Who Benefits Most? Interactions between Personality Traits and Outcomes of Four Incremental Meditation and Yoga Treatments

Matko, Karin; Berghöfer, Anne; Jeitler, Michael; Bringmann, Holger C.

doi:10.3390/jcm11154553

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…Specifically, participants might be more aware or more mindful toward their inner experience during the treatment and, thus, adjust their responses [ 89 , 90 ]. Similarly, individual characteristics might influence a participant’s response to the different yoga components [ 9 , 48 , 84 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The present study is a secondary analysis of data that was previously reported by Matko et al [ 47 , 48 ]. It expands the previously reported findings by providing a detailed analysis of affectivity, body awareness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and self-compassion.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Likewise, they could include an active non-yoga and non-meditation (placebo) control group (see, e.g., [ 94 ]) to expand on the specificity of the found effects. Furthermore, future studies should investigate how personality and motivational factors impact the outcomes of different treatments to enable personalized recommendations [ 48 , 95 ]. In summary, all of these research efforts could help in developing a deeper understanding of the working mechanisms of the multifaceted practice of yoga and how it contributes to general well-being and flourishing.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Embodied Cognition in Meditation, Yoga, and Ethics—An Experimental Single-Case Study on the Differential Effects of Four Mind–Body Treatments

Matko

Bringmann

2022

IJERPH

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Yoga is an embodied contemplative practice considered as a path toward long-term well-being, which fosters an integrated processing of bodily and emotional stimuli. However, little is known about how the different components of yoga contribute to these processes. This was the aim of this single-case multiple-baseline study. Herein, we explored how different yoga components affect body awareness, emotion regulation, affectivity, self-compassion, and distress tolerance. Forty-two randomly assigned participants (from initially fifty-seven) completed one of four 8-week treatments: Mantra meditation alone (MA), meditation plus physical yoga (MY), meditation plus ethical education (ME), and meditation plus yoga and ethical education (MYE). Participants had no prior regular yoga or meditation practice. Data were analyzed using visual inspection, effect size estimation, and multilevel modeling. Surprisingly, all four treatments similarly improved body awareness (Tau-UMA = 0.21 to Tau-UMY = 0.49), emotion regulation (Tau-UMYE = −0.43 to Tau-UME = −0.52), self-compassion (η2 = 0.08), and distress tolerance (η2 = 0.13). These effects were maintained until follow-up at 2 and 12 months after the study, even though home practice declined. The MA condition had the least favorable effect on affective experience (Tau-UMA = −0.14 and 0.07), while the ME condition enhanced valence the most (Tau-UME = 0.10) and the MY condition was the most effective in preventing negative affective responses. Although mantra meditation on its own negatively influenced daily affect, it can be assumed as the driving force behind the improvement in the other variables. This points to the central role of meditation in increasing interoception, self-awareness, and embodied processing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Embodied Cognition in Meditation, Yoga, and Ethics—An Experimental Single-Case Study on the Differential Effects of Four Mind–Body Treatments

Matko

Bringmann

2022

IJERPH

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“…It is considered a concise and sufficiently reliable and valid instrument. Trait absorption describes a person's disposition to become fully engaged ("absorbed") in experiences and was related to meditation outcomes (Hölzel & Ott, 2006;Matko et al, 2022a). We measured it using the 34-item modified German version of the Tellegen Absorption Scale (Ritz & Dahme, 1995).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Which Meditation Technique for Whom? An Experimental Single-Case Study Comparing Concentrative, Humming, Observing-Thoughts, and Walking Meditation

Matko,

Sedlmeier

2023

Mindfulness

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Objectives Meditation encompasses a variety of techniques, but little is known on how and for whom they work. This study explored potential mechanisms of four different meditation techniques in beginners and which technique might be suited for whom. Method Using an experimental single-case design, we compared the longitudinal effects of concentrative, humming, observing-thoughts, and walking meditation. Forty-four healthy participants without meditation experience were randomly assigned to one of the four techniques and 42 completed the treatment. Following a baseline period of 2 to 4 weeks, participants learned and practiced their technique 20 min daily for 6 to 8 weeks and completed daily online questionnaires throughout the entire study period. At pretest, we assessed participants’ motivation and personality. We analyzed the data visually and by conducting single-case meta-analyses, correlation, and multivariate analyses. Results Body awareness, decentering, and emotion regulation improved reliably and continuously over time, for all four techniques. Thus, these processes could represent common mechanisms for novice meditators. Walking meditation led to the smallest improvements in decentering and mind-wandering, but the highest in body awareness and emotion regulation. Individuals varied in response to the treatment. The two “classic” techniques (concentration, observing-thoughts) led to more consistently positive multivariate response patterns and to better responses in participants high in neuroticism. In contrast, those high in extraversion benefitted more from the two unusual ones (humming, walking). We additionally observed interesting interactions with different motivational reasons. Conclusions With this study, we hope to contribute to theory building and answering two urgent questions—what the key mechanisms of meditation are and who benefits most from what kind of practice.

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“…It is considered an economic and sufficiently reliable and valid instrument. Trait absorption describes a person's disposition to become fully engaged ("absorbed") in experiences and was often related to favorable meditation outcomes (Hölzel & Ott, 2006;Matko, Berghöfer, et al, 2022). We measured it using the 34-item modified German version of the Tellegen Absorption Scale (Ritz & Dahme, 1995).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Which meditation technique for whom? An experimental single-case study comparing concentrative, humming, observing-thoughts, and walking meditation

Matko¹

2023

Preprint

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Meditation encompasses a variety of techniques. To date, only few studies have investi-gated differential effects and individual fit in different techniques. Our explorative study com-pared four basic techniques using an experimental single-case research design: concentrative meditation, humming meditation, observing-thoughts meditation, and walking meditation. Forty-four healthy participants without meditation experience were randomly assigned to one of the four techniques and 42 completed the treatment. Following a baseline period of 2 to 4 weeks, participants learned and practiced their technique 20 minutes daily for 6 to 8 weeks and complet-ed daily online questionnaires throughout the entire study period. At pretest, we assessed partic-ipants’ motivation and personality. We analyzed the data visually and by conducting single-case meta-analyses, correlation and multivariate analyses. Walking meditation led to the smallest im-provements in decentering and mind-wandering, but the highest in body awareness and emotion regulation. Body awareness, decentering and emotion regulation improved reliably and continu-ously over time, for all four techniques. Thus, these processes could represent common mecha-nisms for novice meditators. Individuals varied in response to the treatment. The two “classic” techniques (concentration, observing-thoughts) led to more consistently positive multivariate response patterns and to better responses in participants high in neuroticism. In contrast, those high in extraversion benefitted more from the two unusual ones (humming, walking). We addi-tionally observed interesting interactions with different motivational reasons. With this study, we hope to contribute to theory building and answering two urgent questions in meditation research – what are central mechanisms of meditation and who benefits most from what kind of practice.

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Who Benefits Most? Interactions between Personality Traits and Outcomes of Four Incremental Meditation and Yoga Treatments

Cited by 4 publications

References 87 publications

Embodied Cognition in Meditation, Yoga, and Ethics—An Experimental Single-Case Study on the Differential Effects of Four Mind–Body Treatments

Embodied Cognition in Meditation, Yoga, and Ethics—An Experimental Single-Case Study on the Differential Effects of Four Mind–Body Treatments

Which Meditation Technique for Whom? An Experimental Single-Case Study Comparing Concentrative, Humming, Observing-Thoughts, and Walking Meditation

Which meditation technique for whom? An experimental single-case study comparing concentrative, humming, observing-thoughts, and walking meditation

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