Gender Differences in Response to a School-Based Mindfulness Training Intervention for Early Adolescents

Mindfulness training has been used to improve emotional wellbeing in early adolescents. However, little is known about treatment outcome moderators, or individual differences that may differentially impact responses to treatment. The current study focused on gender as a potential moderator for affective outcomes in response to school-based mindfulness training. Sixth grade students (N = 100) were randomly assigned to either the six weeks of mindfulness meditation or the active control group as part of a history class curriculum. Participants in the mindfulness meditation group completed short mindfulness meditation sessions four to five times per week, in addition to didactic instruction (Asian history). The control group received matched experiential activity in addition to didactic instruction (African history) from the same teacher with no meditation component. Self-reported measures of emotional wellbeing/affect, mindfulness, and self-compassion were obtained at pre and post intervention. Meditators reported greater improvement in emotional wellbeing compared to those in the control group. Importantly, gender differences were detected, such that female meditators reported greater increases in positive affect compared to females in the control group, whereas male meditators and control males displayed equivalent gains. Uniquely among females but not males, increases in self-reported self-compassion were associated with improvements in affect. These findings support the efficacy of school-based mindfulness interventions, and interventions tailored to accommodate distinct developmental needs of female and male adolescents

Being Mindful: A Long-term Investigation of an Interdisciplinary Course in Mindfulness

Background: Burnout and work-related stress in health-care professionals (HCPs) is a growing concern to the optimal functioning of the health-care system. Mindfulness-based interventions may be well-suited to address burnout in HCPs. Objective: The purpose of this study was (1) to quantitatively evaluate the effect of a mindfulness-based intervention for interdisciplinary HCPs over time and at a long-term follow-up and (2) to explore perceived benefits, facilitators, and barriers to the practice of mindfulness at the long-term follow-up. Design: A mixed-method, repeated measures, within-subjects design was used to investigate Mindfulness for Interdisciplinary HCPs (MIHP) at baseline, post-MIHP, and a follow-up (6 months to 1.5 years after MIHP). MIHP is an 8-week, group-based course for interdisciplinary HCPs and students, with weekly meditation training, gentle yoga, and discussions on the application of mindfulness to common stressors faced by HCPs. Main outcome measures were the Maslach Burnout Inventory—Health Services Survey and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire. A semistructured interview was used to explore participants’ perceptions of sustained effects and practice in the context of HCP work at the long-term follow-up. The study protocol was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02736292). Results: Eighteen HCPs (88% female) participated in the study. Significant reductions were found after the intervention for 2 subscales of burnout: depersonalization, F(2, 17) = 5.98, P = .01, and emotional exhaustion, F(2, 17) = 2.64, P = .10. Three facets of dispositional mindfulness showed significant increases at long-term follow-up, act aware: F(2, 15) = 4.47, P = .03, nonjudge: F(2, 15) = 4.7, P = .03, and nonreactivity: F(2, 15) = 3.58, P = .05. Continued practice of skills long term was facilitated by the use of informal practice and perceived improvement in work and personal life. Conclusion: In sum, MIHP improved subscales of burnout and mindfulness. These findings should be further explored with a larger, controlled study. Interventions should focus on developing mindfulness practice that can be integrated into the work of HCPs

Audio-guided mindfulness training in schools and its effect on academic attainment: Contributing to theory and practice

We report the results of a randomized trial (N = 337) examining the effectiveness of a daily audio-guided MBI in raising academic achievement in 16 volunteer classrooms across two socio-demographically diverse United States primary schools. The study's findings were that, over the intervention period, improvements in Math scores, Social Studies scores and Grade Point Averages (GPA) were generally higher for students in intervention classrooms. However, confidence intervals were wide and there was pre-existing variability between schools and grades, resulting in few significant differences as a result of the intervention and generally low effect sizes. Through a careful discussion of the study's results, the paper contributes to theory by generating a comprehensive agenda for follow-up research. The study also contributes to practice by reporting on the effectiveness of technology-enabled mindfulness training because participating teachers seemed able to implement the intervention with almost no further training or need for hiring external mindfulness experts

A randomized controlled pilot trial of classroom-based mindfulness meditation compared to an active control condition in sixth-grade children

The current study is a pilot trial to examine the effects of a nonelective, classroom-based, teacher-implemented, mindfulness meditation intervention on standard clinical measures of mental health and affect in middle school children. A total of 101 healthy sixth-grade students (55 boys, 46 girls) were randomized to either an Asian history course with daily mindfulness meditation practice (intervention group) or an African history course with a matched experiential activity (active control group). Self-reported measures included the Youth Self Report (YSR), a modified Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Measure –Revised. Both groups decreased significantly on clinical syndrome subscales and affect but did not differ in the extent of their improvements. Meditators were significantly less likely to develop suicidal ideation or thoughts of self-harm than controls. These results suggest that mindfulness training may yield both unique and non-specific benefits that are shared by other novel activities

Mindfulness meditation targets transdiagnostic symptoms implicated in stress-related disorders: Understanding relationships between changes in mindfulness, sleep quality, and physical symptoms

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an 8-week meditation program known to improve anxiety, depression, and psychological well-being. Other health-related effects, such as sleep quality, are less well established, as are the psychological processes associated with therapeutic change. This prospective, observational study (n=213) aimed to determine whether perseverative cognition, indicated by rumination and intrusive thoughts, and emotion regulation, measured by avoidance, thought suppression, emotion suppression, and cognitive reappraisal, partly accounted for the hypothesized relationship between changes in mindfulness and two health-related outcomes: sleep quality and stress-related physical symptoms. As expected, increased mindfulness following the MBSR program was directly correlated with decreased sleep disturbance (r=-0.21, p=0.004) and decreased stress-related physical symptoms (r=-0.38, p<0.001). Partial correlations revealed that pre-post changes in rumination, unwanted intrusive thoughts, thought suppression, experiential avoidance, emotion suppression, and cognitive reappraisal each uniquely accounted for up to 32% of the correlation between the change in mindfulness and change in sleep disturbance and up to 30% of the correlation between the change in mindfulness and change in stress-related physical symptoms. Results suggest that the stress-reducing effects of MBSR are due, in part, to improvements in perseverative cognition and emotion regulation, two “transdiagnostic” mental processes that cut across stress-related disorders

Effects of Mindfulness Practice on Performance and Factors Related to Performance in Long-Distance Running: A Systematic Review

Fatigue, boredom, pain, performance anxiety, and negative thoughts are challenges characteristic of competitive running. One psychological technique that is gaining support and has been successfully implemented in sport is the practice of mindfulness. Where conventional psychological skills training interventions aim to change dysfunctional thoughts and emotions, mindfulness focuses on altering the relationship to physiological and psychological states. This could help in dealing with the demands of distance running but this has yet to be examined. This article was focused on reviewing mindfulness interventions on performance and performance-based factors in long distance running, assessing (a) mindfulness scores, (b) physiological performance-related factors, (c) psychological performance-related factors, and (d) performance outcomes. A search of relevant electronic databases yielded seven studies which met the inclusion criteria. The review provided some tentative support for the use of mindfulness interventions regarding: reducing competitive anxiety, attenuating immune responses to high-intensity running, and increasing state mindfulness. However, due to the methodological weaknesses of studies more research is required using high-quality randomized controlled trial designs

Yoga for generalized anxiety disorder: design of a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a common disorder associated with significant distress and interference. Although cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be the most effective form of psychotherapy, few patients receive or have access to this intervention. Yoga therapy offers another promising, yet under-researched, intervention that is gaining increasing popularity in the general public, as an anxiety reduction intervention. The purpose of this innovative clinical trial protocol is to investigate the efficacy of a Kundalini Yoga intervention, relative to CBT and a control condition. Kundalini yoga and CBT are compared with each other in a noninferiority test and both treatments are compared to stress education training, an attention control intervention, in superiority tests. The sample will consist of 230 individuals with a primary DSM-5 diagnosis of GAD. This randomized controlled trial will compare yoga (N=95) to both CBT for GAD (N=95) and stress education (N=40), a commonly used control condition. All three treatments will be administered by two instructors in a group format over 12 weekly sessions with four to six patients per group. Groups will be randomized using permuted block randomization, which will be stratified by site. Treatment outcome will be evaluated bi-weekly and at 6month follow-up. Furthermore, potential mediators of treatment outcome will be investigated. Given the individual and economic burden associated with GAD, identifying accessible alternative behavioral treatments will have substantive public health implications.R01 AT007257 - NCCIH NIH HHS; R01 AT007258 - NCCIH NIH HH

Effectiveness of a Multimodal Mindfulness Program for Student Health Care Professionals: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: The effectiveness of a multimodal mindfulness program incorporating traditional and nontraditional forms of active and nonactive meditation practices with a sample of occupational and physical therapy students was assessed in this study. Method: Thirty-six participants were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. The 8-week mindfulness program consisted of one weekly 40-min in-person group session and four weekly 10-min online guided meditations. Pre and postintervention measures included the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Student Stress Management Scale (SSMS), mindfulness activity log, open-ended qualitative questionnaire, GPA, and counseling visit frequency. Results: Statistically significant differences, with large effect sizes, were found between intervention and control group PSS (Z=-4.291, pd=-1.84) and SSMS (Z=-3.330, pd=-1.27) postintervention scores. Statistically significant differences, with large effect sizes, were found between intervention group pre and postmindfulness activity ratings for each week and all weeks combined (Z=-12.599, pd=1.29). Qualitative data revealed eight themes including greater sleep quality, energy levels, self-compassion, and life-work balance. No statistically significant differences were found between intervention and control group counseling visit frequency and GPA. Conclusion: As this is preliminary data about a novel intervention with a small student sample, effectiveness of this intervention should be further explored in a replication study

Psychosocial Effects of a Holistic Ayurvedic Approach to Well-being in Health and Wellness Courses.

BackgroundAs individuals are increasingly attending health and wellness courses outside of the conventional medical system, there is a need to obtain objective data on the effects of those programs on well-being.MethodsIn total, 154 men and women (mean age 54.7 years; range 25-83) participated in 3 different holistic wellness programs based on Ayurvedic Medicine principles (Seduction of Spirit, Journey into Healing, and Perfect Health) or a vacation control group. Psychosocial outcomes included spirituality (Delaney Spirituality Scale), mindful awareness (Mindful Attention Awareness Scale), psychological flexibility (Acceptance and Action Questionnaire), mood (Center for Epidemiology Studies-Depression), and anxiety (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement System Anxiety Scale).ResultsParticipants in the Seduction of Spirit (P &lt; .004), Journey into Healing (P &lt; .05), and Perfect Health (P &lt; .004) courses showed significant increases in spirituality as compared to vacation controls. Participants in Seduction of Spirit (P &lt; .007) also showed significant increases in mindfulness as compared to vacation controls. Participants in the Seduction of Spirit (P &lt; .001) and Journey into Healing (P &lt; .05) courses showed significant decreases in depressed mood as compared to those in the Perfect Health and vacation control groups. All study participants showed similar increases in psychological flexibility (P &lt; .01) and decreases in anxiety (P &lt; .01).ConclusionParticipation in wellness courses that incorporate a mind-body-spirit approach to health improves multiple domains of psychosocial well-being, which persists even after course participation

Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Distress, Weight Gain, and Glucose Control for Pregnant Low-Income Women: A Quasi-Experimental Trial Using the ORBIT Model.

BackgroundStress can lead to excessive weight gain. Mindfulness-based stress reduction that incorporates mindful eating shows promise for reducing stress, overeating, and improving glucose control. No interventions have tested mindfulness training with a focus on healthy eating and weight gain during pregnancy, a period of common excessive weight gain. Here, we test the effectiveness of such an intervention, the Mindful Moms Training (MMT), on perceived stress, eating behaviors, and gestational weight gain in a high-risk sample of low income women with overweight/obesity.MethodWe conducted a quasi-experimental study assigning 115 pregnant women to MMT for 8&nbsp;weeks and comparing them to 105 sociodemographically and weight equivalent pregnant women receiving treatment as usual. Our main outcomes included weight gain (primary outcome), perceived stress, and depression.ResultsWomen in MMT showed significant reductions in perceived stress (β&nbsp;= - 0.16) and depressive symptoms (β&nbsp;= - 0.21) compared to the treatment as usual (TAU) control group. Consistent with national norms, the majority of women (68%) gained excessive weight according to Institute of Medicine weight-gain categories, regardless of group. Slightly more women in the MMT group gained below the recommendation. Among secondary outcomes, women in MMT reported increased physical activity (β&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.26) and had lower glucose post-oral glucose tolerance test (β&nbsp;= - 0.23), being 66% less likely to have impaired glucose tolerance, compared to the TAU group.ConclusionA short-term intervention led to significant improvements in stress, and showed promise for preventing glucose intolerance. However, the majority of women gained excessive weight. A longer more intensive intervention may be needed for this high-risk population. Clinical Trials.gov #NCT01307683