PURPOSE: Thirty percent to 90% of cancer survivors report impaired sleep quality post-treatment, which can be severe enough to increase morbidity and mortality. Lifestyle interventions, such as exercise, are recommended in conjunction with drugs and cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of impaired sleep. Preliminary evidence indicates that yoga-a mind-body practice and form of exercise-may improve sleep among cancer survivors. The primary aim of this randomized, controlled clinical trial was to determine the efficacy of a standardized yoga intervention compared with standard care for improving global sleep quality (primary outcome) among post-treatment cancer survivors.PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 410 survivors suffering from moderate or greater sleep disruption between 2 and 24 months after surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation therapy were randomly assigned to standard care or standard care plus the 4-week yoga intervention. The yoga intervention used the Yoga for Cancer Survivors (YOCAS) program consisting of pranayama (breathing exercises), 16 Gentle Hatha and Restorative yoga asanas (postures), and meditation. Participants attended two 75-minute sessions per week. Sleep quality was assessed by using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and actigraphy pre- and postintervention.
RESULTS: In all, 410 survivors were accrued (96% female; mean age, 54 years; 75% had breast cancer). Yoga participants demonstrated greater improvements in global sleep quality and, secondarily, subjective sleep quality, daytime dysfunction, wake after sleep onset, sleep efficiency, and medication use at postintervention (all P ≤ .05) compared with standard care participants.
CONCLUSION: Yoga, specifically the YOCAS program, is a useful treatment for improving sleep quality and reducing sleep medication use among cancer survivors.
<p>Awe has been defined as an emotional response to perceptually vast stimuli that overwhelm current mental structures, yet facilitate attempts at accommodation. Four studies are presented showing the information-focused nature of awe elicitors, documenting the self-diminishing effects of awe experience, and exploring the effects of awe on the content of the self-concept. Study 1 documented the information-focused, asocial nature of awe elicitors in participant narratives. Study 2 contrasted the stimulus-focused, self-diminishing nature of appraisals and feelings associated with a prototypical awe experience with the self-focused appraisals and feelings associated with pride. Study 3 found that dispositional awe-proneness, but not dispositional joy or pride, was associated with low Need for Cognitive Closure, and also documented a relationship between dispositional awe and increased emphasis on membership in “universal” categories in participants’ self-concepts. Study 4 replicated the self-concept finding from Study 3 using experimentally elicited awe. Implications for future work on awe are discussed.</p>
Zotero Collections:
In this article, the authors elaborate on 3 ideas advanced in P. Rozin and A. B. Cohen's (2003) innovative study of facial expression. Taking a cue from their discovery of new expressive behaviors (e.g., the narrowed eyebrows), the authors review recent studies showing that emotions are conveyed in more channels than usually studied, including posture, gaze patterns, voice, and touch. Building on their claim that confusion has a distinct display, the authors review evidence showing distinct displays for 3 self-conscious emotions (embarrassment, shame, and pride), 5 positive emotions (amusement, desire, happiness, love, interest), and sympathy and compassion. Finally, the authors offer a functional definition of emotion to integrate these findings on "new" displays and emotions.
Zotero Collections:
The goal of this chapter is to synthesize and define a growing group of therapies that are generally considered part of the cognitive behavioral theoretical orientation, but, based on a variety of factors, may represent a “new generation” of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It shows some of the ways that CBT has transformed since its inception, and reviews previous work that has supported and informed the development of the latter therapies. It highlights some of the key concepts (e.g., acceptance, mindfulness, and values) of the newer forms of CBT that indicate some meaningful shifts may have occurred within the field of CBT. The clinical utility of these techniques, specifically in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR), mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and metacognitive therapy (MCT), for anxiety disorders is covered. Finally, the chapter offers suggestions for the successful future development of CBT.
The current study investigated the comprehension of mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy (MBCT) by patients with resistant depression at the Psychiatry Institute of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was the first time the model was used in the institution to treat these patients. In this study, 45 patients were invited to participate in a baseline session of MBCT that consisted in the explanation of the model and experimental exercises conducted by two experienced therapists. Twenty eight patients accepted to participate. At the end of the intervention, the patients completed a self-administered questionnaire designed by our ambulatory to assess their understanding of the method’s goals. Patients with anxiety disorder was also accessed for group comparison. More than 75% of the patients rated the intervention as comprehensible and workable. Compared to patients with depression, patients with anxiety had a better understanding of the mindfulness framework (6.5%) and the meaning of cognitive behavioral therapy (17.6%). Patients that completed the intervention described the baseline session of MBCT as comprehensive and acceptable. These results may allow possible future developments in the practice of mindfulness as a treatment applicable in many condition and settings even in the Brazilian context.
<p>Although theorists have proposed the existence of multiple distinct varieties of positive emotion, dispositional positive affect is typically treated as a unidimensional variable in personality research. We present data elaborating conceptual and empirical differences among seven positive emotion dispositions in their relationships with two core personality constructs, the “Big Five” and adult attachment style. We found that the positive emotion dispositions were differentially associated with self- and peer-rated Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, and Neuroticism. We also found that different adult attachment styles were associated with different kinds of emotional rewards. Findings support the theoretical utility of differentiating among several dispositional positive emotion constructs in personality research.</p>
Zotero Collections:
Contemplation has been described as a “long, loving look at the real,” a characterization that could equally well apply to science. In this paper, I frame a contemplative approach to the teaching and practice of science which draws strongly on the Christian monastic traditions. Students, in particular, struggle with the ever increasing information density in their course work which can cloud their understanding of the relationship of their work to broader contexts. I suggest that the monastic counsels of intentional simplicity, deep listening and constancy can provide a foundation for the design of science courses which help students engage more deeply with their work in the midst of a deluge of information, particularly visual and graphical information. I present four different contemplative practices suited for use in the scientific classroom and research lab: a simple, discreet stilling exercise for focus and attention, a ‘beholding’ approach to exploring visual data and two writing exercises designed for laboratory researchers.
Researchers have shown that mood and sense of control over one's life are significantly affected by testimony and other forms of disclosure and that learning to control breathing has positive effects on mood and anxiety. This preliminary experiment tests whether African American and European American abused women who give testimony about their experiences of intimate partner violence and learn how to use yogic breathing techniques have reduced feelings of depression. Results indicate that learning yogic breathing techniques alone and combined with giving testimony significantly reduces feelings of depression. Recasting women as authorities on domestic violence and teaching them how to calm their minds by focusing on yogic breathing may be simple and effective ways to help women take control over their bodies and lives.
In this article, Michelle DeMeulenaere discusses social/emotional learning (SEL), with a focus on helping preschool children gain knowledge about feelings and getting along with others. SEL is the process in which children are able to acknowledge and recognize the emotions of others, develop empathy, make good decisions, establish friendships, and handle challenges and situations effectively. Early childhood teachers have a strong impact on guiding children's social and emotional development by creating a safe and supportive environment, focusing on the child's feelings, helping children develop language, and discussing the topics of how children develop SEL. The stability and security of the teacher-student relationship directly influences social and emotional learning. Effective teachers (1) encourage children to participate in classroom activities; (2) listen to what children say, and expand upon their language, building vocabulary and knowledge; and (3) plan activities that have a purpose and challenge the children. Teachers also encourage children to respect each other and their surroundings as the children observe adult emotions and behaviors exhibited with both students and peers.
OBJECTIVES: Considerable morbidity persists among survivors of breast cancer (BC) including high levels of psychological stress, anxiety, depression, fear of recurrence, and physical symptoms including pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbances, and impaired quality of life. Effective interventions are needed during this difficult transitional period.METHODS: We conducted a randomized controlled trial of 84 female BC survivors (Stages 0-III) recruited from the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer and Research Institute. All subjects were within 18 months of treatment completion with surgery and adjuvant radiation and/or chemotherapy. Subjects were randomly assigned to a 6-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program designed to self-regulate arousal to stressful circumstances or symptoms (n=41) or to usual care (n=43). Outcome measures compared at 6 weeks by random assignment included validated measures of psychological status (depression, anxiety, perceived stress, fear of recurrence, optimism, social support) and psychological and physical subscales of quality of life (SF-36).
RESULTS: Compared with usual care, subjects assigned to MBSR(BC) had significantly lower (two-sided p<0.05) adjusted mean levels of depression (6.3 vs 9.6), anxiety (28.3 vs 33.0), and fear of recurrence (9.3 vs 11.6) at 6 weeks, along with higher energy (53.5 vs 49.2), physical functioning (50.1 vs 47.0), and physical role functioning (49.1 vs 42.8). In stratified analyses, subjects more compliant with MBSR tended to experience greater improvements in measures of energy and physical functioning.
CONCLUSIONS: Among BC survivors within 18 months of treatment completion, a 6-week MBSR(BC) program resulted in significant improvements in psychological status and quality of life compared with usual care.
Objectives: Considerable morbidity persists among survivors of breast cancer (BC) including high levels of psychological stress, anxiety, depression, fear of recurrence, and physical symptoms including pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbances, and impaired quality of life. Effective interventions are needed during this difficult transitional period.Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial of 84 female BC survivors (Stages 0–III) recruited from the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer and Research Institute. All subjects were within 18 months of treatment completion with surgery and adjuvant radiation and/or chemotherapy. Subjects were randomly assigned to a 6‐week Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program designed to self‐regulate arousal to stressful circumstances or symptoms (n=41) or to usual care (n=43). Outcome measures compared at 6 weeks by random assignment included validated measures of psychological status (depression, anxiety, perceived stress, fear of recurrence, optimism, social support) and psychological and physical subscales of quality of life (SF‐36).
Results: Compared with usual care, subjects assigned to MBSR(BC) had significantly lower (two‐sided p<0.05) adjusted mean levels of depression (6.3 vs 9.6), anxiety (28.3 vs 33.0), and fear of recurrence (9.3 vs 11.6) at 6 weeks, along with higher energy (53.5 vs 49.2), physical functioning (50.1 vs 47.0), and physical role functioning (49.1 vs 42.8). In stratified analyses, subjects more compliant with MBSR tended to experience greater improvements in measures of energy and physical functioning.
Conclusions: Among BC survivors within 18 months of treatment completion, a 6‐week MBSR(BC) program resulted in significant improvements in psychological status and quality of life compared with usual care.
Resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSAREST) indexes important aspects of individual differences in emotionality. In the present investigation, the authors address whether RSAREST is associated with tonic positive or negative emotionality, and whether RSAREST relates to phasic emotional responding to discrete positive emotion-eliciting stimuli. Across an 8-month, multiassessment study of first-year university students (n = 80), individual differences in RSAREST were associated with positive but not negative tonic emotionality, assessed at the level of personality traits, long-term moods, the disposition toward optimism, and baseline reports of current emotional states. RSAREST was not related to increased positive emotion, or stimulus-specific emotion, in response to compassion-, awe-, or pride-inducing stimuli. These findings suggest that resting RSA indexes aspects of a person's tonic positive emotionality.
Zotero Collections:
Using the iterative process of action research, we identify six portals of understanding, called threshold concepts, which can be used as curricular guideposts to disrupt the socially constituted separation, and hierarchy, between humans and the more-than-human. The threshold concepts identified in this study provide focal points for a curriculum in transformative sustainability learning which (1) acknowledges non-human agency; and (2) recognizes that the capacity to work with multiple ways of knowing is required to effectively engage in the process of sustainability knowledge creation. These concepts are: there are different ways of knowing; we can communicate with non-human nature and non-human nature can communicate with us; knowing is relational; transrational intuition and embodied knowing are valuable and valid ways of knowing; worldview is the lens through which we view reality; and the power of dominant beliefs (represented in discourse) supports and/or undermines particular ways of knowing and being as in/valid.
<p>ABSTRACT: Many programs have been developed to help schools enhance students' health and reduce the prevalence of drug use, violence, and high-risk sexual behaviors. How should educators choose among these? This article describes selection criteria based on theory, research, and best educational practice that identify key social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies and program features. The SEL competencies for students include 17 skills and attitudes organized into four groups: awareness of self and others; positive attitudes and values; responsible decision making; and social interaction skills. The 11 program features critical to the success of school-based SEL programs emphasize curriculum design, coordination with larger systems, educator preparation and support, and program evaluation. Developed by the Collaborative to Advance Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the SEL framework can be used to guide selection of research-based prevention programs that address health, substance abuse, violence prevention, sexuality, character, and social skills.</p>
Zotero Collections:
Social class is shaped by an individual's material resources as well as perceptions of rank vis-à-vis others in society, and in this article, we examine how class influences behavior. Diminished resources and lower rank create contexts that constrain social outcomes for lower-class individuals and enhance contextualist tendencies--that is, a focus on external, uncontrollable social forces and other individuals who influence one's life outcomes. In contrast, abundant resources and elevated rank create contexts that enhance the personal freedoms of upper-class individuals and give rise to solipsistic social cognitive tendencies--that is, an individualistic focus on one's own internal states, goals, motivations, and emotions. Guided by this framework, we detail 9 hypotheses and relevant empirical evidence concerning how class-based contextualist and solipsistic tendencies shape the self, perceptions of the social environment, and relationships to other individuals. Novel predictions and implications for research in other socio-political contexts are considered.
Zotero Collections:
OBJECTIVE: A systematic search and critical appraisal of interdisciplinary literature was conducted to evaluate the evidence for practicing mindfulness to treat job burnout and to explore implications for occupational therapy practitioners.METHOD: Eight articles met inclusion criteria. Each study was assessed for quality using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale. We used the U.S. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research guidelines to determine strength of evidence.
RESULTS: Of the studies reviewed, participants included health care professionals and teachers; no studies included occupational therapy practitioners. Six of the 8 studies demonstrated statistically significant decreases in job burnout after mindfulness training. Seven of the studies were of fair to good quality.
CONCLUSION: There is strong evidence for the use of mindfulness practice to reduce job burnout among health care professionals and teachers. Research is needed to fill the gap on whether mindfulness is effective for treating burnout in occupational therapy practitioners.
This study examined the impact on 16 middle-school teachers' conceptions of mathematics learning and teaching of reflections on their learning experiences within mathematics professional development. The research questions were: In their reflections, what do teachers express about how they best learned mathematics through these learning experiences? How do teachers extend these ideas to possible modifications of their teaching practice? Data included the teachers' written reflections and field notes, which were analysed using grounded theory. In their reflections, the teachers noted several supportive processes that aligned with recommendations of teaching for mathematical understanding and that they planned to implement in their classrooms. Teachers' reflections were more aligned with teaching for understanding when they thought about their mathematical learning experiences in the role of a learner before considering implications for their teaching. (Contains 2 tables.)
Proponents say yoga calms anxious pupils and helps to improve their concentration
The purpose of this study is to elucidate the use of formative research to adapt, develop, and pretest a mindful yoga curriculum for high-risk youth attending a nontraditional high school. The formative work was conducted in the first year of a larger project to test the efficacy of a mindful yoga program through a randomized controlled trial. The formative work included focus groups with: (1) an Advisory Board of experts in preventive interventions with high-risk youth, yoga and mindfulness and (2) students in the target population. Major themes emerging from the Advisory Board included youths' preconceptions about yoga, desirable characteristics in a yoga teacher, racial/ethnic differences in yoga participation, gender differences, and youths' likely motivations for participation. Additional themes reported by the student focus group participants included perceived motivations for participation, likely benefits of yoga, perceptions of yoga, yoga experience, and peer opinions. Additional results pertained to important logistical considerations when implementing school-based yoga programs. The formative work resulted in a 20-session, manualized curriculum that was pretested with students. Pretesting indicated that the intervention was feasible and enjoyable. In a focus group following the intervention, students reported improved mood and a high degree of satisfaction with the intervention. Implementation challenges included logistics within a school setting, recruitment and consenting, gender considerations, and developmental issues.
An estimated 20 % of the global population experiences chronic pain, and comorbidity with emotional disorders such as depression is high. While the use of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as an intervention for recurrent depression is escalating in both popularity and evidence-based success, MBCT is being increasingly utilised in a range of areas including chronic pain management. The current study was designed to conceptualise chronic pain patients’ perceived benefits of an MBCT programme. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 chronic pain patients who had participated in MBCT group training within a public hospital pain unit between 8 and 50 months previously. The recorded interviews were transcribed and interpreted using thematic analysis to identify key themes in participants’ comments. Four overarching themes were extracted: patients’ belief in the programme, patients’ perception of control, patients’ struggles and patients’ acceptance of the presence of pain. Participants who perceived benefits from the MBCT programme were most motivated to continue mindfulness practice. Identifying patients’ perspectives on their pain and the benefits of ongoing mindfulness practice following participation in an MBCT group intervention provided opportunity to discuss ways to best assist patients in developing and consolidating their practice. Clinical and research implications are discussed.
An estimated 20 % of the global population experiences chronic pain, and comorbidity with emotional disorders such as depression is high. While the use of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as an intervention for recurrent depression is escalating in both popularity and evidence-based success, MBCT is being increasingly utilised in a range of areas including chronic pain management. The current study was designed to conceptualise chronic pain patients’ perceived benefits of an MBCT programme. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 chronic pain patients who had participated in MBCT group training within a public hospital pain unit between 8 and 50 months previously. The recorded interviews were transcribed and interpreted using thematic analysis to identify key themes in participants’ comments. Four overarching themes were extracted: patients’ belief in the programme, patients’ perception of control, patients’ struggles and patients’ acceptance of the presence of pain. Participants who perceived benefits from the MBCT programme were most motivated to continue mindfulness practice. Identifying patients’ perspectives on their pain and the benefits of ongoing mindfulness practice following participation in an MBCT group intervention provided opportunity to discuss ways to best assist patients in developing and consolidating their practice. Clinical and research implications are discussed.
Pages |