Investigating the Impact of Peer-Trainer Delivered Mindfulness Training on Cognitive Abilities and Psychological Health

Abstract

Objectives Mindfulness training (MT) has emerged as a promising tool to promote cognitive functioning and psychological health. As a result, demand for scalable dissemination of MT is increasing across many time-pressured settings. One such setting is the military family. Military spouses face numerous challenges and yet there is a paucity of evidence-based training programs available that are tailored to promote their cognitive functioning and psychological health. Methods In the present study, we examined the impact of a 4-week MT program contextualized for military spouses and delivered via a peer train-the-trainer approach by fellow military spouse instructors (SIs). SIs first participated in an MT teaching practicum to learn how to deliver the program. They then delivered the MT program to military spouse participants (MT group, n = 48). The MT group was tested before (T1) and after (T2) the training interval and compared to a no-training control group (NTC group, n = 58) that did not receive MT but completed both testing sessions. Results Compared to the NTC group, the MT group showed benefits on measures of cognitive abilities, psychological health, and well-being. Particularly, benefits were reflected in the decrease over time (T1 to T2) in daily cognitive failures and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, correlation analyses revealed that greater MT practice corresponded with greater improvements in objective attentional performance. Conclusions These findings provide initial evidence for the beneficial effects of a tailored MT program when delivered by peer trainers. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov (NTC03308344).

Impact of mindfulness training and yoga on injury and pain-related impairment: a group randomized trial in basic combat training

“…Future research should also assess the effects of a MT and yoga intervention beyond BCT and identify ways to support the continuation of mindfulness and yoga practice once trainees have joined their first unit of assignment where group schedules may be less explicitly structured. Building on studies demonstrating the impact of practice on study outcomes, future research should consider optimizing practice engagement in an occupational setting (Blanck et al, 2018;Denkova et al, 2020Denkova et al, , 2021Nassif et al, 2021). Such studies can also examine the scope of effort required to sustain the benefits of MT and yoga in these settings.…”

Investigating the protective effects of mindfulness-based attention training on mind wandering in applied settings

“…Beyond scheduling flexibility, MBAT is designed to enable context-specific adaptation of the program to ensure that the themes, examples, and trainer-led discussions are relevant for the professional and lifestyle demands and challenges that specific cohorts may face (see Jha et al, 2020 and Denkova et al, 2021 for detailed descriptions of MBAT contextualized for soldiers and military spouses, respectively). While maintaining MBAT’s core mindfulness themes and practices, program materials are customized to incorporate context-relevant vernacular and examples.…”

“…During the 4-week training interval, MBAT participants were assigned 10–15 min of formal, out-of-class MBAT practices. This study used a non-randomized design with the primary goal to examine the feasibility of MBAT delivery by peers who previously received a teaching practicum (see Denkova et al, 2021 for more details).…”

“…Participants in all five studies completed two testing sessions (T1 and T2) separated by a 4-week interval over which the training groups received the MBAT program, and no-training control groups did not. Studies 1, 2, and 5 employed in-person testing proctored by 1 or 2 experimenters in a group setting with up to 10 participants (see Denkova et al, 2020Denkova et al, , 2021. In studies 3 and 4, participants engaged in remote testing sessions through Inquisit Web (Millisecond Software, LLC), which is an online platform that facilitates remote data collection for research purposes.…”

“…Prior studies have investigated MBAT delivery in military cohorts (Zanesco et al, 2019;Jha et al, 2020Jha et al, , 2022Nassif et al, 2023). As described herein, the program has more recently been adapted for delivery in a variety of civilian settings (e.g., Denkova et al, 2020Denkova et al, , 2021Denkova et al, , 2022.…”