Cultivating mindfulness: effects on well‐being

Abstract

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.

Assessing treatments used to reduce rumination and/or worry: A systematic review

“…As Robins et al (2012) did not perform ITT analysis and only reported 'completers' (with a high rate of attrition) these results must also be viewed with caution. Shapiro et al (2008) compared participation in an eight-week MBSR programme against another meditation-based programme (EPP) and found that increases in mindfulness (in the MBSR group) mediated a significant reduction in rumination, and MBSR was considerably more effective than EPP in reducing rumination. Furthermore, participants who had taken part in the MBSR programme showed further gains, through decreased levels of self-reported rumination, when followed-up two months after treatment.…”

“…These studies may have employed appropriate processes of randomisation but the lack of detail made it difficult for us to assess; and best practice suggests that randomisation processes should be reported in full. Secondly, one of the studies had a good randomisation process but then participants changed condition after randomisation had occurred (Shapiro et al, 2008); and finally, one study employed restricted randomisation (Steinmetz et al, 2012).…”

“…Five studies employed methods for data imputation that are more robust than LOCF, e.g., mixed model analyses or multiple imputation (Andersson et al 2012;Ekkers et al, 2011;Paxling et al, 2011;Van Aalderen et al, 2012;Wolitzky-Taylor & Telch, 2010); and two of these studies further evidenced best practice by reporting both 'completer' and ITT sample results (Paxling et al, 2011;Wolitzky-Taylor & Telch, 2010). The remaining study (Shapiro et al, 2008) stated they performed ITT analysis but they did not clarify method of data imputation and they reported ITT results only; therefore, it was difficult to assess this study against this criterion. However, as they had a very low attrition rate (3%), the risk of bias was considered low for this study.…”

Validity evidence of the brazilian version of the five facet mindfulness questionnaire (FFMQ)

“…Studies have associated higher levels of mindfulness with higher positive affect, life satisfaction, and self-esteem, and lower negative affect and rumination (Shapiro, Oman, Thoresen, Plante, & Flinders, 2008).…”

Ruminação e habilidades de mindfulness em praticantes e não praticantes de meditação

“…Estes achados estão de acordo com a ideia de que a meditação ajuda os praticantes a desenvolverem uma maior consciência sobre seus padrões mentais, mudando a forma como reagem às emoções, sensações e/ou pensamentos que são normalmente evocados por tais padrões. Por fim, a relevância destes resultados está especialmente atrelada ao fato de que tanto o aumento de mindfulness, quanto a redução da ruminação, parecem caracterizar mecanismos psicológicos por trás da relação entre meditação, bem-estar e regulação emocional (Brown & Ryan, 2003;Carmody & Baer, 2008;Jain et al, 2007;Nyklíček & Kuijpers, 2008;Shapiro, Oman, Thoresen, Plante, & Flinders, 2008;Wolkin, 2015). …”