The burnout syndrome is the consequence of chronic stress that overwhelms an individual’s resources to cope with occupational or academic demands. Frenetic, under-challenged, and worn-out are different burnout subtypes. Mindfulness has been recognized to reduce stress, comprising five facets (observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-judging of inner experience, and non-reactivity to inner experience). This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the relationship between mindfulness facets, perceived stress, and burnout subtypes in a sample of 1233 students of Education, Nursing, and Psychology degrees from different universities of Valencia (Spain). Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was computed showing an adequate fit (Chi-square, CFI, TLI, RMSEA, and SRMR). Four mindfulness facets (all but observing) significantly correlated with general second-order mindfulness. Unexpected results were found: Acting with awareness facet was positively associated with frenetic subtype, while the non-reacting facet was positively associated with frenetic and under-challenged subtype. Ultimately, mindfulness facets negatively predicted the perceived stress levels, which in turn, predicted burnout. However, mindfulness plays different roles in the early stages of burnout syndrome (i.e., frenetic and under-challenged).

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The lack of highly effective treatments for fibromyalgia (FM) represents a great challenge for public health. The objective of this parallel, pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) was two-fold: (1) to analyze the clinical effects of mindfulness plus amygdala and insula retraining (MAIR) compared to a structurally equivalent active control group of relaxation therapy (RT) in the treatment of FM; and (2) to evaluate its impact on immune-inflammatory markers and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in serum. A total of 41 FM patients were randomized into two study arms: MAIR (intervention group) and RT (active control group), both as add-ons of treatment as usual. MAIR demonstrated significantly greater reductions in functional impairment, anxiety, and depression, as well as higher improvements in mindfulness, and self-compassion at post-treatment and follow-up, with moderate to large effect sizes. Significant decreases in pain catastrophizing and psychological inflexibility and improvements in clinical severity and health-related quality of life were found at follow-up, but not at post-treatment, showing large effect sizes. The number needed to treat was three based on the criteria of ≥50% Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) reduction post-treatment. Compared to RT, the MAIR showed significant decreases in BDNF. No effect of MAIR was observed in immune-inflammatory biomarkers (i.e., TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, and hs-CRP). In conclusion, these results suggest that MAIR, as an adjuvant of treatment-as-usual (TAU), appears to be effective for the management of FM symptoms and for reducing BDNF levels in serum.