An online mindful parenting training for mothers raising toddlers:Assessment of acceptability, effectiveness, and personal goals

Objectives Mindful parenting (MP) interventions show promising results, but they mostly target parents (of children) with mental health problems. This study examined an online MP intervention for mothers with toddlers in a population-based sample. Aims were to assess acceptability and effectiveness of the intervention for mothers with and without parental stress, and examine their predetermined personal goals. Methods The study included 157 mothers with toddlers from the general population of whom 73 reported parental stress. The mothers participated in an 8-week online MP training. Questionnaires were completed at waitlist, pretest, posttest, and follow-up. Results Mothers rated the training positively, although only 23.1% completed the training. Personal goals were analyzed qualitatively, establishing four different themes: attention, well-being, patience, and balance. Significant improvements in personal goals posttest and follow-up were found (large and very large effect size, respectively). We found no significant improvements from waitlist to pretest for all outcome variables, except personal goals (medium effect size). Mixed-linear model analyses showed significant improvements posttest and follow-up as compared to pretest regarding Self-compassion, Parental over-reactivity and Symptoms of anxiety and depression (small to medium effect sizes). There was an effect at posttest for Parenting problems, and for Parental role restriction at follow-up (small effect sizes). Levels of parental stress and theme of personal goal did not influence the effectiveness of the intervention. Conclusions The current study provides initial evidence that an online MP training could be an easily accessible, inexpensive, and valuable intervention for parents without an indication for a therapist-assisted intervention. Trial Registration Dutch Trial Register (NTR7401

Anisotropy and chemical composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using arrival directions measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropy in the distribution of arrival directions of the cosmic rays with energies $E>E_{th}=5.5\times 10^{19}$ eV. These show a correlation with the distribution of nearby extragalactic objects, including an apparent excess around the direction of Centaurus A. If the particles responsible for these excesses at $E>E_{th}$ are heavy nuclei with charge $Z$, the proton component of the sources should lead to excesses in the same regions at energies $E/Z$. We here report the lack of anisotropies in these directions at energies above $E_{th}/Z$ (for illustrative values of $Z=6,\ 13,\ 26$). If the anisotropies above $E_{th}$ are due to nuclei with charge $Z$, and under reasonable assumptions about the acceleration process, these observations imply stringent constraints on the allowed proton fraction at the lower energies

Aandachttraining en zelfzorg : aandachttraining en de zelfzorg van de aankomende professional : "pilot aandachttraining binnen het hoger beroepsonderwijs"

In dit artikel wordt verslag gedaan van een pilot gehouden binnen Fontys Sociale Studies in de periode 2008-2010 rondom de MBSR-aandachttraining bij eindejaars studenten, begeleid door onderzoek vanuit Tilburg University. De pilot is gehouden onder de noemer 'aandachttraining en zelfzorg van de professional. In het eerste deel wordt uitleg geven over de training en wordt een verbinding gemaakt van het begrip Aandacht met 'vraaggestuurd leren', 'Empowerment' en 'Presentie'. In het tweede deel komt de student tot spreken over wat gewaardeerd is, moeilijk gevonden werd, welke veranderingen bij zichzelf waargenomen werden en de visie op de plaats van deze training binnen een opleiding tot professioneel hulpverlener. De belangrijkste conclusie uit deze pilot is dat de aandachttraining door de studenten zeer gewaardeerd is: enerzijds als middel om een groter persoonlijk bewustzijn op te bouwen en daardoor hun welzijn te vergroten en anderzijds als middel om een betere, aandachtige professional te zijn. De aanbeveling is om de vervolgstappen rondom de aandachttraining en het begeleidende onderzoek nadrukkelijk te koppelen aan een Fontysbrede kring (over meerdere instituten heen) die hierin de regie voert, mogelijk in samenwerking met Tilburg University. Opgemerkt wordt dat hier kansen liggen om samen verder kennis te maken met en over Aandacht, mogelijk ook in nieuwe toepassingsgebieden

Emotion regulation and well-being/ Edit.: Ivan Nyklicek

xvii, p. 331; 25 c

The Temporal Order of Change in Daily Mindfulness and Affect During Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Increases in mindfulness are assumed to lead to improvements in psychological well-being during mindfulness-based treatments. However, the temporal order of this association has received little attention. This intensive longitudinal study examines whether within-person changes in mindfulness precede or follow changes in negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) during a mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) program. This study also examines interindividual differences in the association between mindfulness and affect and possible predictors of these differences. Mindfulness, NA, and PA were assessed on a daily basis in 83 individuals from the general population who participated in an MBSR program. Multilevel autoregressive models were used to investigate the temporal order of changes in mindfulness and affect. Day-to-day changes in mindfulness predicted subsequent day-to-day changes in both NA and PA, but reverse associations did not emerge. Thus, changes in mindfulness seem to precede rather than to follow changes in affect during MBSR. The magnitude of the effects differed substantially between individuals, showing that the strength of the relationship between mindfulness and affect is not the same for all participants. These between-subjects differences could not be explained by gender, age, level of education, average level of mindfulness home practice, or baseline levels of mindfulness and affect. Mindfulness home practice during the day did predict subsequent increases in mindfulness. The findings suggest that increasing mindfulness on a daily basis can be a beneficial means to improve daily psychological well-being

Mindfulness skills during pregnancy: Prospective associations with mother's mood and neonatal birth weight

Objectives:  Mindfulness skills have been associated with better mood and several health related outcomes. Because depressed mood during pregnancy has been related to worse child outcomes, the aim was to examine the association of mindfulness skills during pregnancy with the mother's depressive symptoms, gestational age, and neonatal birth weight. Methods:  A subsample of 905 pregnant women who participated in the longitudinal cohort HAPPY study (Holistic Approach to Pregnancy and the first Postpartum Year) completed the 12-item Three Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form at 22 weeks of gestation. The Edinburgh Depression Scale was completed to assess depressive symptoms at 12, 22 and 32 weeks. The obstetric medical records were examined for gestational age and birth weight. Results:  Mindfulness skills Acting with Awareness and Nonjudging at 22 weeks were associated with less depressive symptoms at 22 weeks and at 32 weeks. When controlled for depressive symptoms at 22 weeks, the association was still significant for Nonjudging predicting depressive symptoms at 32 weeks (Beta = -0.12, p <0.01). Regarding the obstetric medical records, only Nonreacting was (positively) associated with birth weight (Beta = 0.09, p <0.01). Controlling for gestational age, sex, parity, depressive symptoms, and health behavior, Nonreacting predicted a normal birth weight (OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.06-1.19), in contrast to low birth weight. Conclusion:  It seems that different mindfulness skills during pregnancy are important in predicting mother's depressive symptoms compared to the prediction of child's birth weight. Potential mechanisms are discussed

Potential benefits of mindfulness during pregnancy on maternal autonomic nervous system function and infant development

Mindfulness is known to decrease psychological distress. Possible benefits in pregnancy have rarely been explored. Our aim was to examine the prospective association of mindfulness with autonomic nervous system function during pregnancy and with later infant social-emotional development. Pregnant women (N = 156) completed self-report mindfulness and emotional distress questionnaires, and had their autonomic function assessed in their first and third trimesters, including heart rate (HR), indices of heart rate variability (HRV), preejection period (PEP), and systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). The social-emotional development of 109 infants was assessed at 4 months of age. More mindful pregnant women had less prenatal and postnatal emotional distress (p < .001) and higher cardiac parasympathetic activity: root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD: p = .03) and high-frequency (HF) HRV (p = .02). Between the first and third trimesters, women's overall HR increased (p < .001), and HRV (RMSSD, HF HRV, and low-frequency (LF) HRV: p < .001) and PEP decreased (p < .001). In more mindful mothers, parasympathetic activity decreased less (RMSSD: p = .01; HF HRV: p = .03) and sympathetic activity (inversely related to PEP) increased less (PEP: p = .02) between trimesters. Their offspring displayed less negative social-emotional behavior (p = .03) compared to offspring of less mindful mothers. Mindfulness in pregnancy was associated with ANS changes likely to be adaptive and with better social-emotional offspring development. Interventions to increase mindfulness during pregnancy might improve maternal and offspring health, but randomized trials are needed to demonstrate this.status: publishe