuals was associated with higher positive relationship behavior of their partners on the next day, suggesting making up on the day following.

 

These findings are correlational, so caution must be exercised in forming causal interpretations. Nevertheless, the results suggest that relationship mindfulness is important in encouraging positive behaviors and discouraging negative behaviors in the relationship. It also appears that insecure attachment is associated fewer positive behaviors and more negative behaviors in the relationship. But mindfulness is associated with less insecure attachment. Hence, mindfulness in romantic relationships promotes positive relationships while insecure attachment produces more problems in the relationship.

 

So, mindfulness is associated with better romantic relationships.

 

“When you are mindful of the love in your life you open yourself up to the opportunity for love to grow. And not just romantic love, but self-love, and loving friendships as well.” – Mindful

 

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

 

Gazder, T., & Stanton, S. (2020). Partners’ Relationship Mindfulness Promotes Better Daily Relationship Behaviours for Insecurely Attached Individuals. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(19), 7267. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197267

 

Abstract

Attachment anxiety and avoidance are generally associated with detrimental relationship processes, including more negative and fewer positive relationship behaviours. However, recent theoretical and empirical evidence has shown that positive factors can buffer insecure attachment. We hypothesised that relationship mindfulness (RM)—open or receptive attention to and awareness of what is taking place internally and externally in a current relationship—may promote better day-to-day behaviour for both anxious and avoidant individuals, as mindfulness improves awareness of automatic responses, emotion regulation, and empathy. In a dyadic daily experience study, we found that, while an individual’s own daily RM did not buffer the effects of their own insecure attachment on same-day relationship behaviours, their partner’s daily RM did, particularly for attachment avoidance. Our findings for next-day relationship behaviours, on the other hand, showed that lower (vs. higher) prior-day RM was associated with higher positive partner behaviours on the following day for avoidant individuals and those with anxious partners, showing this may be an attempt to “make up” for the previous day. These findings support the Attachment Security Enhancement Model and have implications for examining different forms of mindfulness over time and for mindfulness training.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7579090/

 

Attachment Insecurity Lowers Mindfulness and Increases Rumination Which Heightens Conflict

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Attachment Insecurity Lowers Mindfulness and Increases Rumination Which Heightens Conflict

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness, which has been shown to help mental, behavioral, and physical outcomes in both youth and adults, is a powerful tool that can help us respond to conflict in a non-reactive way.” – Whitney Stuart

 

Relationships can be difficult as two individuals can and do frequently disagree or misunderstand one another. These conflicts can produce strong emotions and it is important to be able to regulate these emotions in order to keep them from interfering with rational solutions to the conflict. In fact, it has been asserted that the inability to resolve conflicts underlies the majority of divorces. Mindfulness may be helpful in navigating disputes, as it has been shown to improve the emotion regulation and reduce the repetitive thinking about the conflict, rumination. Indeed, mindfulness has been shown to improve relationships. So, mindfulness training may improve the ability to resolve conflict

 

Attachment has been shown to affect the individual’s well-being. There are a variety of ways that individuals attach to others. The particular strategies are thought to develop during childhood through attachments to caregivers. They are secure, insecure, avoidant, ambivalent, fearful, preoccupied, and disorganized attachment styles. Secure attachment style is healthy and leads to positive development while all of the others are maladaptive and unhealthy. These can lead to psychological difficulties and interfere with the individual’s ability to relate to others and resolve conflict.

 

The relationships between attachment style, mindfulness, rumination, and conflict have not been previously studied. In today’s Research News article “Being in the Moment So You Can Keep Moving Forward: Mindfulness and Rumination Mediate the Relationship between Attachment Orientations and Negative Conflict Styles.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7559327/ ) Quickert and MacDonald recruited college students and had them complete measures of attachment orientation, experiential avoidance, relationship satisfaction, relationship mindfulness, romantic partner conflict styles, rumination, and mindfulness.

 

They found that the higher the levels of general mindfulness and relationship mindfulness the lower the levels of experiential avoidance, attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, rumination, and relationship rumination. In addition, the higher the levels of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance the higher the levels of experiential avoidance, rumination, and relationship rumination. Finally, the higher the levels of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance the higher the levels of the conflict styles of avoidance, interactional reactivity, separation, domination and submission, and the lower the levels of relationship satisfaction. Performing a mediation analyses they discovered that mindfulness and rumination mediated the negative relationship between attachment insecurity and negative conflict styles, such that the higher the levels of attachment insecurity the lower the levels of mindfulness and the higher the levels of rumination which, in turn, were associated with higher levels of negative conflict styles.

 

It should be noted that this study is correlational and as such causation cannot be determined. Also, only relatively young college students were employed which limits the generalizability of the results. Nevertheless, the study suggests thar insecure attachment is related to poor conflict styles and that relationship occurs because of insecure attachment’s relationships with higher rumination and lower mindfulness.

 

It can be speculated that being mindful in a relationship leads to less worry and rumination and to better ability to deal with conflict. It can also be speculated that having attachment insecurity tends to disrupt this relationship. All in all, it may be that mindfulness can improve relationships, reducing conflict.

 

So, attachment insecurity lowers mindfulness and increases rumination which heightens conflict.

 

“Mindfulness skills have been shown to help with conflict management by decreasing self-centered focus, allowing for more collaborative dialogue, breaking the vicious cycle of automatic thoughts/feelings/behaviors that contribute to unproductive conversations, increasing emotional awareness of self and others, which promotes connection and understanding, strengthening attention and non-judgmental awareness, which can foster flexible and innovative problem-solving.” – Taylor Rush

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

 

Quickert, R. E., & MacDonald, T. K. (2020). Being in the Moment So You Can Keep Moving Forward: Mindfulness and Rumination Mediate the Relationship between Attachment Orientations and Negative Conflict Styles. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(18), 6472. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186472

 

Abstract

Attachment insecurity has been associated with negative behaviors during conflict and decreased relationship satisfaction. We theorize that individuals high in attachment anxiety and/or avoidance are less mindful during conflict with their romantic partners, and thus more likely to ruminate. Decreased mindfulness and higher levels of rumination may be important mechanisms in the relationship between attachment insecurity and conflict behavior, as it may be more difficult to engage in constructive problem-solving skills when one is distracted from the present moment. We conducted an online survey assessing 360 participants’ attachment orientations, levels of mindfulness and rumination, behavior during conflict, and experience with mindfulness activities. Using a serial mediation model, we found that mindfulness and rumination mediated the relationship between attachment insecurity and negative conflict behaviors. We further discovered that individuals high in attachment insecurity were more likely to report negative experiences with mindfulness activities (i.e., meditation and yoga), and that this relationship was mediated by higher levels of experiential avoidance, or a fear of engaging with one’s own thoughts and feelings. We discuss the importance of increasing mindfulness and decreasing both rumination and experiential avoidance to assist individuals high in attachment insecurity in navigating relationship conflict using more constructive and relationship-promoting strategies.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7559327/

 

Improve Major Depressive Disorder with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

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Improve Major Depressive Disorder with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Insecure attachment styles are more prevalent in individuals with mood disorders and has been associated with worse clinical outcomes, whereas a secure attachment is linked to more positive health behaviors, such as greater adherence to health plans and preventive health behaviors.” – Tamara Cassis

 

Clinically diagnosed depression is the most common mental illness, affecting over 6% of the population. Major depression can be quite debilitating and difficult to treat. It is usually treated with antidepressant medication. But, of patients treated initially with drugs only about a third attained remission of the depression. After repeated and varied treatments including drugs, therapy, exercise etc. only about two thirds of patients attained remission. But drugs often have troubling side effects and can lose effectiveness over time.

 

Attachment has been shown to affect the individual’s well-being. There are a variety of ways that individuals attach to others. They are secure, insecure, avoidant, ambivalent, fearful, preoccupied, and disorganized attachment styles. Secure attachment style is healthy and leads to positive development while all of the others are maladaptive and unhealthy. All of the  attachment styles, save secure attachment, are associated with depression.

 

Mindfulness training is an alternative treatment for depression. It has been shown to be an effective treatment for depression and its recurrence and even in the cases where drugs fail. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a mindfulness-based psychotherapy technique that 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.

 

It is possible that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may improve depression by affecting attachment. In today’s Research News article “Explicit and implicit attachment and the outcomes of acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy for depression.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7137238/),  A-Tjak and colleagues explore this possibility. They recruited adult patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder and randomly assigned them to receive 18 weekly 50 minute sessions of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). They were measured before and after treatment and 6 months later for depressive symptoms, quality of life, attachment anxiety, and attachment avoidance. Implicit attachment was measured with a card sorting task.

 

They found that the two treatments were equally effective producing 75% to 80% rates of remission from depression and significant reductions in depression, attachment anxiety, and attachment avoidance and increases in quality of life. The effects were still present at the 6-month follow-up. The decreases in attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were associated with decreases in depression and increases in quality of life while no relationships were present for implicit attachment.

 

The fact that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) were equally effective for major depression is not surprising as ACT incorporates CBT. It is interesting that the magnitude in the changes in attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were related to the improvements in depression and quality of life. But these results do not demonstrate causation, changes in attachment might cause changes in depression, changes in depression might cause changes in attachment, or therapy might change both independently. What is clear is that both ACT and CBT are highly effective and lasting treatments for major depressive disorder.

 

So, improve major depressive disorder with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

 

“Mindfulness training can “generate positive emotions by cultivating self-compassion and self-confidence through an upward spiral process.” – Amanda MacMillan

 

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

 

A-Tjak, J., Morina, N., Boendermaker, W. J., Topper, M., & Emmelkamp, P. (2020). Explicit and implicit attachment and the outcomes of acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy for depression. BMC psychiatry, 20(1), 155. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-02547-7

 

Abstract

Background

Attachment theory predicts that patients who are not securely attached may benefit less from psychological treatment. However, evidence on the predictive role of attachment in the effectiveness of treatment for depression is limited.

Methods

Explicit attachment styles, levels of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance, as well as implicit relational self-esteem and implicit relational anxiety were assessed in 67 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) receiving Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). ANOVA and hierarchical regression analyses were performed to investigate the predictive power of explicit and implicit attachment measures on treatment outcome.

Results

Explicit attachment avoidance at pre-treatment significantly predicted reduction of depressive symptoms following treatment. Reductions in attachment anxiety and avoidance from pre- to post-treatment predicted better treatment outcomes. Neither one of the implicit measures, nor change in these measures from pre- tot post-treatment significantly predicted treatment outcome.

Conclusions

Our findings show that attachment avoidance as well as reductions in avoidant and anxious attachment predict symptom reduction after psychological treatment for depression. Future research should use larger sample sizes to further examine the role of attachment orientation as moderator and mediator of treatment outcome.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7137238/

 

Reduce Cell Phone Dependence in Adolescents with Mindfulness

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Reduce Cell Phone Dependence in Adolescents with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“With its emphasis on harnessing attention with intention (i.e. redirecting it on purpose), mindfulness—with all its scientifically-established health and well-being benefits—has the potential to keep us from drifting hopelessly away from one another. Perhaps it can keep us connected, even though we might only be feet away from one another as we tap out texts, emails ,or check up on our “social” life on social media.” – Mitch Abblett

 

Over the last few decades cell phones have gone from a rare curiosity to the dominant mode of electronic communications. They have also expanded well beyond a telephone and have become powerful hand-held computers known as smartphones. In fact, they have become a dominant force in daily life, occupying large amounts of time and attention. We have become seriously attached. They have become so dominant that, for many, the thought of being without it produces anxiety. Many people have become addicted. It is estimated that about 12% of the population is truly “addicted,” developing greater levels of “tolerance” and experiencing “withdrawal” and distress when deprived of them.

 

Recent surveys and studies paint a vivid picture of our cell phone addiction: we feel a surge of panic when we are separated from our beloved cell phones. This phenomenon is so new that there is little understanding of its nature and causes. In today’s Research News article “.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00598/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_943967_69_Psycho_20190326_arts_A), Li and colleagues examine the relationships of parental attachment, alexithymia, and mindfulness with cell phone dependence in adolescents. They recruited adolescents (average age 14.9 years) and had them complete scales measuring parental attachment, alexithymia, mindfulness, and mobile phone dependence.

 

They found that the higher the levels of mindfulness and parental attachment the lower the levels of mobile phone dependence and that the higher the levels of alexithymia the lower the levels of parental attachment and the higher the levels of mobile phone dependence. In a mediational analysis they found that the relationship between parental attachment and mobile phone dependence was moderated by mindfulness such that the higher the levels of mindfulness the greater the impact of parental attachment on lowering the levels of mobile phone dependence. Similarly, they found that the relationship between alexithymia and mobile phone dependence was moderated by mindfulness such that the higher the levels of mindfulness the less the impact of alexithymia on heightening the levels of mobile phone dependence.

 

These findings suggest that youth with secure attachment to their parents become less dependent on their mobile phones and that this association is strengthened by mindfulness. In other words, mindful youths are more highly impacted by their attachment to their parents. Alexithymia “is characterized by reduced capacity to identify, analyze and express emotions, restricted imagination, and an externally oriented thinking.” Hence, the findings also suggest that youth with poor emotion regulation become more attached to the mobile phones and that mindful youths are less impacted by their lack of emotion regulation. So, mindfulness is associated with lower dependence on mobile phones by moderating the associations of parental attachment and alexithymia on mobile phone dependence.

 

Since mobile phone dependence is becoming more and more of a problem it is important to find antidotes. Mindfulness may be just such an antidote. The present results, though, are correlational and causation cannot be determined. So, it remains to be seen if mindfulness training can, in fact, alter the relationships of parental attachment and alexithymia with mobile phone dependence. This will be important to determine in the future as mindfulness training may be used to lower the dependence of youths on mobile phones and thereby improve their connections with other people and their environment, improving their well-being.

 

So, reduce cell phone dependence in adolescents with mindfulness.

 

“To say we are addicted to our phones is not merely to point out that we use them a lot. It signals a darker notion: that we use them to keep our own selves at bay. Because of our phones, we may find ourselves incapable of sitting alone in a room with our own thoughts floating freely in our own heads, daring to wander into the past and the future, allowing ourselves to feel pain, desire, regret and excitement.” – Stephany Tlalka

 

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

 

Li X and Hao C (2019) The Relationship Between Parental Attachment and Mobile Phone Dependence Among Chinese Rural Adolescents: The Role of Alexithymia and Mindfulness. Front. Psychol. 10:598. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00598

 

Mobile phone has experienced a significant increase in popularity among adolescents in recent years. Findings indicate dependence on mobile phone is related to poor parent-child relationship. However, previous research on mobile phone dependence (MPD) is scant and mainly focus on adult samples. In this view, the present study investigated the association between parental attachment and MPD as well as its influence mechanism, in sample of adolescents in rural China. Data were collected from three middle schools in rural areas of Jiangxi and Hubei Province (N = 693, 46.46% female, Mage = 14.88, SD = 1.77). Participants completed the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), the twenty-item Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS-20), the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and the Mobile Phone Addiction Index Scale (MPAI). Among the results, parental attachment negatively predicted MPD and alexithymia were exerting partial mediation effect between parental attachment and MPD. Further, mindfulness acted as moderator of the relationship between alexithymia and MPD: The negative impact of alexithymia on MPD was weakened under the condition of high level of mindfulness. Knowledge of this mechanism could be useful for understanding adolescents’ MPD in terms of the interaction of multiple factors.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00598/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_943967_69_Psycho_20190326_arts_A

 

Reduce Cell Phone Withdrawal Anxiety with Mindfulness

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Reduce Cell Phone Withdrawal Anxiety with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“It isn’t just the plethora of tech offerings that keep us feeling preoccupied and divided, it is our relationship to these devices that keep us wanting more.” – Sura

 

Over the last few decades cell phones have gone from a rare curiosity to the dominant mode of electronic communications. They have also expanded well beyond a telephone and have become powerful hand-held computers known as smartphones. In fact, they have become a dominant force in daily life, occupying large amounts of time and attention. We have become seriously attached. They have become so dominant that, for many, the thought of being without it produces anxiety. Many people have become addicted. It is estimated that about 12% of the population is truly “addicted,” developing greater levels of “tolerance” and experiencing “withdrawal” and distress when deprived of them.

 

Recent surveys and studies paint a vivid picture of our cell phone addiction: we feel a surge of panic when we are separated from our beloved cell phones. This has been given a name, nomophobia, “which is defined as the fear of being out of cellular phone contact, or “feelings of discomfort or anxiety experienced by individuals when they are unable to use their mobile phones or utilize the affordances these devices provide”. This phenomenon is so new that there is little understanding of its nature and causes. Obviously, nomophobia is ripe for scientific study.

 

In today’s Research News article “Individual Differences in the Relationship Between Attachment and Nomophobia Among College Students: The Mediating Role of Mindfulness.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5746620/ ), Ibrahim and colleagues study the relationships of this cell phone based phobia with attachment styles and mindfulness. They recruited undergraduate students and had them complete measurements of, attachment, mindfulness and nomophobia, with 4 subscales, “Unable to Access Information, Losing Connectedness, Unable to Communicate, and Giving Up Convenience.”

 

They noted that there were significant gender differences with women having significantly higher levels of anxious attachment and nomophobia than men. This suggests that women are emotionally more dependent and crave for more closeness and attention in their relationships than do men. and that women tend to become more dependent on their cell phones. So, just as women become more attached in their relationships, they also become more attached to their phones.

 

Ibrahim and colleagues also found that, overall, higher levels of both anxious and avoidant attachment were associated with higher levels of nomophobia and lower levels of mindfulness and higher levels of mindfulness were associated with lower levels of nomophobia. These results suggest that the attachment styles of cell phone users and their mindfulness are associated with the level of nomophobia, with anxious and avoidant attachment promoting nomophobia and mindfulness reducing it.

 

These results further suggest that people with more maladaptive styles of attachment, who are emotionally more dependent and crave more closeness and attention in their relationships, are also more prone to developing a phobia regarding their cell phones. On the other hand, people with high levels of mindfulness are less prone. So, mindfulness may, in part, be an antidote to nomophobia.

 

So, reduce cell phone withdrawal anxiety with mindfulness.

 

Those with mindfulness training were able to resist habitual behaviours — like instantly opening an email or text when it pops up — to focus their attention on individual tasks for longer. They began to make somewhat wiser choices about when to respond to something and when not to,” – David Levy

 

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

 

Ibrahim Arpaci, Mustafa Baloğlu, Hatice İrem Özteke Kozan, Şahin Kesici. Individual Differences in the Relationship Between Attachment and Nomophobia Among College Students: The Mediating Role of Mindfulness. J Med Internet Res. 2017 Dec; 19(12): e404. Published online 2017 Dec 14. doi: 10.2196/jmir.8847

 

Abstract

Background

There is a growing interest in nomophobia, which is defined as the fear of being out of cellular phone contact, or “feelings of discomfort or anxiety experienced by individuals when they are unable to use their mobile phones or utilize the affordances these devices provide”. However, only limited research can be found in terms of its determinants at present. Contemporary literature suggests that the relationships among attachment styles, mindfulness, and nomophobia have not been investigated.

Objective

This study aims to investigate the mediating effect of mindfulness on the relationship between attachment and nomophobia. In addition, the study also focuses on gender differences in attachment, mindfulness, and nomophobia. A theory-based structural model was tested to understand the essentials of the associations between the constructs.

Methods

The Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, Nomophobia Questionnaire, and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale were used to collect data from undergraduate students (N=450; 70.9% women [319/450]; mean age=21.94 years [SD 3.61]). Two measurement models (ie, attachment and mindfulness) and a structural model were specified, estimated, and evaluated.

Results

The structural equation model shows that the positive direct effects of avoidant (.13, P=.03) and anxious attachment (.48, P<.001) on nomophobia were significant. The negative direct effects of avoidant (−.18, P=.01) and anxious attachment (−.33, P<.001) on mindfulness were also significant. Moreover, mindfulness has a significant negative effect on nomophobia for women only (−.13, P=.03). Finally, the Sobel test showed that the indirect effects of avoidant and anxious attachment on nomophobia via mindfulness were significant (P<.001). The direct and indirect effects of anxious attachment, avoidant attachment, and mindfulness altogether accounted for 33% of the total variance in nomophobia. Gender comparison results show that there is a significant difference in attachment based on gender (F2,447=6.97, P=.01, Wilk λ=.97, partial η2=.03). Women (mean 68.46 [SD 16.96]) scored significantly higher than men (mean 63.59 [SD 15.97]) in anxious attachment (F1=7.93, P=.01, partial η2=.02). Gender differences in mindfulness were not significant (F4,448=3.45, P=.69). On the other hand, results do show significant gender differences in nomophobia (F4,445=2.71, P=.03, Wilk λ=.98, partial η2=.02) where women scored significantly higher than men.

Conclusions

In general, individuals who are emotionally more dependent and crave more closeness and attention in the relationship tend to display higher levels of fear or discomfort when they have no access to their mobile phones. However, gender has a differential impact on the relationship between avoidant attachment and nomophobia. This study establishes the impact of mindfulness on nomophobia for women; therefore, future studies should test the effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapy approaches and confirm whether they are effective and efficient. On the basis of significant gender difference in nomophobia and attachment, we conclude that gender should be taken into account in mindfulness-based treatments dealing with nomophobia.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5746620/

Improve Attachment Style with Mindfulness

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Improve Attachment Style with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“using mindfulness in specific ways, we can become aware of our hidden attachment conditioning and, if it’s not working, begin to change it. This results in a meditation practice that is truly comprehensive: not just an escape, but an empowering force to enrich life and propel us happily through it.” – Insight Meditation Support

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to have a myriad of positive benefits for the physical and psychological health of the individual. It has also been shown to be beneficial for those suffering from a wide range of physical and mental diseases. Research is revealing the mechanisms by which increasing this simple state can alter the individual so profoundly. For example, stress, particularly chronic stress, is known to have deleterious effects on physical and mental health and mindfulness has been shown to reduce the physical and psychological effects of stress on the individual. By reducing stress effects, mindfulness can have wide ranging positive effects on the individual’s well-being.

 

Attachment has been shown to affect the individual’s well-being. There are a variety of ways that individuals attach to others. The particular strategies are thought to develop during childhood through attachments to caregivers. They are secure, insecure, avoidant, ambivalent, fearful, preoccupied, and disorganized attachment styles. Secure attachment style is healthy and leads to positive development while all of the others are maladaptive and unhealthy. These can lead to psychological difficulties and interfere with the individual’s ability to relate to others. Depression has also been long hypothesized to have roots in early childhood. Patterns of mother-child interactions are thought to produce different forms of attachment styles in the infant. All of attachment styles, save secure attachment style, have been found to be associated with depression.

 

It is possible that one of the ways that mindfulness promotes well-being is by affecting attachment. In today’s Research News article “The Relationship Between Adult Attachment Orientation and Mindfulness: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5693974/), this relationship is examined. Stevenson and colleagues review, summarize, and perform a meta-analysis of the 31 published research studies on mindfulness and attachment style.

 

They found that the published research studies report that mindfulness is significantly associated with lower levels of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance. In other words, the higher the level of mindfulness in the individual the lower the levels of adult attachment anxiety and avoidance. This was true for each of the individual components of mindfulness; describing, acting with awareness, non-reactivity, and non-judging. Each of these four facets of mindfulness were found to be inversely related to both attachment anxiety and avoidance. Hence, mindfulness appeared to be counter to adult maladaptive attachment.

 

It should be noted that these studies are correlational. So, causation cannot be concluded. That mindfulness and attachment style covary does not mean that one is the cause of the other. But, that the two are related suggests that there may be a causal connection. This may indicate another mechanism by which mindfulness improves mental health, by countering maladaptive attachment styles. Anxious and avoidant attachment styles are both known to be associated with mental illness. So, mindfulness may promote mental health, at least in part, by decreasing these maladaptive styles. It remains for future research to investigate if mindfulness training can be a useful technique to promote healthy secure attachment and decrease maladaptive attachment and in turn promote mental health.

 

So, improve attachment style with mindfulness.

 

“Whether it’s understanding each other better, increasing intimacy, or just tackling day-to-day relationship problems, it takes awareness to make things work. Noticing patterns of behavior can give us a really useful insight. It’s sometimes helpful to understand how your partner is likely to react in a given situation. Not so that you can anticipate that with a prepared strategy, but just in order to be mindful of your own responses and reactions. It’s no exaggeration – short-circuiting these habitual patterns of conflict can be life changing.” – Headspace

 

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

 

Stevenson, J. C., Emerson, L.-M., & Millings, A. (2017). The Relationship Between Adult Attachment Orientation and Mindfulness: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 8(6), 1438–1455. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0733-y

 

Abstract

Mindfulness can be measured as an individual trait, which varies between individuals. In recent years, research has investigated the overlap between trait mindfulness and attachment. The aim of the present review and meta-analysis was to investigate the current evidence linking adult attachment dimensions to trait mindfulness dimensions, and to quantitatively synthesize these findings using meta-analyses. A systematic literature search was conducted using five scientific databases of which, upon review, 33 articles met inclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed journals and dissertations published in English that relied on quantitative methods using reliable and validated self-report measures where study participants were aged 16 years and older. Random-effects model meta-analytic procedures were used to investigate the relationship between both constructs. Cross-sectional studies found significant negative correlations between adult attachment insecurity, on either dimension (anxiety or avoidance) and both total mindfulness score and all five sub-dimensions of mindfulness (act with awareness, observe, describe, non-reacting, and non-judging), with the exception of a non-significant positive correlation between attachment anxiety and observe. The effect size of the relationships ranged from small to medium. The overall mean effect sizes were moderate (anxiety, r + = .34; avoidance, r + = −.28), with both attachment dimensions associated with lower levels of total mindfulness. Results are discussed in relation to theory and research. Implications for future research include the need to utilize longitudinal design to address causality and mechanisms of the relationship between these constructs.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5693974/