Mind over matter: testing the efficacy of an online randomized controlled trial to reduce distraction from smartphone use

Evidence suggests a growing call for the prevention of excessive smartphone and social media use and the ensuing distraction that arises affecting academic achievement and productivity. A ten-day online randomized controlled trial with the use of smartphone apps, engaging participants in mindfulness exercises, self-monitoring and mood tracking, was implemented amongst UK university students (n = 143). Participants were asked to complete online pre-and post-intervention assessments. Results indicated high effect sizes in reduction of smartphone distraction and improvement scores on a number of self-reported secondary psychological outcomes. The intervention was not effective in reducing habitual behaviours, nomophobia, or time spent on social media. Mediation analyses demonstrated that: (i) emotional self-awareness but not mindful attention mediated the relationship between intervention effects and smartphone distraction, and (ii) online vigilance mediated the relationship between smartphone distraction and problematic social media use. The present study provides preliminary evidence of the efficacy of an intervention for decreased smartphone distraction and highlights psychological processes involved in this emergent phenomenon in the smartphone literature. Online interventions may serve as complementary strategies to reduce distraction levels and promote insight into online engagement. More research is required to elucidate the mechanisms of digital distraction and assess its implications in problematic use

Spontaneous thought and vulnerability to mood disorders : the dark side of the wandering mind

There is increasing interest in spontaneous thought, namely task-unrelated or rest-related mental activity. Spontaneous thought is an umbrella term for processes like mind-wandering, involuntary autobiographical memory, and daydreaming, with evidence elucidating adaptive and maladaptive consequences. In this theoretical framework, we propose that, apart from its positive functions, spontaneous thought is a precursor for cognitive vulnerability in individuals who are at risk for mood disorders. It is important that spontaneous thought mostly focuses on unattained goals and evaluates the discrepancy between current and desired status. In individuals who stably (i.e., trait negative affectivity) or transitorily (i.e., stress) experience negative emotions in reaction to goal-discrepancy, spontaneous thought fosters major cognitive vulnerabilities (e.g., rumination, hopelessness, low self-esteem, and cognitive reactivity), which, in turn, enhance depression. Furthermore, we also highlight preliminary links between spontaneous thought and bipolar disorder. The evidence for this framework is reviewed, and we discuss theoretical and clinical implications of our proposal

Into the awakened land: Attention, arousal and the mindful eye

Some of the most obvious and important realities are often the hardest to see. Although human beings harbour unprecedented sophistication in relation to their capacity for adaptive environmental negotiation, they also become so easily untethered from the simple act of being. The ancients understood the value of this mode, whereby early Buddhist dharma highlights the importance of being mindful towards the present moment, from a stance of wakefulness and alertness. Such capacities likely encompass an arousing quality, which may be associated with distinct attentional features directly accessible through a range of neurocognitive scientific methods. However, despite the utility and availability of such techniques, the wakeful and arousing qualities of mindfulness remain largely unexplored. In the present thesis, my primary aim was to examine mindfulness through the lens of adaptive gain theory (AGT), which positions the locus-coeruleus noradrenaline system (LC-NA) as a central arousal-based modulator of human wakefulness and attention during the adaptive negotiation of environmental information. Specifically, I converged the use of pupillometry – a reliable index of LC-NA activity – with a range of attentional stimuli to examine mindfulness as an AGT-predicted mode of elevated LC-NA arousal and augmented attention. Across seven experiments harnessing concurrent examinations of attentional processes and pupillary indices of noradrenergic activity, I demonstrated that mindfulness was associated with increased subjective indices of attentiveness and awareness, enhanced capacities for exploratory attention and associated shifts into tonic LC-NA arousal states. However, there were limited mindfulness-induced changes to performance-based assessments of alerting, orienting and executive network efficiency or increased LC-NA activation indicative of elevated arousal. Taken together, these results serve to embellish our current understanding of mindfulness as a capacity for wakefulness, awareness and enhanced attentional negotiation of environmental demands. That is, the “awakening” typically associated with mindfulness and meditation-related capacities may be more than mere metaphor, inviting future endeavour to reveal yet more information about the wakeful properties of the contemplative mind

Exploring the Effects of Brief Mindfulness and Reappraisal Training on Executive Control and Affect

Despite the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions for a wide range of psychological problems, their mechanisms remain unknown. Analogue studies of key treatment components can help distinguish these approaches. One such component, focused-breathing meditation, has rarely been studied in direct comparison to another active and theoretically distinct technique, cognitive reappraisal. The present study examined the effects of mindful breathing and cognitive reappraisal instructions on negative affect and executive control, two potential mechanisms of mindfulness, in a laboratory setting. Non-clinical college undergraduates (N = 136) were randomly assigned to a 10-minute mindfulness, reappraisal, or mind-wandering control condition. Contrary to hypotheses, no between-group differences were found in sadness ratings, state mindfulness, or the inhibitory control dimension of executive control following the intervention. The mindfulness condition showed lower inattention compared to the mind-wandering condition. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of specific theoretical mechanisms of mindfulness- and cognitive-reappraisal-based interventions

Contemplative Psychopharmacology: Exploring the intersection of mindfulness and pharmacologically-assisted change

Background: Mindfulness protocols, though beneficial for a range of indications, often involve long-term commitment and may not be accessible for those naturally low in trait mindfulness (e.g. attention-/ anxiety-related disorders). It remains unclear which ‘dose’ of mindfulness is necessary to produce beneficial effects, and broadly, how drugs such as nootropics and psychedelics may interact with mindfulness meditation. / Aims: The aims of this thesis are (1) to explore what dose of mindfulness is necessary to enhance state mindfulness (among other outcomes) and whether a drug can modulate, or add to the effects of a mindfulness strategy, (2) to explore how psychedelics may affect a meditation experience, and (3) to examine what role changes in mindfulness play in regards to beneficial psychological health outcomes shown after ceremonial psychedelic use. / Methods: A mixture of methodologies were applied to answer the above questions. Specifically, single-session mindfulness literature was systematically reviewed, and a double-placebo controlled study was designed and conducted to explore the potential for pharmacological enhancement of a single mindfulness strategy. A thematic analysis was conducted to explore user accounts of combined psychedelic and meditation experiences. Finally, linear multilevel models and longitudinal mediation models were used to explore the associations between changes in mindfulness capacity and psychological health over the course of a naturalistic ayahuasca study. / Results: Single-session mindfulness studies are capable of producing a variety of beneficial effects, and adjunctive modafinil appears to enhance some effects of behavioural strategies as well as participant engagement in subsequent practice. Psychedelics may also prove to be useful counterparts to meditations, and conversely, while psychedelics appear to enhance mindfulness, meditation practice can assist also in the navigation of, and potentially enhance effects of the psychedelic process

Effects of high versus low-quality preschool education : a longitudinal study in Mauritius

We report on a randomized controlled experiment in Mauritius by the Joint Child Health Project. This longitudinal study followed a cohort of children from different socio-economic backgrounds to examine educational outcomes among children in high and low-quality preschools. The findings show that quality of preschool education had no significant effect on children's overall educational attainment. However, academic performance of children in the experimental group was higher for children with poorly educated fathers, but lower for children with poorly educated mothers. Hence, the effects of high-quality preschool education worked in opposing directions—equalizing by compensating for the effect of father's level of education, and disequalizing by reinforcing the effect of mother's level of education

Spontaneous thought and vulnerability to mood disorders: The dark side of the wandering mind

There is increasing interest in spontaneous thought, namely task-unrelated or rest-related mental activity. Spontaneous thought is an umbrella term for processes like mindwandering, involuntary autobiographical memory, and daydreaming, with evidence elucidating adaptive and maladaptive consequences. In this theoretical framework, we propose that, apart from its positive functions, spontaneous thought is a precursor for cognitive vulnerability in individuals who are at-risk for mood disorders. Importantly, spontaneous thought mostly focuses on unattained goals and evaluates the discrepancy between current and desired status (Klinger, 1971, 2013a). In individuals who stably (i.e., trait negative affectivity) or transitorily (i.e., stress) experience negative emotions in reaction to goal-discrepancy, spontaneous thought fosters major cognitive vulnerabilities (e.g., rumination, hopelessness, low self-esteem, and cognitive reactivity) which, in turn, enhance depression. Furthermore, we also highlight preliminary links between spontaneous thought and bipolar disorder. The evidence for this framework is reviewed and we discuss theoretical and clinical implications of our proposal

The Role of Mindfulness, Mind Wandering, Attentional Control, and Maladaptive Personality Traits in Problematic Gaming Behavior

Objectives Problematic gaming has become a phenomenon of growing clinical relevance due to its negative impact on life and mental health outcomes. Much research has been carried out on its complex aetiology, and some studies have suggested that dispositional mindfulness, mind wandering, attentional control, and maladaptive personality traits may play some role, but they have never been included in the same prediction model. This study used Gaussian graphical models and Bayesian networks to investigate the pattern of association of these constructs and of background and gaming-related variables with problematic gaming in a sample of adult gamers. Method Participants (n=506) were administered an online survey comprising a questionnaire on background and gaming-related variables and the Gaming Disorder Test, the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-15, the Mind WanderingSpontaneous and Deliberate scales, the Attention Control-Distraction and Shifting scales, and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Brief Form. Results Gaussian graphical models showed that problematic gaming was directly associated with Acting with Awareness, Disinhibition, Psychoticism, playing more than 30 hr a week, ability level, and playing strategy games. Bayesian networks indicated that the occurrence of high levels of problematic gaming directly depended on the presence of low scores on Acting with Awareness. Conclusions The results suggest that one key feature of problematic gamers can be a high level of spontaneous thinking, either in the form of mind wandering or in the lack of Acting with Awareness, while maladaptive personality traits and attentional control seem to play a less central role