Second-generation Mindfulness-based Interventions Research Articles

Cultivating Ideal Mentalities in Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Feature Bringing Challenges but More Contributions

Cultivating Ideal Mentalities in Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Feature Bringing Challenges but More Contributions

Critical reflections on second-generation mindfulness-based interventions

ObjectivesThe purpose of this paper is to provide a critical introduction on Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Interventions (SG-MBIs) to sport and performance psychology scholars and practitioners. MethodThis essay is written as a commentary on Roychowdhury et al.’s, (2021, this issue) article in this issue. Specifically, I apply theoretical insights from Roychowdhury et al., (2021, this issue) to the practical model of SG-MBIs. ResultsI find that SG-MBIs attempt to respond to ethical concerns with the ways that mindfulness has been commodified, secularized, and universalized through appeals to cultural authenticity. DiscussionWhile acknowledging the cultural contexts from which practices like mindfulness have been taken is important, appeals to cultural authenticity often reproduce fixed and essentializing constructions of culture and are easily coopted by neoliberal multiculturalism. ConclusionAs sport and performance psychology professionals reflect on the next generation of mindfulness-based interventions, it will be important to attend to the contextual flexibility of neoliberalism to universalize and essentialize.

Effects of two mindfulness based interventions on the distinct phases of the stress response across different physiological systems

When evaluating the effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on the stress response, several aspects should be considered, such as (1) effects on various response systems, (2) temporal dynamics of the stress response, and (3) differences between programs. This study assesses the stress-attenuating effects of a standard mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and a second-generation MBI: MBSR with elements of other Buddhist practices (MBSR-B). Ninety-nine healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to the MBSR, MBSR-B, or waitlist control groups and their stress response was evaluated with the Trier Social Stress Test. Changes in the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, sympathoadrenomedullary system, the autonomic nervous system (ANS), and affect were measured during distinct phases of the task. Compared to waitlist control, the stress-attenuated effects of MBIs were detected across almost all systems and both negative and positive affect. In the parasympathetic branch of the ANS, the effect of MBIs was present in all stress phases (however, in the recovery phase, only MBSR-B has shown a statistically significant effect in comparison with the waitlist control). The stress-attenuating effects of MBIs were observed already in the anticipatory phase for cortisol, ANS, and negative affect (for negative affect, only the modified MBSR-B program has shown statistically significant effect in comparison with the waitlist control).

Science-Based Buddhist Practice: an Illustration Using Doctrinal Charts of Won Buddhism

The recognition of mindfulness-based interventions as an effective approach to address psychological distress and improve well-being has stimulated the development of a multitude of programs, each designed for specific applications. While many mindfulness-based interventions are focused on addressing particular psychological needs, so-called second-generation mindfulness-based interventions typically include overtly spiritual content but also remain secular in their delivery. More recently, explicitly religion-themed mindfulness programs have emerged that are yet to be evaluated scientifically, raising questions as to how this to occur in the most appropriate manner. Referring to doctrinal charts in Won Buddhism, we illustrate an example of how the distinction can be made transparent between content that can be subjected to scientific inquiry and content related to religious and personal beliefs. By delineating elements of belief from practice, areas can be identified that are open for scientific verification without causing offense. Program participants and other practitioners can then clearly identify the specific aspects for which there is widely accepted evidence for their effectiveness, which may then also be communicated as science-based Buddhist practices.

A New Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Intervention Focusing on Well-Being: A Randomized Control Trial of Mindfulness-Based Positive Psychology.

Second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs) align well with positive psychology philosophy and practices, but trials of SG-MBIs have largely focused on ill-being. This study developed a mindfulness-based positive psychology (MBPP) intervention integrating positive psychology with an SG-MBI to enhance well-being. A randomized control trial was performed to compare MBPP with a waitlist condition among 138 Chinese participants. The results showed that MBPP significantly reduced negative emotions for subjective well-being and significantly improved environmental mastery for psychological well-being. Improvements in self-compassion and negative attitudes but not avoidance, mediated changes in well-being. Changes in positive emotions, positive relations, and awareness were associated with the amount of meditation practice. These findings showed that MBPP is promising for improving well-being and that the positive psychology components play important roles. Broadly, the study illustrated that positive psychology and SG-MBIs can be effectively integrated, and it supported the further application of SG-MBIs from the positive psychology perspective.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10902-022-00525-2.

A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining a Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Intervention that is Compatible with Confucian Values: Mindfulness-Based Positive Psychology

Second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs) have emphasized the cultivation of ethics. However, some ethics and values that are emphasized in SG-MBIs are criticized by Confucianism, one of the most influential traditions in China. The current study developed a new SG-MBI called mindfulness-based positive psychology (MBPP) that emphasized value clarification and integrated Confucian values. The acceptability and effects of this intervention were evaluated among Chinese people in mainland China. A total of 138 healthy Chinese adults from universities and communities were randomly assigned to the MBPP or waitlist condition. Consistent with the “relief,” “promotion,” and “transcendence” modules in MBPP, variables representing negative symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress), positive traits (gratitude and appreciative joy), and spirituality (meaning of life) were measured before and after the 6-week intervention and 3 months after the intervention. The amount of meditation practice and ratings for MBPP and different themes were also measured. Compared to the waitlist condition, MBPP significantly reduced anxiety and stress with low to medium effect sizes but not other measures. The amount of meditation practice during the intervention was significantly associated with changes in appreciative joy and gratitude. Participants rated the MBPP and themes highly, and themes in the “transcendence” module received significantly lower ratings than other themes. MBPP is a feasible and promising SG-MBI for promoting mental health among Chinese. Future studies should further evaluate the acceptability and effects of the new components of SG-MBIs and develop suitable measurements for those idealistic mentalities proposed by Buddhism and other traditions.

Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Toward More Authentic Mindfulness Practice and Teaching

Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Toward More Authentic Mindfulness Practice and Teaching

The Mediating Role of Shared Flow and Perceived Emotional Synchrony on Compassion for Others in a Mindful-Dancing Program

While there is a growing understanding of the relationship between mindfulness and compassion, this largely relates to the form of mindfulness employed in first-generation mindfulness-based interventions such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. Consequently, there is limited knowledge of the relationship between mindfulness and compassion in respect of the type of mindfulness employed in second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs), including those that employ the principle of working harmoniously as a “secular sangha.” Understanding this relationship is important because research indicates that perceived emotional synchrony (PES) and shared flow—that often arise during participation in harmonized group contemplative activities—can enhance outcomes relating to compassion, subjective well-being, and group identity fusion. This pilot study analyzed the effects of participation in a mindful-dancing SG-MBI on compassion and investigated the mediating role of shared flow and PES. A total of 130 participants were enrolled into the study that followed a quasi-experimental design with an intervention and control group. Results confirmed the salutary effect of participating in a collective mindful-dancing program, and demonstrated that shared flow and PES fully meditated the effects of collective mindfulness on the kindness and common humanity dimensions of compassion. Further research is warranted to explore whether collective mindfulness approaches, such as mindful dancing, may be a means of enhancing compassion and subjective well-being outcomes due to the mediating role of PES and shared flow.

Effect of Mindfulness on Value Incongruence: a Pilot Study

The inclusion of Buddhist mindfulness perspectives in second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) offers an opportunity to explore the cultivation of ethical action in MBIs and address concerns about the purported absence of ethics in MBIs. This pilot study examined the relationship between mindfulness and value incongruence following a second-generation MBI, mindfulness-based symptom management (MBSM) that incorporates the Five Skillful Habits (5SH), a value-congruence practice. Sixty-one participants (65.6% female, Mage = 44.5; 34.4% male, Mage = 54.3) attended an 8-week program whose curriculum included the commitment to and practices of ethical and compassionate behaviors that reflected participants’ personal values. The impact of MBSM on mindfulness (Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ)), congruence between ideal values and their lived experience of those values (Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire (SWBQ)), and relationships between mindfulness and value incongruence were examined. Results indicated that increases in all of the FFMQ factors occurred: Observe (p .10; d = − .21). Change scores for several factors of the FFMQ were significantly correlated with changes in the SWBQ measures. These preliminary results suggested that MBSM was related to shifts in value incongruence. Exploring the relationship between mindfulness and the practice of value-congruent behaviors may clarify the pathway between cultivating awareness and ethical/compassionate action.

Evaluating the APAC (Mindfulness for Giftedness) Program in a Spanish Sample of Gifted Children: a Pilot Study

Previous studies have found that gifted children experience symptoms such as existential anguish, anxiety, depression, experiential avoidance, and cognitive fusion. The inherent intensity and sensitivity of these young people may make them more susceptible to significant emotional distress and existential concerns. Endeavoring to address such issues, we designed a second-generation mindfulness-based intervention, called the “Atencion plena para altas capacidades” (APAC; Mindfulness for Giftedness). This paper presents the pretreatment, posttreatment, and 12-month follow-up findings on the implementation of the program in a sample of 22 gifted children in Spain. The program comprised eight weekly 90-min group sessions covering mindfulness, emotional intelligence, emotional regulation, acceptance, values, compassion, and self-compassion. The program’s efficacy was measured using standardized, validated tools (the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure, the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth, the Children’s Depression Inventory, the State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children, and the Emotional Skills and Competence Questionnaire) at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 12-month follow-up time periods.. Our study’s findings at the posttreatment stage suggested that the APAC program improved the emotional abilities and reduced negative symptoms. Results from the 12-month follow-up assessment stage appeared to uphold these findings. However, we recommend that future second-generation mindfulness-based interventions for gifted children should include more activities and exercises that address the meaning of life and other related existential worries of particular concern to these young people.

Incorporating Ethics Into Brief Mindfulness Practice: Effects on Well-Being and Prosocial Behavior

Mainstream mindfulness programs, as in first-generation mindfulness-based interventions, generally do not incorporate Buddhist ethics, causing some scholars to worry that they may encourage self-indulgence and have limited capacity to promote well-being. We compare the effects of practicing mindfulness with additional ethical instruction (EthicalM) or without such instruction (SecularM) on well-being and prosocial behavior. Participants (N = 621) completed 6 days of ethical or secular mindfulness exercises or active control exercises. Secular and ethical mindfulness both reduced stress (EthicalM: p = 0.011, d = − 0.25; SecularM: p = 0.005, d = − 0.28) and increased life satisfaction (EthicalM: p = 0.008, d = 0.26; SecularM: p = 0.069, d = 0.18) and self-awareness (EthicalM: p = 0.011, d = 0.25; SecularM: p = 0.051, d = 0.19). Ethical mindfulness also enhanced personal growth (p = 0.032, d = 0.21). Ethical, relative to secular, mindfulness also increased prosocial behavior—money donated to a charity (p = 0.020, d = 0.24). This effect was moderated by trait empathy: Trait empathy predicted donation amounts for participants who had completed mindfulness exercises (ethical or secular) but not controls. Furthermore, low trait empathy participants gave significantly less money following secular mindfulness practice than control exercises, whereas high trait empathy participants gave more money following ethical mindfulness practice than control exercises. Mindfulness training may thus have unintended consequences, making some people less charitable, though incorporating instruction on ethics, as in some second-generation mindfulness-based interventions, may forestall such effects.

Meditation awareness training for the treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome: A randomized controlled trial.

The purpose of this study was to conduct the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of a second-generation mindfulness-based intervention (SG-MBI) for treating fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Compared to first-generation mindfulness-based interventions, SG-MBIs are more acknowledging of the spiritual aspect of mindfulness. A RCT employing intent-to-treat analysis. Adults with FMS received an 8-week SG-MBI known as meditation awareness training (MAT; n=74) or an active control intervention known as cognitive behaviour theory for groups (n=74). Assessments were performed at pre-, post-, and 6-month follow-up phases. Meditation awareness training participants demonstrated significant and sustained improvements over control group participants in FMS symptomatology, pain perception, sleep quality, psychological distress, non-attachment (to self, symptoms, and environment), and civic engagement. A mediation analysis found that (1) civic engagement partially mediated treatment effects for all outcome variables, (2) non-attachment partially mediated treatment effects for psychological distress and sleep quality, and (3) non-attachment almost fully mediated treatment effects for FMS symptomatology and pain perception. Average daily time spent in meditation was found to be a significant predictor of changes in all outcome variables. Meditation awareness training may be a suitable treatment for adults with FMS and appears to ameliorate FMS symptomatology and pain perception by reducing attachment to self. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Designing interventions to treat fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) continues to be a challenge. There is growing interest into the applications of mindfulness-based interventions for treating FMS. Second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs) are a key new direction in mindfulness research. What does this study add? Meditation awareness training - an SG-MBI - resulted in significant reductions in FMS symptomatology. SG-MBIs recognize the spiritual aspect of mindfulness and may have a role in the treatment of FMS.

Corporate use of mindfulness and authentic spiritual transmission: Competing or compatible ideals?

There is consensus amongst both the scientific and Buddhist community that mindfulness – when correctly taught and practised – leads to a range of beneficial outcomes. However, there has been little evaluation of what happens when mindfulness is incorrectly taught, or is practised with a selfish rather than selfless intention. Nowhere is the importance of this issue more pertinent than the recent and growing assimilation of mindfulness for employees by large corporations. The current paper introduces the principle of ‘authentic spiritual transmission’ and examines how it can inform the integration of mindfulness into the corporate workplace. Three questions are explored: (i) what spiritual infrastructure is required to operationalize mindfulness that is effective in the corporate setting? (ii) to what extent can ‘inner change’ induced by mindfulness substitute the need for corporations to foster healthy ‘external’ working conditions? and (iii) is mindfulness corruptible or does it have a natural defence mechanism? The paper addresses these questions by synthesizing relevant Buddhist discourses, evaluating recent theoretical and empirical findings concerning the use of mindfulness in corporate settings, and examining how second-generation mindfulness-based interventions can inform this topical area of scholarly debate.

The Mechanisms of Mindfulness in the Treatment of Mental Illness and Addiction.

Consistent with its growing popularity amongst the general public and medical community, throughout recent decades there have been increasing attempts to understand the mechanisms that underlie therapeutic improvement in individuals receiving mindfulness training. The current paper draws upon findings from various remits of scientific enquiry and summarises key evidence-based mechanisms of mindfulness that have been proposed in the academic literature to date. Empirical findings indicate that mindfulness targets biological, psychological, social, and spiritual psychopathology determinants. Furthermore, the mechanistic pathways exploited by mindfulness are likely to vary according to factors such as (i) the type of mindfulness-based intervention that is administered (e.g., first- or second-generation mindfulness-based interventions), (ii) the specific clinical disorder that is being targeted, (iii) the educational, social, and spiritual history of the participant, and (iv) the extent to which the mindfulness instructor truly embodies the principles of mindful living. It is hoped that the mechanisms of mindfulness discussed in this paper will contribute to the formulation of a more complete picture that can be tested and expanded upon during future scientific enquiry.

Managers’ Experiences of Meditation Awareness Training

Due to its potential to improve work-related stress and job performance, there is growing interest into the applications of mindfulness in the workplace setting. To date, mindfulness research within occupational psychology has mostly involved First Generation Mindfulness-Based Interventions (FG-MBIs). However, a growing number of researchers, clinicians, and Buddhist teachers/scholars have suggested that FG-MBIs may only partially embody the full potency of mindfulness when compared with its utilisation in traditional Buddhist practice settings. Consequently, recent years have witnessed the early stage evaluation of a number of Second Generation Mindfulness-Based Interventions (SG-MBIs). Although still secular, SG-MBIs are overtly spiritual in aspect and teach mindfulness within a practice infrastructure that integrates what would traditionally be deemed as prerequisites for effective spiritual and meditative development. The purpose of this study was to conduct the first qualitative investigation to analyse the experiences of employed participants receiving training in a SG-MBI. Ten participants were randomly selected from the intervention arm of a randomised controlled trial assessing the effects of meditation awareness training (MAT) on work-related wellbeing and job performance. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse participant experiences of MAT, and six themes emerged from the data-set: (1) changing attitudes towards work, (2) improved job performance, (3) letting go of self, (4) phenomena feed-back effect, (5) wellbeing at work and (6) taking responsibility for one’s spiritual growth. Findings have important implications for the development of authentic mindfulness training programs and suggest that, compared with FG-MBIs, the SG-MBI approach may be tapping into different metacognitive resources.