Paul Salmon

University of Louisville | UL · Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Objectives To examine the preliminary effects of the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program in the management of biopsychosocial stress–related changes associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) among patient/caregiving-partner dyads. Methods PD patient/caregiving-partner dyads ( N = 18) early in the disease trajectory were recruited from...

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) includes an extended Body Scan (BSc) consisting of sequential inquiry into various physical sensations, as well as cognitive and emotional reactions to them, through a combination of focused awareness and open monitoring. While MBSR instructors are trained to use language intentionally, discursive mechanism...

Depressive symptoms are common in lung cancer. In turn, depression and disrupted circadian rhythms predict early mortality in several cancer types, including lung cancer. Mindfulness-based Stress-Reduction (MBSR) shows promise for depression treatment but lacks feasibility for those with socioeconomic disadvantage or functional disability precludin...

As Parkinson’s disease (PD) progresses, stressors increase among PD patients and their caregivers, often impacting psychological and physical health. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) programs have been widely disseminated among clinical and healthy populations, demonstrating improvements in psychological and physical well-being. The presen...

Mindfulness has been associated with better psychological and physical health; although, the mechanisms of these benefits are poorly understood. We explored the role of mindfulness in stress-health pathways among undergraduates at a large public university. Participants reported on demographic and academic variables and completed data collection at...

Several recent reviews have evaluated evidence on the efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) among fibromyalgia sufferers, and concluded that more research should test effects on both psychological and physiological functioning. We conducted a randomized prospective trial of MBSR among female fibromyalgia patients. Effects on perceiv...

Poster presented at the Mind & Life Institute’s International Symposium for Contemplative Studies, Boston, MA.

ISSN: ISSN 1868-8527

Background: Poorly coordinated diurnal cortisol and circadian rest-activity rhythms predict earlier mortality in metastatic breast and colorectal cancer, respectively. We examined the prognostic value of the diurnal cortisol rhythm in lung cancer. Methods: Lung cancer patients (n=62, 34 female) were within 5 years of diagnosis and had primarily...

Poster presented at the 10th Annual Scientific Conference of the Center for Mindfulness, Norwood, MA.

Lung cancer patients generally experience high levels of physical and psychological distress and decreased quality of life (QOL). Sense of coherence (SOC) has been conceptualized as a personality orientation reflecting the degree to which an individual perceives their world as comprehensible, manageable and meaningful. The present study investigate...

Although most U.S. adults have initiated an exercise program at some time, only a fraction are able to maintain consistent exercise. Instead, research suggests that intermittent exercise is commonplace among U.S. adults, underscoring the importance of identifying factors associated with consistent exercise at a level that promotes health and long-t...

Fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome, is often accompanied by psychological distress and increased basal sympathetic tone. In a previous report it was shown that mindfulness-based stress-reduction (MBSR) reduced depressive symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia with gains maintained at two months follow-up (Sephton et al., Arthr Rheum 57:77-85, 20...

The use of Yoga and other complementary healthcare interventions for both clinical and non-clinical populations has increased substantially in recent years. In this context, we describe the implementation of Hatha Yoga in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program of Kabat-Zinn and colleagues. This is embedded in a more general considera...

Depressive symptoms are common among patients with fibromyalgia, and behavioral intervention has been recommended as a major treatment component for this illness. The objective of this study was to test the effects of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) intervention on depressive symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia. This randomized con...

Adults with fibromyalgia syndrome report high rates of childhood trauma. Neuroendocrine abnormalities have also been noted in this population. Exploratory analyses tested relationships between retrospective reports of childhood trauma and diurnal salivary cortisol patterns among 85 women with fibromyalgia. Subjects with fibromyalgia completed self-...

The practice of mindfulness is increasingly being integrated into contemporary clinical psychology. Based in Buddhist philosophy and subsequently integrated into Western health care in the contexts of psychotherapy and stress management, mindfulness meditation is evolving as a systematic clinical intervention. This article describes stress-reductio...

Fibromyalgia has been characterized as a basic disorder of endocrine stress responses in which psychological stress has been linked both with etiology and symptom severity. This study investigated associations of religiosity and spirituality with psychological and physiological (endocrine) measures of stress in a sample of women with fibromyalgia....

Fibromyalgia is a stress-related disorder characterized by chronic pain, memory impairment, and neuroendocrine aberrations. With the hypothesis that biological and psychological symptoms may underlie the cognitive problems, the relative influences of neuroendocrine function and psychological factors on declarative memory were examined among 50 wome...

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in the United States. These patients report higher levels of emotional distress than any other population of cancer patients. It is not clear whether lung cancer patients receive adequate treatment for their psychological symptoms. We conducted exploratory analysis to examine the adequacy...

Sense of Coherence (SOC) is conceptualized as a disposition to experience life as meaningful and manageable. Research suggests a protective effect of SOC on psychological health in stressful circumstances. This study assessed the capacity of SOC to buffer the effect of illness symptoms on psychological distress among patients with fibromyalgia. Sel...

2002;5(4):1-10. Increasing survival rates for many types of cancer signal an increasing need for disease management interventions tailored to the specific needs of cancer patients at various stages of the disease process, including a) newly diagnosed; b) in treatment; and c) post-treatment. An integrative disease management intervention with a 'Min...

A multimedia program for computer-assisted psychotherapy has been developed to help patients learn cognitive therapy skills. The program is designed to provide psychoeducation, teach self-help methods, and give information to clinicians on the patient's progress in using the software. Multimedia technology is utilized to engage users in the learnin...

A growing body of research indicates that cognitive-behavioral (CB) treatments are superior to no treatment for panic. However, few compelling differences exist between treatments, questioning whether the addition of CB elements is necessary for effective treatments. The current study examined two questions. First, does the addition to treatment of...

A signal-detection analysis was used to evaluate visual-field sensitivity on a two-choice (same/different) discrimination task. Pairs of unfamiliar geometrical forms were presented tachistoscopically to the right or left visual fields of 12 subjects. Of 12 subjects 11 obtained left visual-field values which exceeded those of the right. The data sug...