The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Depressive Symptoms in Elderly Bereaved People with Loss-Related Distress: a Controlled Pilot Study

O’Connor, Maja; Piet, Jacob; Hougaard, Esben

doi:10.1007/s12671-013-0194-x

Cited by 60 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Foulk et al (2013) reduced the sitting meditation from 40 minutes to 20-30 minutes, altered the walking meditation to focus on overall surroundings instead of lifting and placing feet (to avoid balance problems), reduced the length of the day-long retreat, and reduced the duration of group meetings (2 hours including breaks). O'Connor et al (2014) shortened the weekly meetings and refocused the psychoeducation on negative affect. Teixeira (2010) instructed participants in mindfulness meditation and encouraged them to listen to a guided CD 5 days/week for 4 weeks, but did not include other elements of the MBSR curriculum.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers followed up with the individuals who opted out before group began, finding lack of transportation, other time commitments, and illness to be the major reasons why ten participants never started the group. O'Connor et al (2014) reported a 64% attrition rate, but included individuals who were eligible, but declined participation. Researchers reported this was due to loss of communication with the participant, lack of interest, illness, and immobility.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Older Adults: a Review of the Effects on Physical and Emotional Well-Being

et al. 2015

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This comprehensive review examined the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on the physical and emotional wellbeing of older adults, a rapidly growing segment of the general population. Search procedures yielded 15 treatment outcome studies meeting inclusion criteria. Support was found for the feasibility and acceptability of mindfulness-based interventions with older adults. Physical and emotional wellbeing outcome variables offered mixed support for the use of mindfulness-based interventions with older adults. Potential explanations of mixed findings may include methodological flaws, study limitations, and inconsistent modifications of protocols. These are discussed in detail and future avenues of research are discussed, emphasizing the need to incorporate geriatric populations into future mindfulness-based empirical research.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Older Adults: a Review of the Effects on Physical and Emotional Well-Being

et al. 2015

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“…Moreover, other third-wave cognitive behavioural treatments, such as compassion-focused therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy, are increasingly being used to target these phenomena (Beaumont & Hollins Martin, 2015; Dindo, Van Liew, & Arch, 2017). The first results of small trials among bereaved persons showed that mindfulness-based interventions might be effective in reducing symptoms of depression (O’Connor et al, 2014; Thieleman et al, 2014), anxiety, and PTS (Thieleman et al, 2014). Although non-significant reductions were found in PG and PTS levels in O’Connor et al’s (2014) study and some participants in Thieleman et al’s study (2014) reported increased symptomatology following the mindfulness-based treatment, it may be valuable to further study the potential effectiveness of these interventions, because the current treatment-of-choice, cognitive behavioural therapy, results in clinically relevant change in PG levels in at most 50% of people with PG (Doering & Eisma, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, mindfulness refers to present moment awareness to any inner experiences, whereas self-compassion is targeted at embracing one’s own suffering (Neff & Dahm, 2015). Preliminary findings of small clinical trials among bereaved people indicate that mindfulness-based approaches might be equally beneficial for targeting psychopathology levels in bereaved people as in non-bereaved people who suffer from similar complaints such as depression (O’Connor, Piet, & Hougaard, 2014; Thieleman, Cacciatore, & Hill, 2014). However, the link between self-compassion and psychopathology after bereavement, including PG symptoms, has, to the best of our knowledge, never been studied.…”

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confidence: 99%

Grief rumination mediates the association between self-compassion and psychopathology in relatives of missing persons

Lenferink

Eisma

Keijser

et al. 2017

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Background: The disappearance of a loved one is a unique type of loss, also termed ‘ambiguous loss’, which may heighten the risk for developing prolonged grief (PG), depression, and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. Little is known about protective and risk factors for psychopathology among relatives of missing persons. A potential protective factor is self-compassion, referring to openness toward and acceptance of one’s own pain, failures, and inadequacies. One could reason that self-compassion is associated with lower levels of emotional distress following ambiguous loss, because it might serve as a buffer for getting entangled in ruminative thinking about the causes and consequences of the disappearance (‘grief rumination’). Objective: In a sample of relatives of missing persons we aimed to examine (1) the prediction that greater self-compassion is related to lower symptom-levels of PG, depression, and PTS and (2) to what extent these associations are mediated by grief rumination. Method: Dutch and Belgian relatives of long-term missing persons (N = 137) completed self-report measures tapping self-compassion, grief rumination, PG, depression, and PTS. Mediation analyses were conducted. Results: Self-compassion was significantly, negatively, and moderately associated with PG, depression, and PTS levels. Grief rumination significantly mediated the associations of higher levels of self-compassion with lower levels of PG (a*b = −0.11), depression (a*b = −0.07), and PTS (a*b = −0.11). Specifically, 50%, 32%, and 32% of the effect of self-compassion on PG, depression, and PTS levels, respectively, was accounted for by grief rumination. Conclusions: Findings suggest that people with more self-compassion experience less severe psychopathology, in part because these people are less strongly inclined to engage in ruminative thinking related to the disappearance. Strengthening a self-compassionate attitude using, for instance, mindfulness-based interventions may therefore be a useful intervention to reduce emotional distress associated with the disappearance of a loved one.

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“…For example, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduces unpleasant affect and enhances pleasant affect and it may be able to reduce grief at the extremities [73]. Based on the finding that social rehearsals enhance the FAB [20], social interaction may reduce grief at the extremities because it retains positive affect, reduces relapses of depression [74], and it increases positive moods [75].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grief and Avoidant Death Attitudes Combine to Predict the Fading Affect Bias

Gibbons

Lee

Fehr

et al. 2018

IJERPH

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The fading affect bias (FAB) occurs when unpleasant affect fades faster than pleasant affect. To detect mechanisms that influence the FAB in the context of death, we measured neuroticism, depression, anxiety, negative religious coping, death attitudes, and complicated grief as potential predictors of FAB for unpleasant/death and pleasant events at 2 points in time. The FAB was robust across older and newer events, which supported the mobilization-minimization hypothesis. Unexpectedly, complicated grief positively predicted FAB, and death avoidant attitudes moderated this relation, such that the Initial Event Affect by Grief interaction was only significant at the highest 3 quintiles of death avoidant attitudes. These results were likely due to moderate grief ratings, which were, along with avoidant death attitudes, related to healthy outcomes in past research. These results implicate complicated grief and death avoidant attitudes as resiliency mechanisms that are mobilized during bereavement to minimize its unpleasant effects.

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The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Depressive Symptoms in Elderly Bereaved People with Loss-Related Distress: a Controlled Pilot Study

Cited by 60 publications

References 23 publications

Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Older Adults: a Review of the Effects on Physical and Emotional Well-Being

Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Older Adults: a Review of the Effects on Physical and Emotional Well-Being

Grief rumination mediates the association between self-compassion and psychopathology in relatives of missing persons

Grief and Avoidant Death Attitudes Combine to Predict the Fading Affect Bias

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