Abstract
The aim of the present study was to examine potentially moderating effects of personality characteristics regarding changes in anxious and depressed mood associated with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), controlling for socio-demographic factors. Meditation-naïve participants from the general population self-presenting with psychological stress complaints (n = 167 participants, 70% women, mean age 45.8 ± 9.3 years) were assessed in a longitudinal investigation of change in mood before and after the intervention and at a 3-month follow-up. Participants initially scoring high on neuroticism showed stronger decreases in both anxious and depressed mood (both p < 0.001). However, when controlled for baseline mood, only the time by neuroticism interaction effect on anxiety remained significant (p = 0.001), reflecting a smaller decrease in anxiety between pre- and post-intervention but a larger decrease in anxiety between post-intervention and follow-up in those with higher baseline neuroticism scores. Most personality factors did not show moderating effects, when controlled for baseline mood. Only neuroticism showed to be associated with delayed benefit. Results are discussed in the context of findings from similar research using more traditional cognitive-behavioral interventions.
Highlights
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) (Kabat-Zinn 1990; Kabat-Zinn et al 1992) is a widely applied and frequently researched psychological intervention, which is aimed at the cultivation of a mindful attitude
Recent systematic reviews (Chiesa and Serretti 2010; Fjorback et al 2011; Keng et al 2011) and meta-analyses (Hofmann et al 2010; Khoury et al 2013) on the effectiveness of MBSR regarding psychological outcomes have concluded that MBSR and its variant Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) (Segal et al 2002) are effective regarding the reduction of psychological symptoms of distress like anxious and depressed mood
Even though MBSR is a treatment for which specific person characteristics are claimed to be important, such as high personal commitment and openness to new experiences (Kabat-Zinn 1990), little emphasis has been put on research into possible moderating influence of personality traits of participants to examine for whom this form of intervention might be most beneficial
Summary
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) (Kabat-Zinn 1990; Kabat-Zinn et al 1992) is a widely applied and frequently researched psychological intervention, which is aimed at the cultivation of a mindful attitude. This attitude, consisting of a set of learnable skills, is often defined as being attentive to phenomena occurring in the present moment in a nonjudgmental or accepting way (Baer et al 2006; Brown and Ryan 2003; Kabat-Zinn 1990). The identification of a possible moderator that might influence the direction or magnitude of the effects of the intervention on outcome is important from both theoretical and clinical perspectives
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