There has been great interest in determining if mindfulness can be cultivated and if this cultivation leads to well-being. The current study offers preliminary evidence that at least one aspect of mindfulness, measured by the Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS; K. W. Brown & R. M. Ryan, 2003), can be cultivated and does mediate positive outcomes. Further, adherence to the practices taught during the meditation-based interventions predicted positive outcomes. College undergraduates were randomly allocated between training in two distinct meditation-based interventions, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR; J. Kabat-Zinn, 1990; n=15) and E. Easwaran's (1978/1991) Eight Point Program (EPP; n=14), or a waitlist control (n=15). Pretest, posttest, and 8-week follow-up data were gathered on self-report outcome measures. Compared to controls, participants in both treatment groups (n=29) demonstrated increases in mindfulness at 8-week follow-up. Further, increases in mindfulness mediated reductions in perceived stress and rumination. These results suggest that distinct meditation-based practices can increase mindfulness as measured by the MAAS, which may partly mediate benefits. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Older residents (N 5 1972) in California were investigated prospectively for association of volunteering service to others and all-cause mortality. Potential confounding factors were studied: demographics, health status, physical functioning, health habits, social support, religious involvement, and emotional states. Possible interaction effects of volunteering with religious involvement and social support were also explored. Results showed that 31 percent (n 5 630) of respondents volunteered, about half (n5289) for more than one organization. High volunteers ([.greaterequal]2 organizations) had 63 percent lower mortality than nonvolunteers (age and sex-adjusted) with relative hazard (RH) 5 0.37, confidence interval (CI) 5 0.24, 0.58. Multivariate adjustment moderately reduced difference to 44 percent (RH 5 0.56, CI 5 0.35, 0.89), mostly due to physical functioning, health habits, and social support. Unexpectedly, volunteering was slightly more protective for those with high religious involvement and perceived social support. After multivariate adjustment, any level of volunteering reduced mortality by 60 percent among weekly attenders at religious services (RH 5 0.40; CI 5 0.21,0.74). Lower mortality rates for community service volunteers were only partly explained by health habits, physical functioning, religious attendance, and social support.

Objective: Mindfulness interventions, which train practitioners to monitor their present-moment experience with a lens of acceptance, are known to buffer stress reactivity. Little is known about the active mechanisms driving these effects. We theorize that acceptance is a critical emotion regulation mechanism underlying mindfulness stress reduction effects. Method: In this three-arm parallel trial, mindfulness components were dismantled into three structurally equivalent 15-lesson smartphone-based interventions: (1) training in both monitoring and acceptance (Monitor+Accept), (2) training in monitoring only (Monitor Only), or (3) active control training (Coping control). 153 stressed adults (mean age = 32 years; 67% female; 53% white, 21.5% black, 21.5% Asian, 4% other race) were randomly assigned to complete one of three interventions. After the intervention, cortisol, blood pressure, and subjective stress reactivity were assessed using a modified Trier Social Stress Test. Results: As predicted, Monitor+Accept training reduced cortisol and systolic blood pressure reactivity compared to Monitor Only and control trainings. Participants in all three conditions reported moderate levels of subjective stress. Conclusions: This study provides the first experimental evidence that brief smartphone mindfulness training can impact stress biology, and that acceptance training drives these effects. We discuss implications for basic and applied research in contemplative science, emotion regulation, stress and coping, health, and clinical interventions. Trial Registration: Clinical Trials NCT02433431

OBJECTIVES: This study analyzed the prospective association between attending religious services and all-cause mortality to determine whether the association is explainable by 6 confounding factors: demographics, health status, physical functioning, health habits, social functioning and support, and psychological state. METHODS: The association between self-reported religious attendance and subsequent mortality over 5 years for 1931 older residents of Marin County, California, was examined by proportional hazards regression. Interaction terms of religion with social support were used to explore whether other forms of social support could substitute for religion and diminish its protective effect. RESULTS: Persons who attended religious services had lower mortality than those who did not (age- and sex-adjusted relative hazard [RH] = 0.64; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.52, 0.78). Multivariate adjustment reduced this relationship only slightly (RH = 0.76; 95% CI = 0.62, 0.94), primarily by including physical functioning and social support. Contrary to hypothesis, religious attendance tended to be slightly more protective for those with high social support. CONCLUSIONS: Lower mortality rates for those who attend religious services are only partly explained by the 6 possible confounders listed above. Psychodynamic and other explanations need further investigation.

The authors evaluated an 8-week, 2-hr per week training for physicians, nurses, chaplains, and other health professionals using nonsectarian, spiritually based self-management tools based on passage meditation (E. Easwaran, 1978/1991). Participants were randomized to intervention (n = 27) or waiting list (n = 31). Pretest, posttest, and 8- and 19-week follow-up data were gathered on 8 measures, including perceived stress, burnout, mental health, and psychological well-being. Aggregated across examinations, beneficial treatment effects were observed on stress (p = .0013) and mental health (p = .03). Treatment effects on stress were mediated by adherence to practices (p = .05). Stress reductions remained large at 19 weeks (84% of the pretest standard deviation, p = .006). Evidence suggests this program reduces stress and may enhance mental health.

These results are consistent with the view that religious involvement, like high socioeconomic status, is a general protective factor that promotes health through a variety of causal pathways. Further study is needed to determine whether the independent effects of religion are mediated by psychological states or other unknown factors.

The question, 'Does religion (or spirituality) cause physical health benefits?' may be given at least four diverging interpretations in terms of causal path diagrams. In common usage, the question may be interpreted to indicate that religion causally influences health by: (1) any mechanism, including well-established factors such as social support and improved health behaviors; (2) additional mechanisms, such as enhanced positive psychological states (e.g. faith, hope, inner peace) acting through psychoneuroimmunologic or psychoneuroendocrinologic pathways; (3) offering psychological strength for acquiring or maintaining positive health behaviors; or (4) causally influencing health by distant healing or intercessory prayer. We review historical confusion between these interpretations, arguing that disentangling them is important for collaborative health care, promotion and research.

No abstract