Mindfulness Meditation Training Research Articles

Effects of mindfulness meditation training offered in-person and via a virtual world on self-compassion: A study with U.S. military active duty and veterans

BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-based, in-person programs are effective at reducing stress and enhancing resilience in military and civilian samples, yet few studies have examined or compared training offered via real-time, interactive social media. Such a program would have a wider-reach and could include those unable to attend in-person. There is also interest in resolving ambiguity about the effects of mindfulness training on individual difference variables, such as self-compassion. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to compare pre/post self-compassion for three interventions; Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction delivered in-person (IP), mindfulness meditation training delivered via a Virtual World (VW), and a wait-list Control Group (CG) among active duty and veteran U.S. military. METHODS: A 2 (pre/post)×3 (group) factorial design was conducted with 250 active duty and veteran U.S. Military service members, with self-compassion measures as dependent variables. RESULTS: Self Compassion improved 10% for the IP group and 14% for the VW group, while the CG group did not improve. Combined treatment groups yielded a 10.3% improvement in self-compassion compared with no change in the CG and with a group×time interaction effect (p < 0.01). Participants with lower initial self-compassion experienced greater benefits than those with higher baseline self-compassion (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: IP and VW Mindfulness Meditation training were equally effective in increasing self-compassion. Adding effective on-line mindfulness delivery will promote self-compassion among a more extensive audience, likely yielding improved coping, confidence, connectedness, cheerfulness, steadiness, and self-satisfaction, while lessening anxiety, fear-of-failure, and stress among participants.

Effect of an 8-Week Mindfulness Meditation Training Program on Psychological Distress in Caregivers and on Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms in People with Alzheimer’s Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial

ObjectivesMental health problems are highly prevalent in people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and their family caregivers. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effects of the Mindfulness-Based Health Care Program (MBHC) on the psychological distress of family caregivers of people with AD and, indirectly, on the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in people with AD.MethodA sample of 66 caregivers of people with AD was randomly assigned to either 8 weeks of MBHC or treatment as usual (TAU) groups. The psychological distress in family caregivers, measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and BPSD in patients, measured by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q), were evaluated and compared at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up.ResultsA total of 50 participants (75.6%) completed the MBHC post-intervention and 30 (50%) at the 3-month follow-up. At post-intervention, compared to TAU, MBHC was associated with significantly greater decreases in psychological distress (β = − 3.86; 95%CI, − 7.67, − 0.04; p = 0.047), specifically in anxiety symptoms (β = − 2.84; 95%CI, − 5.38, − 0.30; p = 0.029), but no significant changes were observed in depressive symptoms. MBHC did not produce a significant change in psychological distress at 3-month follow-up. MBHC did not yield a significant reduction in BPSD in people with AD, neither at post-intervention nor at 3-month follow-up.ConclusionsThe results suggest that 8-week mindfulness training can effectively reduce psychological distress and anxiety symptoms in caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease.PreregistrationThis study was preregistered on ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier NCT03858283) on 26 February 2019.

The impact of mindfulness training on alleviating COVID-19 fear among international students in China: A quasi-experimental study

This study investigated the effects of mindfulness training on alleviating fear of the COVID-19 epidemic among international students in China during the academic year 2020. The training group participants (N = 41) and the control group participants (N = 44) were surveyed pre-and post-training with the two English questionnaires: The Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the fear of the COVID-19 scale (FCV–19S). The results showed that, regarding the relationship between the two main variables in the study, mindfulness is related negatively to the COVID-19 epidemic. Moreover, compared to the control group, results showed that individuals in the training group demonstrated significant improvements in mindfulness levels and decreased Fear of COVID-19. Thus, findings suggest that a short online mindfulness meditation training may reduce fear of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Neurophenomenological Investigation of Mindfulness Meditation "Cessation" Experiences Using EEG Network Analysis in an Intensively Sampled Adept Meditator.

Mindfulness meditation is a contemplative practice that is informed by Buddhism. It has been proven effective for improving mental and physical health in clinical and non-clinical contexts. To date, mainstream dialogue and scientific research on mindfulness has focused primarily on short-term mindfulness training and applications of mindfulness for reducing stress. Understanding advanced mindfulness practice has important implications for mental health and general wellbeing. According to Theravada Buddhist meditation, a "cessation" event is a dramatic experience of profound clarity and equanimity that involves a complete discontinuation in experience, and is evidence of mastery of mindfulness meditation. Thirty-seven cessation events were captured in a single intensively sampled advanced meditator (over 6,000h of retreat mindfulness meditation training) while recording electroencephalography (EEG) in 29 sessions between November 12, 2019 and March 11, 2020. Functional connectivity and network integration were assessed from 40s prior to cessations to 40s after cessations. From 21s prior to cessations there was a linear decrease in large-scale functional interactions at the whole-brain level in the alpha band. In the 40s following cessations these interactions linearly returned to prior levels. No modulation of network integration was observed. The decrease in whole-brain functional connectivity was underlain by frontal to left temporal and to more posterior decreases in connectivity, while the increase was underlain by wide-spread increases in connectivity. These results provide neuroscientific evidence of large-scale modulation of brain activity related to cessation events that provides a foundation for future studies of advanced meditation.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Autonomic Modulation in Chronic Kidney Disease

Intro: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterized by chronic overactivation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) that leads to increased blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an 8-week mindfulness meditation training program that has previously been shown to reduce blood pressure and improve autonomic balance in healthy and some clinical populations; however, MBSR has never previously been tested in CKD and the long-term effects of mindfulness mediation on SNS activity are unknown. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that 8 weeks of MBSR reduces SNS activity and reactivity in CKD patients. Method: In a randomized controlled trial, participants with CKD stages III-IV were randomized to 8 weeks of MBSR (n=17, 64±8 yr, 88% males) or a health education program (HEP, n=12, 63±10 yr, 83% males) that served as the active control intervention. MBSR was comprised of eight 2.5-hour group meetings and a retreat session focused on mindfulness training. HEP was administered in a similar structure and focused on health education. Direct intraneural measures of SNS activity directed to muscle (MSNA) was recorded via microneurography with concomitant beat-to-beat blood pressure and EKG monitoring at rest and during mental stress before and after the 8-week intervention. MSNA reactivity during mental arithmetic-induced stress (3 minutes) was compared between baseline and end of study (EOS) in the MBSR and HEP groups. Results. Baseline characteristics, kidney function, and comorbidities were comparable between groups. There was a significant Group (MBSR vs. HEP) by Time (baseline vs. EOS) interaction in the change in MSNA reactivity to mental stress. The MBSR group had a significant reduction in MSNA reactivity during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd minute of mental arithmetic at EOS (p<0.05 for all), while no change was observed within the HEP group. Resting MSNA and reactivity in blood pressure and heart rate during mental arithmetic remained unchanged in both groups from baseline to EOS. Conclusion. Patients with CKD had an amelioration of sympathetic reactivity during mental stress following 8-weeks of MBSR but not after HEP (control intervention). Our findings demonstrate that mindfulness training is feasible and may have potential beneficial effects on autonomic function in CKD. NIH R01HL135183; NIH R61AT10457; NIH KL2TR002381; VA Merit I01CX001065. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Effects of brief mindfulness meditation training on attention and dispositional mindfulness in young adult males

This study examined the impact of brief mindfulness meditation (BMM) training on attention function and dispositional mindfulness in young males. 126 male participants aged 18–26 from the security industry were recruited, with 66 participants (M = 22.84, SD = 2.41) undergoing 4-week mindfulness meditation training and 60 participants (M = 23.07, SD = 2.29) in the active control group. The intervention was integrated into the participants' schedules. Measures included Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaires (FFMQ), concentration and assignment attention tasks, Attention Network Test (ANT), and saliva cortisol concentration. Findings indicate that brief mindfulness meditation training led to significant improvements in participants' FFMQ scores), with marginally significant enhancements in the executive control network. However, it had no discernible effect on alertness and orientation networks. Additionally, brief mindfulness meditation training enhanced attention allocation to light stimulation and prolonged individual attention. Surprisingly, there was no observed decrease in saliva cortisol concentration among meditation training participants. However, this study did not find a decrease in saliva cortisol concentration in the brief mindfulness meditation group. In conclusion, this study highlights the potential of a 4-week brief mindfulness meditation training program to enhance dispositional mindfulness and specific aspects of attention function in young men, offering practical insights into the benefits of mindfulness meditation practices for this demographic.

Mindfulness Meditation Training Reduces Gaming Cravings by Reshaping the Functional Connectivity Between the Default Mode Network and Executive Control–Related Brain Regions

BackgroundInternet gaming disorder (IGD) can lead to psychological problems and cause behavioral problems in individuals. Traditional interventions have been ineffective in treating IGDs. Meanwhile, mindfulness meditation (MM) is an emerging method that has proven to be effective for treating psychiatric disorders. In this study, MM was used to intervene in IGD and to explore its neural mechanism. MethodsEighty participants were recruited through advertisements. Eventually, 61 completed the 1-month training (MM, n = 31; progressive muscle relaxation [PMR], n = 30), including a pretest, 8 training sessions, and a posttest. Regional homogeneity and degree centrality were calculated, and the tests (pre- and post-) and group (MM and PMR) analysis of variance was performed. The overlapping results were obtained as region of interest for functional connectivity (FC) analyses. Behavioral data and neurotransmitters correlated with FC. ResultsCompared with PMR, MM decreased the severity of addiction and game craving in IGD. Brain imaging results showed that the FC between and within the executive control and default mode networks/reward-related regions were enhanced. Significant negative correlations were observed between FC and dopamine receptor D2, dopamine transporter, and vesicular acetylcholine receptors. Significant positive correlations were observed between FCs and serotonin and aminobutyric acid receptors. ConclusionsThis study confirmed the effectiveness of MM in treating IGD. MM altered the default mode and enhanced top-down control over game cravings. These findings were revealed by the correlations between brain regions and behavioral and biochemical effects. The results showed the neural mechanism of MM in reducing IGD and lay the foundation for future research.

Mindfulness meditation modulates stress-eating and its neural correlates

Stress-related overeating can lead to excessive weight gain, increasing the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular disease. Mindfulness meditation has been demonstrated to reduce stress and increase interoceptive awareness and could, therefore, be an effective intervention for stress-related overeating behavior. To investigate the effects of mindfulness meditation on stress-eating behavior, meditation-naïve individuals with a tendency to stress-eat (N = 66) participated in either a 31-day, web-based mindfulness meditation training or a health training condition. Behavioral and resting-state fMRI data were acquired before and after the intervention. Mindfulness meditation training, in comparison to health training, was found to significantly increase mindfulness while simultaneously reducing stress- and emotional-eating tendencies as well as food cravings. These behavioral results were accompanied by functional connectivity changes between the hypothalamus, reward regions, and several areas of the default mode network in addition to changes observed between the insula and somatosensory areas. Additional changes between seed regions (i.e., hypothalamus and insula) and brain areas attributed to emotion regulation, awareness, attention, and sensory integration were observed. Notably, these changes in functional connectivity correlated with behavioral changes, thereby providing insight into the underlying neural mechanisms of the effects of mindfulness on stress-eating.Clinical trial on the ISRCTN registry: trial ID ISRCTN12901054

Self-regulation training for people with knee osteoarthritis: a protocol for a feasibility randomised control trial (MiNT trial).

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic secondary musculoskeletal pain condition resulting in disability, reduced quality of life, and high societal costs. Pain associated with knee OA is linked to increased sensitivity in sensory, cognitive, and emotional areas of the brain. Self-regulation training targeting brain functioning related to pain experience could reduce pain and its associated disability. Self-regulatory treatments such as mindfulness meditation (MM) and electroencephalography neurofeedback (EEG-NF) training improve clinical outcomes in people with knee OA. A feasibility clinical trial can address factors that could inform the design of the full trial investigating the effectiveness of self-regulation training programmes in people with knee OA. This clinical trial will evaluate the feasibility, safety, acceptability, experience and perceptions of the self-regulatory training programmes. The proposed feasibility trial is based on a double-blind (outcome assessor and investigators), three-arm (MM usual care, EEG-NF + usual care and usual care control group) randomised controlled parallel clinical trial. Participants with knee OA will be recruited from the community and healthcare practices. A research assistant (RA) will administer both interventions (20-min sessions, four sessions each week, and 12 sessions over three successive weeks). Feasibility measures (participant recruitment rate, adherence to interventions, retention rate), safety, and acceptability of interventions will be recorded. An RA blinded to the group allocation will record secondary outcomes at baseline, immediately post-intervention (4th week), and 3 months post-intervention. The quantitative outcome measures will be descriptively summarised. The qualitative interviews will evaluate the participants' experiences and perceptions regarding various aspects of the trial, which includes identifying the barriers and facilitators in participating in the trial, evaluating their opinions on the research procedures, such as their preferences for the study site, and determining the level of acceptability of the interventions as potential clinical treatments for managing knee OA. Māori participant perceptions of how assessment and training practices could be acceptable to a Māori worldview will be explored. The interviews will be audio-recorded and analysed thematically. This trial will provide evidence on the feasibility, safety, and acceptability of the MM and EEG-NF training in people with knee OA, thus informing the design of a full randomised clinical control trial.

Evaluating the Impact of an App-Delivered Mindfulness Meditation Program to Reduce Stress and Anxiety During Pregnancy: Pilot Longitudinal Study.

Stress and anxiety during pregnancy are extremely prevalent and are associated with numerous poor outcomes, among the most serious of which are increased rates of preterm birth and low birth weight infants. Research supports that while in-person mindfulness training is effective in reducing pregnancy stress and anxiety, there are barriers limiting accessibility. The aim of this paper is to determine if mindfulness meditation training with the Headspace app is effective for stress and anxiety reduction during pregnancy. A longitudinal, single-arm trial was implemented with 20 pregnant women who were instructed to practice meditation via the Headspace app twice per day during the month-long trial. Validated scales were used to measure participant's levels of stress and anxiety pre- and postintervention. Physiological measures reflective of stress (heart rate variability and sleep) were collected via the Oura Ring. Statistically significant reductions were found in self-reported levels of stress (P=.005), anxiety (P=.01), and pregnancy anxiety (P<.0001). Hierarchical linear modeling revealed a statistically significant reduction in the physiological data reflective of stress in 1 of 6 heart rate variability metrics, the low-frequency power band, which decreased by 13% (P=.006). A total of 65% of study participants (n=13) reported their sleep improved during the trial, and 95% (n=19) stated that learning mindfulness helped with other aspects of their lives. Participant retention was 100%, with 65% of participants (n=13) completing about two-thirds of the intervention, and 50% of participants (n=10) completing ≥95%. This study found evidence to support the Headspace app as an effective intervention to aid in stress and anxiety reduction during pregnancy.

Effects of web-based mindfulness training on psychological outcomes, attention, and neuroplasticity

Mindfulness meditation training (MMT) reliably reduces stress and anxiety while also improving attention. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between MMT, stress and anxiety reduction, and its impact upon improvements in attention on the behavioral and neuronal levels. As a second aim, we sought to explore any relationship between MMT, attention, and modified states of mind such as flow. 118 healthy, meditation-naïve, participants were either assigned to a 31-day, web-based, MMT or an active control, health training (HT). Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing the attention network test (ANT) to assess functional and behavioural attentional changes, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to assess microstructural neuronal changes and completed relevant questionnaires to explore changes in psychological outcomes. Results confirmed a reduction in perceived stress and anxiety levels in the MMT group and significant improvements in the overall reaction time during the ANT, albeit no specific effects on the attentional components were observed. No statistically significant changes were found in the HT group. Interestingly, a significant group-by-time interaction was seen in flow experience. Functional data exhibited an increased activity in the superior frontal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex, and right hippocampus during the alerting condition of the ANT after the MMT; decreased stress and trait anxiety were significantly correlated with the activation in the right hippocampus, and increased flow was also significantly correlated with all the aforementioned areas. DTI data showed increased fractional anisotropy values in the right uncinate fasciculus indicating white matter microarchitecture improvement between the right hippocampus and frontal areas of the brain. This study, therefore, demonstrates the effectiveness of web-based MMT on overall well-being and attentional performance, while also providing insight into the relationship between psychological outcomes, attention, and neuroplastic changes.

Analysis of the Effect of Mindfulness Meditation on Patients with Burning Mouth Syndrome

Objective: To explore the effect of mindfulness meditation on patients with burning mouth syndrome. Methods: 60 patients with burning mouth syndrome in our hospital who were treated from January 2021 to December 2022 were selected for this study. The patients were divided into two groups of thirty cases each using the randomized numerical table method. The observation underwent psychological intervention and mindfulness meditation training, while the control group only received symptomatic care. The condition of the patients of both groups was observed and compared. Results: Upon receiving treatment, the patients in the observation group had lower Hamilton Anxiety (HAM-A) scores, and Hamilton Depression (HAMD) scores compared to the control group (P &lt; 0.05). The visual analog scale (VAS) scores of the observation group were also lower than those of the control group (P &lt; 0.05). Moreover, the efficacy of the nursing intervention in the observation group was higher than that of the control group (P &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: Psychological intervention and mindfulness meditation training can effectively improve the clinical symptoms of patients with burning mouth syndrome. Therefore, this treatment method should be popularized.

Major Depressive Disorder: Etiology, Impact Factors and the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Intervention

This comprehensive review discusses the implications of mindfulness-based interventions in treating Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in children, an increasingly recognized global mental health issue. MDD cast significant challenges to a child's social interaction, academic performance, and overall personal development, necessitating effective interventions. While traditional therapies, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy, have proven their effectiveness, this paper explores the emerging field of mindfulness-based interventions. These interventions, encompassing training in mindfulness meditation, focus on enhancing present-moment awareness, emotional regulation, and a non-judgmental acceptance of one's feelings and thoughts. Several studies have reported a reduction in MDD symptoms and improvements in emotional regulation in children due to mindfulness-based interventions. The study acknowledges some potential limitations and challenges with this approach but advocates for its promise in treating childhood MDD. The paper strongly urges for further research in this area to fully exploit this innovative therapeutic approach's potential, fine-tune its application, and investigate its efficacy across different clinical contexts.

The role of endogenous opioids in mindfulness and sham mindfulness-meditation for the direct alleviation of evoked chronic low back pain: a randomized clinical trial.

Chronic low back pain (cLBP) is the most prevalent chronic pain condition. There are no treatments that haven been found to directly assuage evoked cLBP. To this extent, mindfulness-meditation is a promising pain therapy. Yet, it is unclear if meditation can be utilized to directly attenuate evoked chronic pain through endogenous opioids. A double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled clinical trial with a drug crossover design examined if mindfulness-meditation, as compared to sham mindfulness-meditation, attenuated straight leg-raise test evoked chronic pain during intravenous (0.15 mg/kg bolus + 0.15 mg/kg/hour maintenance) naloxone (opioid antagonist) and placebo-saline infusion. Fifty-nine individuals with cLBP (mean age = 46 years; 30 females) completed all study procedures. After the pre-intervention pain testing session, patients were randomized to a four-session (20-min/session) mindfulness (n = 30) or sham mindfulness-meditation (n = 29) intervention. After the interventions, mindfulness and sham mindfulness-meditation were associated with significant reductions in back pain during saline and naloxone infusion when compared to rest (non-meditation) in response to the cLBP-evoking straight leg-raise test. These results indicate that meditation directly reduces evoked chronic pain through non-opioidergic processes. Importantly, after the interventions, the mindfulness group reported significantly lower straight leg-raise induced pain than the sham mindfulness-meditation group during rest (non-meditation) and meditation. Mindfulness and sham mindfulness-meditation training was also associated with significantly lower Brief Pain Inventory severity and interference scores. The pain-relieving effects of mindfulness meditation were more pronounced than a robust sham-mindfulness meditation intervention, suggesting that non-reactive appraisal processes may be uniquely associated with improvements in chronic low-back pain.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04034004.

Psychotherapy for Ketamine's Enhanced Durability in Chronic Neuropathic Pain: Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Chronic pain affects approximately 8 million Canadians (~20%), impacting their physical and mental health while burdening the health care system with costs of upwards of US $60 billion a year. Indeed, patients are often trialed on numerous medications over several years without reductions to their symptoms. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify new therapies for chronic pain to improve patients' quality of life, increase the availability of treatment options, and reduce the burden on the health care system. The primary objective of this study is to examine the feasibility of a parallel 3-arm pilot randomized controlled trial whereby patients are randomized to either intravenous ketamine alone, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness meditation (MM) training (CBT/MM), or the combination of intravenous ketamine and CBT/MM. The secondary outcome is to assess the durability and efficacy of combination intravenous ketamine and CBT/MM for treatment of chronic pain as compared to CBT/MM or intravenous ketamine alone (assessed at week 20 of the study). This is a single-center, 16-week, 3-arm pilot study that will take place at the Chronic Pain Clinic at St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, which receives 1000 referrals per year. Patients will be enrolled in the study for a total of 20 weeks. Participants who are allocated CBT/MM therapy will receive remote weekly psychotherapy from week 1 to week 16, inclusive of health coaching administered through the NexJ Health Inc (NexJ Health) platform. Patients who are allocated ketamine-infusion therapy will receive monthly ketamine infusion treatments on weeks 2, 7, and 12. Patients who are allocated ketamine+CBT/MM will receive weekly psychotherapy from weeks 1 to 16, inclusive, as well as ketamine infusion treatments on weeks 2, 7, and 12. We will be assessing recruitment rates, consent rates, withdrawal rates, adherence, missing data, and adverse events as pilot outcome measures. Secondary clinical outcomes include changes relative to baseline in pain intensity and pain interference. As of November 1, 2023, the recruitment process has not been initiated. Given the recruitment, consent, and intervention target of 30 participants for this feasibility study, with each patient undergoing monitoring and treatments for a course of 20 weeks, we expect to complete the study by December 2025. This study assesses the feasibility of conducting a 3-arm randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of ketamine administration with the concurrent use of CBT/MM in a population with chronic neuropathic pain. The results of this pilot randomized controlled trial will inform the development of a larger-scale randomized controlled trial. Future studies will be aimed at including a sufficiently powered sample that will inform decisions about optimal treatment calibration and treatment effect duration. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05639322; https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05639322. PRR1-10.2196/54406.

The impact of brief mindfulness meditation on anxiety, cognitive load, and teamwork in emergency simulation training: A randomized controlled trial

BackgroundEmergency simulation training may impose a heavy psychological burden on health professions students (HPS), evoking anxiety, and overwhelming their cognitive load. Mindfulness may have a positive impact on HPS’ anxiety, cognitive load, and teamwork during simulation training. The effects of integration of a brief pre-briefing mindfulness meditation (MM) practice into emergency simulation training, on anxiety, cognitive load, and teamwork remain understudied. MethodsFrom November 2021 to June 2022, 70 undergraduate HPS participated in this pilot randomized controlled study. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group (EG, n = 24) that completed a brief in-person mindfulness meditation training program (MMTP) (2 h/week during 4 weeks) or a control group (CG, n = 46). Each group was comprised of teams (2 medical students and 1–2 nursing students). Measures of anxiety, mindfulness, cognitive load, and teamwork were collected at 4-time points: baseline, after the completion of the brief MMTP (for the EG only), at the first simulation assessment within one month later, and the second (6-month follow-up) simulation assessment. Student's t and Wilcoxon Mann-Whiney tests were used to compare the groups' measures and changes over time. A one-way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to assess anxiety and mindfulness scores' changes over time among EG participants. Results52 participants completed all time-point assessments. EG participants recorded better state-anxiety, cognitive load, and teamwork scores than the CG participants in both simulation assessments. However, no statistically significant differences were recorded between the EG and the CG in trait-anxiety and mindfulness at the 6-month follow-up assessment. ConclusionBrief pre-briefing MM practice mitigates HPS' state-anxiety, and promotes cognitive load, and teamwork during emergency simulation training. Simulation instructors should consider MM practice in the emergency healthcare simulation instructional design.

Training the Moral Self: An 8-Week Mindfulness Meditation Program Leads to Reduced Dishonest Behavior and Increased Regulation of Interoceptive Awareness

ObjectivesRecent meta-analyses suggest that mindfulness meditation may enhance prosocial behavior, while evidence regarding moral behavior is still scarce. We combined a randomized controlled mindfulness training design with an ecologically valid moral decision-making task (Temptation to Lie Card Game; TLCG), in which participants were tempted to deceive an opponent to increase their monetary payoff.MethodTLCG and self-report measures (in the domains of attention regulation, body awareness, emotion regulation, and change in the perspective of the self) were administered to participants who underwent the mindfulness meditation training (experimental group, n = 44) or were waitlisted (control group, n = 25) twice: before and after the 8-week training.ResultsConcerning moral decision-making, we observed a significant effect involving condition, time, and group. Trained participants deceived significantly less in the post-training as compared with the pre-training phase (p = 0.03), while untrained ones showed no significant change (p = 0.58). In the self-reports, significant effects involving time and group were found for the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA-2) in Self-Regulation, Attention Regulation, Body Listening, and for the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) in Non-Reactivity to inner experience. Trained participants showed a time-related increase in all subscales scores, while untrained ones did not. Finally, a moderation analysis revealed a significant interaction between weekly mindfulness meditation training minutes and MAIA-2 Attention Regulation (post-training) on moral behavior change.ConclusionsOur preliminary results suggest that mindfulness meditation practice decreases self-serving dishonest behavior and increases awareness of one’s bodily and emotional state. In particular, the amount of mindfulness meditation practice predicted moral behavior change in practitioners who reported the highest regulation of attention towards internal bodily signals.PreregistrationThis study is not preregistered.

Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: Potential Synergies

ObjectivesThe mindfulness-informed intervention that has so far received the most attention as an adjunct to psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), but little remains known about potential synergies between psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and mindfulness-based interventions such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). This paper examines and evaluates the therapeutic compatibility of MBCT with psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and their potential synergies.MethodsThis study represents a narrative review of the current literature on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and MBCT.ResultsWe demonstrate how MBCT targets core processes including acceptance, being present, concentration, decentering and embracing difficulties — and outline why strengthening these capacities with systematic meditation training may prove invaluable during the preparation, dosing and integration phases of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.ConclusionsMBCT’s emphasis on systematic training in mindfulness meditation and fostering nonjudgmental presence aligns well with the states of consciousness induced by psychedelics, highlighting its potential to enhance various stages of both the psychedelic experience and subsequent integration. By equipping individuals with effective mindfulness and cognitive restructuring techniques, MBCT may offer advantages beyond those provided by ACT, such as the ability to skillfully navigate and manage challenging experiences that can emerge during different phases of the psychedelic experience and integration. This suggests that MBCT’s unique approach may complement psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in ways that ACT may not fully address, particularly in the context of handling challenging experiences.

EEG-based investigation of effects of mindfulness meditation training on state and trait by deep learning and traditional machine learning.

This study examines the state and trait effects of short-term mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) training using convolutional neural networks (CNN) based deep learning methods and traditional machine learning methods, including shallow and deep ConvNets as well as support vector machine (SVM) with features extracted from common spatial pattern (CSP) and filter bank CSP (FBCSP). We investigated the electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements of 11 novice MBSR practitioners (6 males, 5 females; mean age 35.7 years; 7 Asians and 4 Caucasians) during resting and meditation at early and late training stages. The classifiers are trained and evaluated using inter-subject, mix-subject, intra-subject, and subject-transfer classification strategies, each according to a specific application scenario. For MBSR state effect recognition, trait effect recognition using meditation EEG, and trait effect recognition using resting EEG, from shallow ConvNet classifier we get mix-subject/intra-subject classification accuracies superior to related previous studies for both novice and expert meditators with a variety of meditation types including yoga, Tibetan, and mindfulness, whereas from FBSCP + SVM classifier we get inter-subject classification accuracies of 68.50, 85.00, and 78.96%, respectively. Deep learning is superior for state effect recognition of novice meditators and slightly inferior but still comparable for both state and trait effects recognition of expert meditators when compared to the literatures. This study supports previous findings that short-term meditation training has EEG-recognizable state and trait effects.

Reducing STEM test anxiety through classroom mindfulness training for lower secondary school children: a pilot study

ABSTRACT Although mindfulness is effective in reducing anxiety, research on its impact on test anxiety among lower secondary school children in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related disciplines is limited. Using a one-group pre – post-test research design, this pilot study evaluated the impact of classroom mindfulness meditation training on test anxiety in STEM-related disciplines with 197 sixth-grade students (54.3% boys, aged 10–12 years) from public schools in Kosovo. Mindfulness training significantly decreased students’ test anxiety levels in STEM-related disciplines. Mindfulness helped students calm down, reduced their academic anxiety, and increased their self-esteem. A significant decrease in test anxiety among participants who reported that the training improved their self-esteem and reduced their academic anxiety and stress was ascertained. Regarding sex differences, meditation activities significantly decreased test anxiety scores among girls. Mindfulness training can be employed as a stress-reduction strategy that can be easily incorporated into classroom pedagogy.