Effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions on empathy: A meta-analysis

Hu, Zheng-Yu; Wen, Yu-Rong; Lin, Yangyang; Shi, Jian; Yu, Zihan; Lin, You-Tian; Wang, Yuling

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.992575

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…We found that affective empathy could moderate the relationship between two symptoms of aggression and PSU: “productivity loss” and “physical aggression”. Therefore, individuals can employ psychological counseling techniques and skills, such as mindfulness ( 59 ), which have been demonstrated to effectively enhance empathy, to address the relationship between PSU and aggression. In sum, the present study suggests that the mechanism of PSU may be different among adolescents with different levels of empathy, and studies to further clarify the underlying mechanism of PSU are still warranted.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of empathy on the bidirectional relationships between problematic smartphone use and aggression among secondary school students: a moderated network approach

Wu,

Zou,

Tang

et al. 2024

Front. Psychiatry

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BackgroundExisting literature on the relationship between problematic smartphone use (PSU) and aggression has primarily focused on examining their unidirectional association, with limited attention paid to the bidirectional nature of this relationship, particularly when considering the role of empathy. This study employs a novel moderated network approach to examine the bidirectional relationship between problematic smartphone use and aggression, while also investigating the moderating mechanism of empathy.MethodsA total of 2,469 students (49.1% female, Meanage = 13.83, SDage = 1.48) from 35 junior and senior high schools in Harbin, China, participated in this study. Empathy level, aggressiveness, and PSU symptoms were assessed using the Basic Empathy Scale, the Buss-Warren Aggression Questionnaire, and the Mobile Phone Addiction Index.ResultsAnalysis revealed that the relationship between PSU and aggression was complex and bidirectional. The strongest association was observed between “hostility” and “withdrawal/escape”. In addition, “anger” had the highest Expected Influence (EI) in both affective and cognitive moderate network models. An important discovery was also made regarding the conditional effect of “productive loss” and “physical aggression” across different levels of affective empathy. Specifically, at lower levels of affective empathy, a positive bidirectional relationship was found between “productive loss” and “physical aggression”. However, this relationship turned negative and bidirectional at higher levels of affective empathy.ConclusionThe findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the complex dynamics between PSU and aggression and highlight the need for targeted interventions that promote affective empathy to mitigate the negative consequences of excessive smartphone use.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of empathy on the bidirectional relationships between problematic smartphone use and aggression among secondary school students: a moderated network approach

Wu,

Zou,

Tang

et al. 2024

Front. Psychiatry

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“…It also has a positive relationship with the occurrence of anxiety and depressive disorders [68]. The practice of mindfulness has a positive impact on maintaining the body's homeostasis [69], emotional stability [70], increasing empathy [71], reducing anxiety, and regulating the functioning of the sympathetic nervous system [72]. Mindfulness is a safe method, and the overall rate of adverse events is 8.3% [73].…”

Section: Mindfulnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effectiveness of Mindfulness in the Treatment of Methamphetamine Addiction Symptoms: Does Neuroplasticity Play a Role?

Chmiel,

Malinowska,

Rybakowski

et al. 2024

Brain Sciences

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Introduction: Methamphetamine is a highly stimulating psychoactive drug that causes life-threatening addictions and affects millions of people around the world. Its effects on the brain are complex and include disturbances in the neurotransmitter systems and neurotoxicity. There are several known treatment methods, but their effectiveness is moderate. It must be emphasised that no drugs have been approved for treatment. For this reason, there is an urgent need to develop new, effective, and safe treatments for methamphetamine. One of the potential treatments is mindfulness meditation. In recent years, this technique has been researched extensively in the context of many neurological and psychiatric disorders. Methods: This review explores the use of mindfulness in the treatment of methamphetamine addiction. Searches were conducted in the PubMed/Medline, Research Gate, and Cochrane databases. Results: Seven studies were identified that used mindfulness-based interventions in the treatment of methamphetamine addiction. The results show that mindfulness is an effective form of reducing hunger, risk of relapses, stress indicators, depression, and aggression, alone or in combination with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Mindfulness also improved the cognitive function in addicts. The included studies used only behavioural measures. The potential mechanisms of mindfulness in addiction were explained, and it was proposed that it can induce neuroplasticity, alleviating the symptoms of addiction. Conclusions: Evidence from the studies suggest that mindfulness may be an effective treatment option for methamphetamine addiction, used alone or in combination with tDCS. However, further high-quality research is required to establish the role of this treatment option in this field. The use of neuroimaging and neurophysiological measures is fundamental to understand the mechanisms of mindfulness.

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“…Another recent systematic review focused exclusively on the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions on empathy in healthy populations and included 12 randomized clinical trials and 1 quasi-experimental study[ 28 ]. Its meta-analysis found a statistically significant positive standardized mean difference of 0.37 (95% confidence interval: 0.16 to 0.58) favoring the mindfulness-based interventions in improving empathy levels in comparison to controls.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mindfulness training in medical education as a means to improve resilience, empathy, and mental health in the medical profession

Vidal,

Ribeiro,

Carvalho-Filho

et al. 2024

World J Psychiatry

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The high rates of depression, burnout, and increased risk of suicide among medical students, residents, and physicians in comparison with other careers signal a mental health crisis within our profession. We contend that this crisis coupled with the inadequate acquisition of interpersonal skills during medical education results from the interaction between a challenging environment and the mental capital of individuals. Additionally, we posit that mindfulness-based practices are instrumental for the development of major components of mental capital, such as resilience, flexibility of mind, and learning skills, while also serving as a pathway to enhance empathy, compassion, self-awareness, conflict resolution, and relational abilities. Importantly, the evidence base supporting the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions has been increasing over the years, and a growing number of medical schools have already integrated mindfulness into their curricula. While we acknowledge that mindfulness is not a panacea for all educational and mental health problems in this field, we argue that there is currently an unprecedented opportunity to gather momentum, spread and study mindfulness-based programs in medical schools around the world as a way to address some longstanding shortcomings of the medical profession and the health and educational systems upon which it is rooted.

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Effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions on empathy: A meta-analysis

Cited by 8 publications

References 74 publications

Effects of empathy on the bidirectional relationships between problematic smartphone use and aggression among secondary school students: a moderated network approach

Effects of empathy on the bidirectional relationships between problematic smartphone use and aggression among secondary school students: a moderated network approach

The Effectiveness of Mindfulness in the Treatment of Methamphetamine Addiction Symptoms: Does Neuroplasticity Play a Role?

Mindfulness training in medical education as a means to improve resilience, empathy, and mental health in the medical profession

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