Mindfulness meditation is a set of attention-based, regulatory, and self-inquiry training regimes. Although the impact of mindfulness training (MT) on self-regulation is well established, the neural mechanisms supporting such plasticity are poorly understood. MT is thought to act through interoceptive salience and attentional control mechanisms, but until now conflicting evidence from behavioral and neural measures renders difficult distinguishing their respective roles. To resolve this question we conducted a fully randomized 6 week longitudinal trial of MT, explicitly controlling for cognitive and treatment effects with an active-control group. We measured behavioral metacognition and whole-brain blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signals using functional MRI during an affective Stroop task before and after intervention in healthy human subjects. Although both groups improved significantly on a response-inhibition task, only the MT group showed reduced affective Stroop conflict. Moreover, the MT group displayed greater dorsolateral prefrontal cortex responses during executive processing, consistent with increased recruitment of top-down mechanisms to resolve conflict. In contrast, we did not observe overall group-by-time interactions on negative affect-related reaction times or BOLD responses. However, only participants with the greatest amount of MT practice showed improvements in response inhibition and increased recruitment of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and right anterior insula during negative valence processing. Our findings highlight the importance of active control in MT research, indicate unique neural mechanisms for progressive stages of mindfulness training, and suggest that optimal application of MT may differ depending on context, contrary to a one-size-fits-all approach.
Zotero Collections:
<p>A look at eight linguistic divisions among the Tamang. (Mark Turin 2004-06-17)</p>
BackgroundKnowledge of coping mechanisms is important for nursing and midwifery students to cope with stressful events during undergraduate education.
Objectives
To evaluate the impact of a psycho-educational intervention “Coping with Stressful Events” with first year undergraduate nursing and midwifery students.
Design
A quasi-experimental, one-group pre-post-test.
Settings
One school of nursing/midwifery in one university in Ireland.
Participants
A convenience sample of all first year undergraduate nursing and midwifery students (n=197). Of these 166 completed the pretest and 138 students completed the post test.
Methods
Using the COPE Inventory questionnaire (Carver et al., 1989) data was collected pre and post-delivery of the psycho-educational intervention “Coping with Stressful Events” by two research assistants. Data were analysed using the IBM SPSS Statistics version 22 (NY, USA).
Results
Results demonstrated improved coping skills by students. There were statistically significant differences between pre and post intervention for some coping subscales. For example, the mean subscale scores were lower post-intervention for restraint and mental disengagement, and higher for use of emotional and instrumental social support indicating improved coping strategies.
Conclusions
This intervention has the potential to influence undergraduate nursing and midwifery students coping skills during their first year of an undergraduate programme.
<p>This article looks at polemical arguments between Sakyapas (sa skya pa) and Kagyüpa (bka' 'gyud pa) over relics. Small relics (ring bsrel) are often regarded in Tibet as appearing miraculously at the death of a saint. However, as the article demonstrates, the exact nature of these relics and their authenticity has been a matter of debate among Tibetan Buddhists. Furthermore, controversies over relics have sometimes taken place in the context of broader political contentions. (Ben Deitle 2006-02-28)</p>
BackgroundDepression is a common condition that typically has a relapsing course. Effective interventions targeting relapse have the potential to dramatically reduce the point prevalence of the condition. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a group-based intervention that has shown efficacy in reducing depressive relapse. While trials of MBCT to date have met the core requirements of phase 1 translational research, there is a need now to move to phase 2 translational research - the application of MBCT within real-world settings with a view to informing policy and clinical practice. The aim of this trial is to examine the clinical impact and health economics of MBCT under real-world conditions and where efforts have been made to assess for and prevent resentful demoralization among the control group. Secondary aims of the project involve extending the phase 1 agenda to an examination of the effects of co-morbidity and mechanisms of action.
Methods/Design
This study is designed as a prospective, multi-site, single-blind, randomised controlled trial using a group comparison design between involving the intervention, MBCT, and a self-monitoring comparison condition, Depression Relapse Active Monitoring (DRAM). Follow-up is over 2 years. The design of the study indicates recruitment from primary and secondary care of 204 participants who have a history of 3 or more episodes of Major Depression but who are currently well. Measures assessing depressive relapse/recurrence, time to first clinical intervention, treatment expectancy and a range of secondary outcomes and process variables are included. A health economics evaluation will be undertaken to assess the incremental cost of MBCT.
Discussion
The results of this trial, including an examination of clinical, functional and health economic outcomes, will be used to assess the role that this treatment approach may have in recommendations for treatment of depression in Australia and elsewhere. If the findings are positive, we expect that this research will consolidate the evidence base to guide the decision to fund MBCT and to seek to promote its availability to those who have experienced at least 3 episodes of depression.
BackgroundDepression is a common condition that typically has a relapsing course. Effective interventions targeting relapse have the potential to dramatically reduce the point prevalence of the condition. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a group-based intervention that has shown efficacy in reducing depressive relapse. While trials of MBCT to date have met the core requirements of phase 1 translational research, there is a need now to move to phase 2 translational research - the application of MBCT within real-world settings with a view to informing policy and clinical practice. The aim of this trial is to examine the clinical impact and health economics of MBCT under real-world conditions and where efforts have been made to assess for and prevent resentful demoralization among the control group. Secondary aims of the project involve extending the phase 1 agenda to an examination of the effects of co-morbidity and mechanisms of action.
Methods/Design
This study is designed as a prospective, multi-site, single-blind, randomised controlled trial using a group comparison design between involving the intervention, MBCT, and a self-monitoring comparison condition, Depression Relapse Active Monitoring (DRAM). Follow-up is over 2 years. The design of the study indicates recruitment from primary and secondary care of 204 participants who have a history of 3 or more episodes of Major Depression but who are currently well. Measures assessing depressive relapse/recurrence, time to first clinical intervention, treatment expectancy and a range of secondary outcomes and process variables are included. A health economics evaluation will be undertaken to assess the incremental cost of MBCT.
Discussion
The results of this trial, including an examination of clinical, functional and health economic outcomes, will be used to assess the role that this treatment approach may have in recommendations for treatment of depression in Australia and elsewhere. If the findings are positive, we expect that this research will consolidate the evidence base to guide the decision to fund MBCT and to seek to promote its availability to those who have experienced at least 3 episodes of depression.
British imperialism was almost unparalleled in its historical and geographical reach, leaving a legacy of entrenched social transformation in nations and cultures in every part of the globe. Colonial annexation and government were based on an all-encompassing system that integrated and controlled political, economic, social and ethnic relations, and required a similar annexation and control of natural resources and nature itself. Colonial ideologies were expressed not only in the progressive exploitation of nature but also in the emerging discourses of conservation. At the start of the 21st century, the conservation of nature is of undiminished importance in post-colonial societies, yet the legacy of colonial thinking endures. What should conservation look like today, and what (indeed, whose) ideas should it be based upon? Decolonizing Nature explores the influence of the colonial legacy on contemporary conservation and on ideas about the relationships between people, polities and nature in countries and cultures that were once part of the British Empire. It locates the historical development of the theory and practice of conservation - at both the periphery and the centre - firmly within the context of this legacy, and considers its significance today. It highlights the present and future challenges to conservationists of contemporary global neo-colonialism The contributors to this volume include both academics and conservation practitioners. They provide wide-ranging and insightful perspectives on the need for, and practical ways to achieve new forms of informed ethical engagement between people and nature.
British imperialism was almost unparalleled in its historical and geographical reach, leaving a legacy of entrenched social transformation in nations and cultures in every part of the globe. Colonial annexation and government were based on an all-encompassing system that integrated and controlled political, economic, social and ethnic relations, and required a similar annexation and control of natural resources and nature itself. Colonial ideologies were expressed not only in the progressive exploitation of nature but also in the emerging discourses of conservation. At the start of the 21st century, the conservation of nature is of undiminished importance in post-colonial societies, yet the legacy of colonial thinking endures. What should conservation look like today, and what (indeed, whose) ideas should it be based upon? Decolonizing Nature explores the influence of the colonial legacy on contemporary conservation and on ideas about the relationships between people, polities and nature in countries and cultures that were once part of the British Empire. It locates the historical development of the theory and practice of conservation - at both the periphery and the centre - firmly within the context of this legacy, and considers its significance today. It highlights the present and future challenges to conservationists of contemporary global neo-colonialism The contributors to this volume include both academics and conservation practitioners. They provide wide-ranging and insightful perspectives on the need for, and practical ways to achieve new forms of informed ethical engagement between people and nature.
BackgroundPoor social cognition is prevalent in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Some authors argue that these effects are symptom-specific and that socio-cognitive difficulties (e.g. theory of mind) are strongly associated with thought disorder and symptoms of disorganisation.
Aims
The current review tests the strength of this association.
Method
We meta-analysed studies published between 1980 and 2016 that tested the association between social cognition and these symptoms in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
Results
Our search (PsycINFO, MEDLINE and Web of Science) identified 123 studies (N = 9107). Overall effect size as r = −0.313, indicating a moderate association between symptoms and social cognition. Subanalyses yielded a moderate association between symptoms and theory of mind (r = −0.349) and emotion recognition (r = −0.334), but smaller effect sizes for social perception (r = −0.188), emotion regulation (r = −0.169) and attributional biases (r = −0.143).
Conclusions
The association is interpreted within models of communication that highlight the importance of mentalisation and processing of partner-specific cues in conversational alignment and grounding.
Declaration of interests
None.
OBJECTIVES:Major depressive disorder is a significant mental illness that is highly likely to recur, particularly after three or more previous episodes. Increased mindfulness and decreased rumination have both been associated with decreased depressive relapse. The aim of this study was to investigate whether rumination mediates the relationship between mindfulness and depressive relapse.
DESIGN:
This prospective design involved a secondary data analysis for identifying causal mechanisms using mediation analysis.
METHODS:
This study was embedded in a pragmatic randomized controlled trial of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in which 203 participants (165 females, 38 males; mean age: 48 years), with a history of at least three previous episodes of depression, completed measures of mindfulness, rumination, and depressive relapse over a 2-year follow-up period. Specific components of mindfulness and rumination, being nonjudging and brooding, respectively, were also explored.
RESULTS:
While higher mindfulness scores predicted reductions in rumination and depressive relapse, the relationship between mindfulness and relapse was not found to be mediated by rumination, although there appeared to be a trend.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our results strengthen the argument that mindfulness may be important in preventing relapse but that rumination is not a significant mediator of its effects. The study was adequately powered to detect medium mediation effects, but it is possible that smaller effects were present but not detected.
PRACTITIONER POINTS:
Mindfulness may be one of several components of MBCT contributing to prevention of depressive relapse. Although the original rationale for MBCT rested largely on a model of relapse causally linked to rumination, our findings suggest that the mechanism by which mindfulness impacts relapse is more complex than a simple effect on rumination.
<p>This article attempts to piece together the identities of several of Milarepa's teachers before his meeting with Marpa, including a reading teacher, two teachers of black magic, and a Dzokchen teacher. Martin finds that information on these figures is often inconclusive, contradictory, or not yet known to exist. (Ben Deitle 2006-01-25)</p>
In this thought-provoking book, Jordan and Hinds provide a comprehensive exploration of this emerging area of practice. Divided into three parts, the book offers a unique examination of a range of theoretical perspectives, unpacks the latest research and provides a wealth of illuminating practice examples, with a number of chapters dedicated to authors' own first-hand experiences of the positive psychological effects of having contact with nature.Whilst the idea of using nature to improve mental and emotional wellbeing has existed for many years, growing levels of interest in holistic, reciprocal relationships with nature have led to the development of ecotherapy as an explicit field of research. This is the much needed academically rigorous, yet engaging, introduction for Counselling and Psychotherapy students new to the subject as well as experienced professionals wanting to expand their understanding of this fast paced area of study and practice.
ObjectiveAlthough there has been growing evidence for the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for different clinical populations, its effectiveness as a public mental health intervention has not been studied. The present study evaluates a community-based MBCT intervention for adults with mild to moderate depressive symptomatology in a large multi-site, pragmatic randomized controlled trial.
Method
The participants with mild to moderate depressive symptomatology were recruited from the general population and randomized to the MBCT intervention (n = 76) or to a waiting list control group (n = 75). Participants completed measures before and after the intervention. Participants in the experimental condition also completed these measures at a 3-month follow-up.
Results
In the experimental condition significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and experiential avoidance, and improvements in mindfulness and emotional- and psychological mental health were found, compared to the waiting list (effect sizes Cohen's d = 0.31–0.56). These effects were sustained at the 3-month follow-up. The likelihood of a clinically significant change in depressive symptoms was significantly higher for the MBCT group [odds ratio (OR) 3.026, p<0.01 at post-treatment; NNT = 5.10].
Discussion
MBCT as a public mental health intervention for adults with mild to moderate depressive symptoms seems effective and applicable in a natural setting.
To explain the evolution of cooperation by natural selection has been a major goal of biologists since Darwin. Cooperators help others at a cost to themselves, while defectors receive the benefits of altruism without providing any help in return. The standard game dynamical formulation is the ‘Prisoner's Dilemma’1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11, in which two players have a choice between cooperation and defection. In the repeated game, cooperators using direct reciprocity cannot be exploited by defectors, but it is unclear how such cooperators can arise in the first place12,13,14,15. In general, defectors are stable against invasion by cooperators. This understanding is based on traditional concepts of evolutionary stability and dynamics in infinite populations16,17,18,19,20. Here we study evolutionary game dynamics in finite populations21,22,23,24,25. We show that a single cooperator using a strategy like ‘tit-for-tat’ can invade a population of defectors with a probability that corresponds to a net selective advantage. We specify the conditions required for natural selection to favour the emergence of cooperation and define evolutionary stability in finite populations.
Contemporary theories have generally focused on the behavioral, cognitive, or emotional dimensions of prosocial moral development. In this volume, the author brings these 3 dimensions together while providing the first comprehensive account of prosocial moral development in children. The main concept is empathy—one feels what is appropriate for another person's situation, not one's own. The author discusses empathy's role in 5 moral situations. The book's focus is empathy's contribution to altruism and compassion for others in physical, physical psychological, or economic distress; feelings of guilt over harming someone; feelings of anger at others who do harm; feelings of injustice when when others do not receive their due. Also highlighted are the psychological processes involved in empathy's interaction with certain parental behaviors that foster moral internalization in children and the psychological processes involved in empathy's relation to abstract moral principles such as caring and distributive justice. This important book is the culmination of 3 decades of study and research by a leading figure in the area of child and development psychology.
Darwinian evolution has to provide an explanation for cooperative behaviour. Theories of cooperation are based on kin selection (dependent on genetic relatedness)1,2, group selection3,4,5 and reciprocal altruism6,7,8. The idea of reciprocal altruism usually involves direct reciprocity: repeated encounters between the same individuals allow for the return of an altruistic act by the recipient10,11,12,13,14,15,16. Here we present a new theoretical framework, which is based on indirect reciprocity17 and does not require the same two individuals ever to meet again. Individual selection can nevertheless favour cooperative strategies directed towards recipients that have helped others in the past. Cooperation pays because it confers the image of a valuable community member to the cooperating individual. We present computer simulations and analytic models that specify the conditions required for evolutionary stability18 of indirect reciprocity. We show that the probability of knowing the ‘image’ of the recipient must exceed the cost-to-benefit ratio of the altruistic act. We propose that the emergence of indirect reciprocity was a decisive step for the evolution of human societies.
We are three scholars in early childhood studies, child and youth care, and nursing in an urban university in Canada. In this chapter, we offer a conversation about our experiences as we explore the significance of conscious mindful practices within the context of our respective teaching–learning roles within academia. Drawing on a performative framework, this chapter offers a conversation shaped by reflections on our current collaborations in leading workshops on personal–professional well-being of our peers. Significant to the conversation is how, as actors in the classroom and research, we also engage with our students in mindful and creative performance to encourage self-care and well-being. Our reflective dialogue thus serves to inform not only our teaching–learning, but also our research undertakings.
Pages |