How have human cultures engaged with and thought about animals, plants, rocks, clouds, and other elements in their natural surroundings? Do animals and other natural objects have a spirit or soul? What is their relationship to humans? In this new study, Graham Harvey explores current and past animistic beliefs and practices of Native Americans, Maori, Aboriginal Australians, and eco-pagans. He considers the varieties of animism found in these cultures as well as their shared desire to live respectfully within larger natural communities. Drawing on his extensive casework, Harvey also considers the linguistic, performative, ecological, and activist implications of these different animisms.
Mindfulness is theorised to improve attention regulation and other cognitive processes. This systematic review examines whether 8-week standardised and manualised mindfulness training programs such as Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) enhances attention, memory and executive function abilities measured by objective neuropsychological tests. Seven databases were searched resulting in 18 studies meeting inclusion criteria for review. Overall studies did not support attention or executive function improvements. We found preliminary evidence for improvements in working memory and autobiographical memory as well as cognitive flexibility and meta-awareness. Short-term mindfulness meditation training did not enhance theorised attentional pathways. Results call into question the theoretical underpinnings of mindfulness, further highlighting the need for a comprehensive theoretical framework.
This study evaluated the effectiveness of an eight-session mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) group intervention programme for treating depression in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients. Thirty-two depressed CHD patients were assigned to an MBCT treatment group, and a demographically and clinically similar group of 30 cases were assigned to a waiting list control group. Participants were evaluated at baseline, 8 weeks, and 6-month follow-up with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), Profile of Mood States (POMS), Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS) and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). After each session, MBCT participants completed the post-session Questionnaire on helpful aspects of therapy and after the programme, completed the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire. At follow-up, 71 % of the MBCT group was clinically recovered from depression compared with 50 % of the control group. The MBCT group showed significantly greater improvement than the control group on all measures with effect sizes at follow-up of d = 0.43–1.0. Increases in mindfulness on the MAAS correlated significantly with improvements on the HADS, BSI, POMS and PAIS. Key helpful aspects of therapy identified by MBCT participants included learning meditation, obtaining group support and developing optimism. There was a high level of satisfaction with the MBCT programme. These results indicate that a randomized controlled trial of MBCT for depressed CHD patients is now warranted.
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.
BACKGROUND:The tendency to employ both cognitive reappraisal and mindfulness are associated with reduced trait social anxiety; however, it is unclear whether reappraisal and mindfulness are associated with social anxiety through the same mechanisms. It has been proposed that decentering, or the process of seeing thoughts or feelings as objective events in the mind rather than personally identifying with them, may be a key mechanism underlying both cognitive reappraisal and mindfulness.
AIMS:
To examine the relationships between reappraisal, mindfulness, decentering, and social anxiety.
METHOD:
This study utilized structural equation modeling to examine the relationships among cognitive reappraisal, mindfulness, decentering, and social anxiety in a large cross-sectional study.
RESULTS:
Results indicate that the relationship between mindfulness and social anxiety is partially accounted for by decentering, whereas the relationship between cognitive reappraisal and social anxiety is more fully accounted for by decentering.
CONCLUSIONS:
These results imply that decentering may be a common mechanism underlying both cognitive reappraisal and mindfulness, although mindfulness may also affect social anxiety through additional mechanisms. However, given the cross-sectional nature of these findings, results should be considered preliminary, with future research being needed to further elucidate these relationships.
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) continues to gain evidential support as an intervention to impact on relapse and recurrence of depression. Researchers and MBCT Clinicians seek higher levels of treatment fidelity to maximise positive outcomes, through the use of treatment manuals, assessment scales and other supporting tools. Semi-structured group interviews with MBCT trained clinicians and subsequent thematic analysis, identified core elements of a new MBCT Self-Assessment scale and benefits, challenges, and enablers to implementation of MBCT training. The study findings support inclusion of an MBCT-Self Assessment Scale in MBCT Program implementation and suggest a range of other practical strategies for improved treatment fidelity.
<b>Publisher's Description:</b> Graham E. Clarke, Oxford University, organized a panel for the 7th Seminar of the IATS and edited and prepared this volume on economic, social and environmental changes in Tibet since 1978. Here, experienced Western, Chinese and Tibetan scholars present original case studies and general analysis of the anthropological, economic, and natural resources, as well as the sociological dimension of development and change in eastern and central Tibet. The papers point out the tension and compromise between the unusual and diverse features of the people and environment, and the administrative and economic pressure that results from a uniform developmental strategy. An extended introductory essay links Tibet to the wider intellectual and historical debate on progress and the environment. This important new work breaks fresh ground on the delicate situation of Tibet, and will be essential reading for those concerned with a balanced and objective assessment of Tibet's present and future development.
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.
Abstract: Over Antipode's 40 years our role as academics has dramatically changed. We have been pushed to adopt the stance of experimental researchers open to what can be learned from current events and to recognize our role in bringing new realities into being. Faced with the daunting prospect of global warming and the apparent stalemate in the formal political sphere, this essay explores how human beings are transformed by, and transformative of, the world in which we find ourselves. We place the hybrid research collective at the center of transformative change. Drawing on the sociology of science we frame research as a process of learning involving a collective of human and more-than-human actants—a process of co-transformation that re/constitutes the world. From this vision of how things change, the essay begins to develop an “economic ethics for the Anthropocene”, documenting ethical practices of economy that involve the being-in-common of humans and the more-than-human world. We hope to stimulate academic interest in expanding and multiplying hybrid research collectives that participate in changing worlds.
Over Antipode's 40 years our role as academics has dramatically changed. We have been pushed to adopt the stance of experimental researchers open to what can be learned from current events and to recognize our role in bringing new realities into being. Faced with the daunting prospect of global warming and the apparent stalemate in the formal political sphere, this essay explores how human beings are transformed by, and transformative of, the world in which we find ourselves. We place the hybrid research collective at the center of transformative change. Drawing on the sociology of science we frame research as a process of learning involving a collective of human and more-than-human actants—a process of co-transformation that re/constitutes the world. From this vision of how things change, the essay begins to develop an “economic ethics for the Anthropocene”, documenting ethical practices of economy that involve the being-in-common of humans and the more-than-human world. We hope to stimulate academic interest in expanding and multiplying hybrid research collectives that participate in changing worlds.
This pilot study aimed to test the well-being effects of a locally developed mindfulness-based program tailored for New Zealand elementary school children in comparison with an active control condition. It was hypothesized that significantly greater well-being change scores would be observed for the mindfulness group. Students (n = 106) between 9 and 11 years old were allocated by their classroom to either the 8-week mindfulness-based program or an 8-week emotional literacy program. Self-reported well-being and mindfulness measures were collected at baseline and upon program completion. Measures were administered at 12 weeks postprogram to the mindfulness group only. One-way analyses of covariance were used for the main analyses, with corresponding baseline scores entered as covariates. Both programs led to significant increases in well-being outcomes, but significantly greater changes were observed for the mindfulness group (general well-being covariate-adjusted change scores were 4.49 [SE = 0.64] for the mindfulness-based program vs. 2.63 [SE = 0.63] for the emotional literacy program). Mindfulness scores significantly increased for the mindfulness group only. There was evidence of student acceptability of the mindfulness-based program and some indication of sustainability of effects at 12 weeks. The study adds to previous research that highlights beneficial well-being effects of mindfulness-based interventions in the classroom. Further research should evaluate potential long-term effects and delivery training.
This pilot study aimed to test the well-being effects of a locally developed mindfulness-based program tailored for New Zealand elementary school children in comparison with an active control condition. It was hypothesized that significantly greater well-being change scores would be observed for the mindfulness group. Students (n = 106) between 9 and 11 years old were allocated by their classroom to either the 8-week mindfulness-based program or an 8-week emotional literacy program. Self-reported well-being and mindfulness measures were collected at baseline and upon program completion. Measures were administered at 12 weeks postprogram to the mindfulness group only. One-way analyses of covariance were used for the main analyses, with corresponding baseline scores entered as covariates. Both programs led to significant increases in well-being outcomes, but significantly greater changes were observed for the mindfulness group (general well-being covariate-adjusted change scores were 4.49 [SE = 0.64] for the mindfulness-based program vs. 2.63 [SE = 0.63] for the emotional literacy program). Mindfulness scores significantly increased for the mindfulness group only. There was evidence of student acceptability of the mindfulness-based program and some indication of sustainability of effects at 12 weeks. The study adds to previous research that highlights beneficial well-being effects of mindfulness-based interventions in the classroom. Further research should evaluate potential long-term effects and delivery training.
All through this school year, hundreds of Elliott Elementary School students have harnessed the power of yoga thanks to a grant from the Holt Education Foundation.
Reports an error in "The experience of racism and anxiety symptoms in an African-American sample: Moderating effects of trait mindfulness" by Jessica R. Graham, Lindsey M. West and Lizabeth Roemer (Mindfulness, 2013[Dec], Vol 4[4], 332-341). In the original article, there is an error in the interpretation of the significant interaction. The second paragraph on page 6 and Fig 1 was incorrect. The corrections are present in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2013-39495-006). The current study explores the potential buffering effect of trait mindfulness on the impact of racism on anxiety symptomology in an African-American sample. Fifty-seven participants completed a questionnaire packet containing measures of anxious arousal and stress (general anxiety) symptoms, trait mindfulness, and experience of racist events. Results indicated that trait mindfulness moderated the relationship between past-year frequency of racist events and anxious arousal. Specifically, the relationship between past-year frequency of racist events and anxious arousal was significantly positive at low levels of trait mindfulness and not significant at high levels of trait mindfulness. The clinical implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed.
The current study explores the potential buffering effect of trait mindfulness on the impact of racism on anxiety symptomology in an African-American sample. Fifty-seven participants completed a questionnaire packet containing measures of anxious arousal and stress (general anxiety) symptoms, trait mindfulness, and experience of racist events. Results indicated that trait mindfulness moderated the relationship between past-year frequency of racist events and anxious arousal. Specifically, the relationship between past-year frequency of racist events and anxious arousal was significantly positive at low levels of trait mindfulness and not significant at high levels of trait mindfulness. The clinical implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed.
The current study explores the potential buffering effect of trait mindfulness on the impact of racism on anxiety symptomology in an African-American sample. Fifty-seven participants completed a questionnaire packet containing measures of anxious arousal and stress (general anxiety) symptoms, trait mindfulness, and experience of racist events. Results indicated that trait mindfulness moderated the relationship between past-year frequency of racist events and anxious arousal. Specifically, the relationship between past-year frequency of racist events and anxious arousal was significantly positive at low levels of trait mindfulness and not significant at high levels of trait mindfulness. The clinical implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed.
At the core of J.K. Gibson-Graham's feminist political imaginary is the vision of a decentralized movement that connects globally dispersed subjects and places through webs of signification. We view these subjects and places both as sites of becoming and as opportunities for belonging. But no longer can we see subjects as simply human and places as human-centered. The ‘arrival’ of the Anthropocene has thrown us onto new terrain. Feminist critiques of hyper-separation are pushing us to move beyond the divisive binaries of human/nonhuman, subject/object, economy/ecology and thinking/acting. The reframing of our living worlds as vast uncontrolled experiments is inspiring us to reposition ourselves as learners, increasingly open to our interconnections with earth others and more willing to intervene in adventurous ways. In this article we begin to think about more-than-human regional development and regional research collectives that have the potential to perform resilient worlds. For us the project of belonging involves both participating in the vast experiment that is the Anthropocene and connecting deeply to specific places and concerns.
<p>The article discusses relationships in Yolmo (Tibetan name for a small region in Central Nepal) between peoples labeled Lama or Tamang. The focus of the study is the relationships as defined by lineage and village traditions. (Mark Premo-Hopkins 2004-04-12)</p>
<p>We review the description of mindfulness-based parent training (MBPT) and the argument that mindfulness practice offers a way to bring behavioral parent training (BPT) in line with current empirical knowledge. The strength of the proposed MBPT model is the attention it draws to process issues in BPT. We suggest, however, that it may not be necessary to posit automatized transactional procedures in the parent–child interaction to justify the need for better delineation of therapist-parent communication in treatment. Empirically established behavioral processes may be used within BPT to accomplish parent-training goals similar to those proposed for mindfulness training. Yet, Dumas (2005) offers refreshing ideas for enhancing the therapeutic alliance and success with the parents of disruptive children.</p>
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