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OBJECTIVE: Mindfulness-based interventions have been increasingly applied to treat eating-related problems ranging from obesity to eating disorders. Yet few studies have empirically examined the mechanisms of a mindful approach to eating. The current studies examine the potential of brief mindfulness instructions to enhance the psychological and behavioral dimensions of eating.METHODS: In three experiments (total N = 319 undergraduates), we examined whether brief mindfulness instructions would enhance the positive sensory experience involved in tasting food as well as healthy eating behaviors.
RESULTS: Relative to distraction control instructions, the first two studies demonstrated that brief mindfulness instructions increased the enjoyment of a commonly pleasurable food (chocolate; Study 1), and a food with generally more mixed associations (raisins; Study 2). The third study replicated and extended these findings to show that brief mindfulness instructions also led to lower calorie consumption of unhealthy food relative to distracted or no-instruction control conditions, an effect mediated by greater eating enjoyment.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings demonstrated the power of brief mindfulness instructions to positively impact both health-relevant behavior and sensory experience associated with eating food. Implications for both theory and clinical applications of mindfulness are discussed.
OBJECTIVE:Mindfulness forms the basis for multiple clinical interventions and has been induced in laboratory settings. However, few studies have examined the effects of dispositional or trait mindfulness. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of trait mindfulness to laboratory stressor responding across fear-based anxiety disorder and non-anxious samples. We hypothesized that trait mindfulness would be associated with diminished stressor responding above and beyond the contribution of anxiety and depression-related variables, and to a greater extent in high anxiety than low anxiety individuals.
METHODS:
90 participants, including 46 with anxiety disorders and 44 non-anxious controls, were assessed on hyperventilation and relaxation stressors. The relationship of trait mindfulness to stressor-related anxiety, negative affect, and duration was investigated in a hierarchical multiple regression model.
RESULTS:
Trait mindfulness predicted stressor responding in over 80% of measured outcomes, and predicted to a greater extent among high anxiety individuals in 50% of outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS:
Trait mindfulness was associated with diminished responses to laboratory stressors in clinically anxious and non-anxious samples. Implications for emotion regulation and clinical interventions are discussed.
Zotero Collections:
The current study investigated whether a 15min recorded focused breathing induction in a normal, primarily undergraduate population would decrease the intensity and negativity of emotional responses to affectively valenced picture slides and increase willingness to remain in contact with aversive picture slides. The effects of the focused breathing induction were compared with the effects of 15min recorded inductions of unfocused attention and worrying. The focused breathing group maintained consistent, moderately positive responses to the neutral slides before and after the induction, whereas the unfocused attention and worry groups responded significantly more negatively to the neutral slides after the induction than before it. The focusing breathing group also reported lower negative affect and overall emotional volatility in response to the post-induction slides than the worry group, and greater willingness to view highly negative slides than the unfocused attention group. The lower-reported negative and overall affect in response to the final slide blocks, and greater willingness to view optional negative slides by the focused breathing group may be viewed as more adaptive responding to negative stimuli. The results are discussed as being consistent with emotional regulatory properties of mindfulness.
The current study investigated whether a 15 min recorded focused breathing induction in a normal, primarily undergraduate population would decrease the intensity and negativity of emotional responses to affectively valenced picture slides and increase willingness to remain in contact with aversive picture slides. The effects of the focused breathing induction were compared with the effects of 15 min recorded inductions of unfocused attention and worrying. The focused breathing group maintained consistent, moderately positive responses to the neutral slides before and after the induction, whereas the unfocused attention and worry groups responded significantly more negatively to the neutral slides after the induction than before it. The focusing breathing group also reported lower negative affect and overall emotional volatility in response to the post-induction slides than the worry group, and greater willingness to view highly negative slides than the unfocused attention group. The lower-reported negative and overall affect in response to the final slide blocks, and greater willingness to view optional negative slides by the focused breathing group may be viewed as more adaptive responding to negative stimuli. The results are discussed as being consistent with emotional regulatory properties of mindfulness.
OBJECTIVE:To compare a mindfulness-based intervention with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for the group treatment of anxiety disorders.
METHOD:
One hundred five veterans (83% male, mean age=46 years, 30% minority) with one or more DSM-IV anxiety disorders began group treatment following randomization to adapted mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) or CBT.
RESULTS:
Both groups showed large and equivalent improvements on principal disorder severity thru 3-month follow up (ps<.001, d=-4.08 for adapted MBSR; d=-3.52 for CBT). CBT outperformed adapted MBSR on anxious arousal outcomes at follow up (p<.01, d=.49) whereas adapted MBSR reduced worry at a greater rate than CBT (p<.05, d=.64) and resulted in greater reduction of comorbid emotional disorders (p<.05, d=.49). The adapted MBSR group evidenced greater mood disorders and worry at Pre, however. Groups showed equivalent treatment credibility, therapist adherence and competency, and reliable improvement.
CONCLUSIONS:
CBT and adapted MBSR were both effective at reducing principal diagnosis severity and somewhat effective at reducing self-reported anxiety symptoms within a complex sample. CBT was more effective at reducing anxious arousal, whereas adapted MBSR may be more effective at reducing worry and comorbid disorders.
OBJECTIVE:Identifying treatment moderators facilitates treatment matching and personalized medicine. No previous studies have investigated treatment moderators for a mindfulness-based versus traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders to determine for whom each is most effective. The current study examined three putative moderators of principal anxiety disorder severity outcomes for adapted mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) and group CBT - baseline depression symptoms, anxiety sensitivity, and diagnostic severity.
METHOD:
Seventy-one patients with a DSM-IV anxiety disorder were randomized to adapted MBSR or group CBT and assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and 3-month follow up.
RESULTS:
CBT outperformed adapted MBSR among those with no to mild depressive symptoms and, at post-treatment only, among those with very high anxiety sensitivity. At follow up, adapted MBSR outperformed CBT among those with moderate to severe depressive symptoms and among those with average anxiety sensitivity (for this sample). Baseline severity affected post-treatment outcomes differently in CBT than in adapted MBSR.
CONCLUSION:
Baseline levels of depression, anxiety sensitivity, and to some extent diagnostic severity, differentially moderated outcomes in CBT and adapted MBSR for anxiety disorders. Recommendations and clinical implications are discussed.