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Between fall 2003 and spring 2011 I integrated contemplative practices into ten courses with a total of 877 students. Nine of these courses carried credit for the core undergraduate curriculum, either in literature and arts or ideals and values, and students elected my courses from a menu of options. Individual courses ranged from 12 to 409 students. During two of these years, I conducted detailed human subject research using a number of surveys, gathering both quantitative and qualitative data with first-year undergraduates on their experiences with contemplative pedagogy. These courses dealt specifically with art and religion, focusing on traditions where the visual arts are intricately connected to religious practice. I gathered more subjective data in all of the other courses, including large lecture courses on world art from 1500 to the present. In general, my students were not majors in art or religious studies, but came from many disciplines within the arts, social sciences, and sciences, including business and engineering. This essay describes the process and results of the research I conducted with two undergraduate assistants, Katie Irvine and Mindy Bridges. Besides summarizing the findings, I also describe student responses to teaching a specific mindfulness practice—the bow—within a large lecture course with undergraduates. It is notable how little actual data exists about student experiences, and this prompted me to undertake the research that forms the basis for this essay.
It is not surprising that smoking abstinence rates are low given that smoking cessation is associated with increases in negative affect and stress that can persist for months. Mindfulness is one factor that has been broadly linked with enhanced emotional regulation. This study examined baseline associations of self-reported trait mindfulness with psychological stress, negative affect, positive affect, and depression among 158 smokers enrolled in a smoking cessation treatment trial. Several coping dimensions were evaluated as potential mediators of these associations. Results indicated that mindfulness was negatively associated with psychological stress, negative affect, and depression and positively associated with positive affect. Furthermore, the use of relaxation as a coping strategy independently mediated the association of mindfulness with psychological stress, positive affect, and depression. The robust and consistent pattern that emerged suggests that greater mindfulness may facilitate cessation and attenuate vulnerability to relapse among smokers preparing for cessation. Furthermore, relaxation appears to be a key mechanism underlying these associations.
It is not surprising that smoking abstinence rates are low given that smoking cessation is associated with increases in negative affect and stress that can persist for months. Mindfulness is one factor that has been broadly linked with enhanced emotional regulation. This study examined baseline associations of self-reported trait mindfulness with psychological stress, negative affect, positive affect, and depression among 158 smokers enrolled in a smoking cessation treatment trial. Several coping dimensions were evaluated as potential mediators of these associations. Results indicated that mindfulness was negatively associated with psychological stress, negative affect, and depression and positively associated with positive affect. Furthermore, the use of relaxation as a coping strategy independently mediated the association of mindfulness with psychological stress, positive affect, and depression. The robust and consistent pattern that emerged suggests that greater mindfulness may facilitate cessation and attenuate vulnerability to relapse among smokers preparing for cessation. Furthermore, relaxation appears to be a key mechanism underlying these associations.
The specific aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of elicitation of the relaxation response for the treatment of menopausal hot flashes and concurrent psychological symptoms. The volunteer sample consisted of 33 women, between the ages of 44 and 66 years, who were in general good health, with a minimum of 6 months without a menstrual period, experiencing at least five hot flashes per 24-h, and not using hormone replacement therapy. The setting was an outpatient clinic in a tertiary care teaching hospital. The interventions used were relaxation response training and an attention-control group and a daily symptom diary measuring both the frequency and intensity of hot flashes, the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Profile of Mood Scale (POMS) were the measures used. This was a randomized, controlled, prospective study. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups (relaxation response, reading, or control) for the 10-week study. The first 3 weeks of baseline measurement of frequency and intensity of hot flash symptoms, and the preintervention psychological scores were compared with the final 3 weeks measurement of frequency and intensity and the postintervention psychological scores for symptomatic improvement. The relaxation response group demonstrated significant reductions in hot flash intensity (p < 0.05), tension-anxiety (p < 0.05) and depression (p < 0.05). The reading group demonstrated significant reductions in trait-anxiety (p < 0.05) and confusion-bewilderment (p < 0.05). There were no significant changes for the control group. Daily elicitation of the relaxation response leads to significant reductions in hot flash intensity and the concurrent psychological symptoms of tension-anxiety and depression.
The specific aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of elicitation of the relaxation response for the treatment of menopausal hot flashes and concurrent psychological symptoms. The volunteer sample consisted of 33 women, between the ages of 44 and 66 years, who were in general good health, with a minimum of 6 months without a menstrual period, experiencing at least five hot flashes per 24-h, and not using hormone replacement therapy. The setting was an outpatient clinic in a tertiary care teaching hospital. The interventions used were relaxation response training and an attention-control group and a daily symptom diary measuring both the frequency and intensity of hot flashes, the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Profile of Mood Scale (POMS) were the measures used. This was a randomized, controlled, prospective study. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups (relaxation response, reading, or control) for the 10-week study. The first 3 weeks of baseline measurement of frequency and intensity of hot flash symptoms, and the preintervention psychological scores were compared with the final 3 weeks measurement of frequency and intensity and the postintervention psychological scores for symptomatic improvement. The relaxation response group demonstrated significant reductions in hot flash intensity (p < 0.05), tension-anxiety (p < 0.05) and depression (p < 0.05). The reading group demonstrated significant reductions in trait-anxiety (p < 0.05) and confusion-bewilderment (p < 0.05). There were no significant changes for the control group. Daily elicitation of the relaxation response leads to significant reductions in hot flash intensity and the concurrent psychological symptoms of tension-anxiety and depression.
Objective: To compare the efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Addiction Treatment (MBAT) to a Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (CBT) that matched MBAT on treatment contact time, and a Usual Care (UC) condition that comprised brief individual counseling. Method: Participants (N = 412) were 48.2% African American, 41.5% non-Latino White, 5.4% Latino, and 4.9% other, and 57.6% reported a total annual household income < $30,000. The majority of participants were female (54.9%). Mean cigarettes per day was 19.9 (SD = 10.1). Following the baseline visit, participants were randomized to UC (n = 103), CBT (n = 155), or MBAT (n = 154). All participants were given self-help materials and nicotine patch therapy. CBT and MBAT groups received 8 2-hr in-person group counseling sessions. UC participants received 4 brief individual counseling sessions. Biochemically verified smoking abstinence was assessed 4 and 26 weeks after the quit date. Results: Logistic random effects model analyses over time indicated no overall significant treatment effects (completers only: F(2, 236) = 0.29, p = .749; intent-to-treat: F(2, 401) = 0.9, p = .407). Among participants classified as smoking at the last treatment session, analyses examining the recovery of abstinence revealed a significant overall treatment effect, F(2, 103) = 4.41, p = .015 (MBAT vs. CBT: OR = 4.94, 95% CI: 1.47 to 16.59, p = .010, Effect Size = .88; MBAT vs. UC: OR = 4.18, 95% CI: 1.04 to 16.75, p = .043, Effect Size = .79). Conclusion: Although there were no overall significant effects of treatment on abstinence, MBAT may be more effective than CBT or UC in promoting recovery from lapses.
BACKGROUND:The HARMONY study was a randomized, controlled trial examining the efficacy of an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program for blood pressure (BP) lowering among unmedicated stage 1 hypertensive participants.
METHODS:
Participants diagnosed with stage 1 hypertension based on ambulatory BP were randomized to either immediate treatment of MBSR for 8 weeks or wait-list control. Primary outcome analysis evaluated whether change in awake and 24-hour ambulatory BP from baseline to week 12 was significantly different between the 2 groups. A within-group before and after MBSR analysis was also performed.
RESULTS:
The study enrolled 101 adults (38% male) with baseline average 24-hour ambulatory BP of 135±7.9/82±5.8mm Hg and daytime ambulatory BP of 140±7.7/87±6.3 mmHg. At week 12, the change from baseline in 24-hour ambulatory BP was 0.4±6.7/0.0±4.9mm Hg for the immediate intervention and 0.4±7.8/-0.4±4.6mm Hg for the wait-list control. There were no significant differences between intervention and wait-list control for all ambulatory BP parameters. The secondary within-group analysis found a small reduction in BP after MBSR compared with baseline, a finding limited to female subjects in a sex analysis.
CONCLUSIONS:
MBSR did not lower ambulatory BP by a statistically or clinically significant amount in untreated, stage 1 hypertensive patients when compared with a wait-list control group. It leaves untested whether MBSR might be useful for lowering BP by improving adherence in treated hypertensive participants.
In this chapter, we begin to explore the wealth of research and theory on the implications of mindfulness for emotional experience by examining a variety of models of mindfulness and how they inform mindful emotion regulation. Then, we provide an empirical overview of the role of mindfulness in general emotional states, emotional reactions to stimuli and events, and emotions over time. Within this overview, we provide evidence for several distinct avenues through which mindfulness benefits emotion regulation, including increased willingness to experience negative emotions, reduced reactivity to emotional stimuli and situations, a decentered perspective, and increased emotional stability; we also highlight some research which suggests the neurological underpinnings of mindful emotion regulation. Finally, we link the impact of mindfulness on emotion regulation to behavioral change. Specifically, by highlighting research on smoking, alcohol use, and other addictive behaviors, we demonstrate that emotion regulation serves as a key mechanism in the relationship between mindfulness and some domains of behavioral regulation.