An Exploration of the Effects of Mindfulness on Pain: The Role of Pain Catastrophizing

Chronic pain is a complex global public health concern associated with a host of negative outcomes, including loss of productivity, decreased quality of life, and greater likelihood of developing a mental health disorder. Initial evidence indicates that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) improve pain symptomatology. However, most MBIs are time and resource intensive, and it is unclear how mindfulness may improve the pain experience. The purpose of the present set of studies was to test the effects of a brief, app-based MBI on pain experience, and to examine whether pain catastrophizing was a statistical mediator of any effect. Two studies were conducted using samples of healthy adults recruited through West Virginia University (N = 118) and adults reporting chronic low back pain (N = 78), respectively. Participants were randomly assigned to either a 10-day app-based MBI or an active control condition. Pain- catastrophizing, fear of pain, pain sensitivity, and pain severity (Study 2 only) were assessed pre- and post-intervention. We hypothesized that participants in the mindfulness condition, but not the active control condition, would demonstrate decreased pain experience post-intervention. Further, we expected that the effect of the app-based MBI on pain experience would be statistically accounted for by decreases in pain catastrophizing. Decreases in pain sensitivity (Study 1), fear of pain (Study 1), and pain severity (Study 2) were observed pre- to post- intervention, regardless of condition. There was no evidence of an effect of condition or statistical mediation by pain catastrophizing. Overall, the present findings suggest that a 10-day app-based MBI is not sufficient to elicit changes in pain experience among individuals with or without chronic pain. It remains unknown whether pain catastrophizing statistically mediates the effect of an MBI on pain experience. Future research may assess the use of longer app-based interventions or the inclusion of face-to-face intervention components in order to improve pain outcomes

The Role of Flavors in Electronic Cigarette Abuse Liability in Tobacco-Naïve Young Adults

A primary public health concern associated with the use of electronic cigarettes (ECIGS) has been the risk of product initiation by vulnerable young adults who are largely naïve to tobacco. The use of ECIGs among such individuals may be influenced by the wide variety of sweet flavored liquids available for purchase. Previous work suggests that one flavor, menthol, increases the likelihood of abuse of cigarettes. Thus, the United States Food and Drug Administration has requested input from the research community regarding the abuse liability of flavored ECIGs in order to inform future product regulation. Using a double-blind, within-subject study design, 30 young adults (aged 18-24 years, M = 19.43, 63.3% female, 83.3% Caucasian) who are largely tobacco-naïve experienced two sessions that differed by the flavor of ECIG liquid used: tobacco or fruit (choice of fruit medley or mango). Within each session, participants used the flavor assigned ECIG during two separate puffing bouts and rated product effects via subjective questionnaires (e.g., nicotine delivery, product acceptability) pre- and post-bouts. Participants also rated subjective product appeal and engaged in both a progressive ratio and probability-based purchase task to assess willingness to work for and spend money on each flavor of ECIG. Smoking topography (i.e., puff number, duration, and inter-puff interval) was also analyzed. Heart rate and subjective measures of nicotine delivery (e.g., lightheadedness, nausea, headache) were significantly higher post- bout compared to pre-bout, indicating nicotine delivery during puffing bouts. However, few significant effects of flavor emerged across subjective, physiological, behavioral economic, or puffing topography outcomes. Recruited participants had very low levels of lifetime ECIG use (M = 12.37 uses; range = 3 - 50 uses) and reported not enjoying ECIG use. Rather, the majority of participants reported social motivations as a primary reason for product use. While this study is the first to experimentally assess abuse liability of flavor among a sample of tobacco naïve young adults, results suggest that there may be factors other than flavor which motivate initial product use and susceptibility among naïve users with low lifetime use

Mindfulness and engagement in COVID-19 preventive behavior

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents a significant risk to population health. Health organizations worldwide have recommended numerous preventive health behaviors to slow the spread of COVID-19. Yet, considerable variability exists in individual-level adherence to these recommendations. Mindfulness has been associated with greater engagement in health promotive behavior (e.g., physical activity, healthy eating), and may serve as an individual difference factor that encourages adherence. However, no study to date has examined the extent to which mindfulness is associated with preventive health behaviors during a global pandemic. The purpose of the present study was to assess the relations between mindfulness and recommended preventive health behaviors for COVID-19. A national U.S. sample (N = 353; Mage = 41.47 years, range: 19–84; 50.2% female) completed an online survey via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk from April 3rd to 15th, 2020, including measures of mindfulness and frequency of avoiding touching one’s face, handwashing, disinfecting/cleaning frequently used surfaces, social distancing, and self-quarantining. Personality, health risk, and demographic factors were also assessed to test the unique association between mindfulness and preventive health behaviors. Mindfulness was significantly correlated with greater engagement in all of the COVID-19 preventive health behaviors. However, when accounting for demographics, health risk, and personality, mindfulness was only uniquely associated with engagement in social distancing. This research highlights mindfulness as an individual-level characteristic associated with engagement in COVID-19 preventive health behavior and may inform future prevention efforts aimed at improving adherence to recommendations for curbing the spread of infectious disease

Social distancing, self-quarantining, and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

An analysis of survey data collected online via Qualtrics Panel early in the COVID-19 pandemic. We will examine the extent to which social distancing and self-quarantining prospectively predicted mental health (i.e., depression and anxiety), and vice versa, over the course of eight weeks in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (n = 1,011)

Descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alphas, and bivariate correlations for Study 1 variables.

Descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alphas, and bivariate correlations for Study 1 variables.</p

Structural equation models tested in Studies 1 and 2.

Structural equation models tested in Studies 1 and 2.</p

Descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alphas, and bivariate correlations for Study 2 variables.

Descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alphas, and bivariate correlations for Study 2 variables.</p