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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:There has been a recent proliferation of research evaluating the efficacy of mindfulness as a clinical intervention. However, there is still little known about trait mindfulness, or how trait mindfulness interacts with maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. The current study further explores the effect of trait mindfulness on emotion regulation, as well as whether specific factors of trait mindfulness are uniquely associated with subjective and autonomic reactivity to stress. METHODS: Forty-eight healthy male participants were trained in the use of the suppression strategy and then instructed to suppress their responses to the inhalation of a 15% CO2-enriched air mixture for 90 s while their subjective distress and heart rate were recorded. RESULTS: After controlling for anxiety-related variables, the ability to provide descriptions of observed experiences predicted less heart rate reactivity to CO2 inhalation, while skillfulness at restricting attention to the present moment was uniquely predictive of less subjective distress. The tendency to attend to bodily or sensory stimuli predicted greater distress during CO2 inhalation. LIMITATIONS: The inclusion of only healthy males limits the generalizability of study findings. Also, the sample size was relatively small. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that factors associated with trait mindfulness predict less stress reactivity and distress while engaging in suppression above and beyond other variables that have been shown to predict anxious responding. The implications for emotion and clinical research are discussed.

OBJECTIVE: Some evidence suggests that Hatha yoga might be an effective practice to reduce anxiety. To examine the effect of Hatha yoga on anxiety, we conducted a meta-analysis of relevant studies extracted from PubMed, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, and manual searches. METHODS: The search identified 17 studies (11 waitlist controlled trials) totaling 501 participants who received Hatha yoga and who reported their levels of anxiety before and after the practice. We estimated the controlled and within-group random effects of the practice on anxiety. RESULTS: The pre-post within-group and controlled effect sizes were, Hedges' g = 0.44 and Hedges' g = 0.61, respectively. Treatment efficacy was positively associated with the total number of hours practiced. People with elevated levels of anxiety benefitted the most. Effect sizes were not moderated by study year, gender, presence of a medical disorder, or age. Although the quality of the studies was relatively low, the risk of study bias did not moderate the effect. CONCLUSIONS: Hatha yoga is a promising method for treating anxiety. However, more well-controlled studies are needed to compare the efficacy of Hatha yoga with other more established treatments and to understand its mechanism. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

OBJECTIVE: Some evidence suggests that Hatha yoga might be an effective practice to reduce anxiety. To examine the effect of Hatha yoga on anxiety, we conducted a meta-analysis of relevant studies extracted from PubMed, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, and manual searches. METHODS: The search identified 17 studies (11 waitlist controlled trials) totaling 501 participants who received Hatha yoga and who reported their levels of anxiety before and after the practice. We estimated the controlled and within-group random effects of the practice on anxiety. RESULTS: The pre-post within-group and controlled effect sizes were, Hedges' g = 0.44 and Hedges' g = 0.61, respectively. Treatment efficacy was positively associated with the total number of hours practiced. People with elevated levels of anxiety benefitted the most. Effect sizes were not moderated by study year, gender, presence of a medical disorder, or age. Although the quality of the studies was relatively low, the risk of study bias did not moderate the effect. CONCLUSIONS: Hatha yoga is a promising method for treating anxiety. However, more well-controlled studies are needed to compare the efficacy of Hatha yoga with other more established treatments and to understand its mechanism. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Although mindfulness-based therapy has become a popular treatment, little is known about its efficacy. Therefore, our objective was to conduct an effect size analysis of this popular intervention for anxiety and mood symptoms in clinical samples.METHOD: We conducted a literature search using PubMed, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, and manual searches. Our meta-analysis was based on 39 studies totaling 1,140 participants receiving mindfulness-based therapy for a range of conditions, including cancer, generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and other psychiatric or medical conditions. RESULTS: Effect size estimates suggest that mindfulness-based therapy was moderately effective for improving anxiety (Hedges's g = 0.63) and mood symptoms (Hedges's g = 0.59) from pre- to posttreatment in the overall sample. In patients with anxiety and mood disorders, this intervention was associated with effect sizes (Hedges's g) of 0.97 and 0.95 for improving anxiety and mood symptoms, respectively. These effect sizes were robust, were unrelated to publication year or number of treatment sessions, and were maintained over follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that mindfulness-based therapy is a promising intervention for treating anxiety and mood problems in clinical populations.

The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of Kundalini Yoga in reducing symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) compared to a common treatment-as-usual condition using cognitive techniques. A secondary objective was to explore potential treatment mechanisms. Females aged 24 to 75 years with GAD ( n = 49) received either an 8-week Kundalini Yoga intervention ( n = 34) or an 8-week treatment-as-usual condition ( n = 15). The yoga condition resulted in lower levels of anxiety relative to the treatment-as-usual condition. Furthermore, changes in somatic symptoms mediated treatment outcome for Kundalini Yoga. Kundalini Yoga may show promise as a treatment for GAD, and this treatment might convey its effect on symptom severity by reducing somatic symptoms.

The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of Kundalini Yoga in reducing symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) compared to a common treatment-as-usual condition using cognitive techniques. A secondary objective was to explore potential treatment mechanisms. Females aged 24 to 75 years with GAD ( n = 49) received either an 8-week Kundalini Yoga intervention ( n = 34) or an 8-week treatment-as-usual condition ( n = 15). The yoga condition resulted in lower levels of anxiety relative to the treatment-as-usual condition. Furthermore, changes in somatic symptoms mediated treatment outcome for Kundalini Yoga. Kundalini Yoga may show promise as a treatment for GAD, and this treatment might convey its effect on symptom severity by reducing somatic symptoms.