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Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation
Abstract
One proposed pathway for the documented psychological effects of mindfulness (cultivating awareness and acceptance of the present moment) has been through its facilitation of adaptive emotion regulation. Although conceptual overlap between the two constructs complicates interpretation of correlational findings, an emerging body of laboratory, experimental, and treatment outcome studies provides preliminary support of proposed conceptual models. These findings indicate that the practice of mindfulness is associated with healthy emotion regulation (e.g., reduced intensity of distress, enhanced emotional recovery, reduced negative self-referential processing, and/or enhanced ability to engage in goal-directed behaviors) and may play a causal role in these effects. More experimental and longitudinal research is needed to determine the exact nature, temporal unfolding, and causality of these associations.Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation
... People living with CD were susceptible to experiencing stress (Cooper et al., 2010), with higher levels of stress associated with worse disease symptoms (Black et al., 2022). Mindfulness-based programs are typically focused on facilitating effective stress management skills (Roemer et al., 2015), and have been shown to successfully reduce perceived stress in IBD (Black et al., 2022;Ewais et al., 2021). Perceived stress has been previously identified as a potential mediator of the relationship between mindfulness-based interventions and psychological outcomes (Koch et al., 2020;Lengacher et al., 2021). ...
... These results support the claim that cognitive reappraisal strategies encourage reframing of events in order to alter their emotional impact (Fresco & Mennin, 2019). Thus, by promoting positive reappraisal, individuals are able to perceive negative inner and outer experiences as tolerable and manageable, thereby leading to reduced stress (Garland et al., 2011;Roemer et al., 2015). In a similar and complementary manner, our results are also consistent with the notion of mindfulness as a process of maintaining attitude of acceptance toward unpleasant sensations and events (Kabat-Zinn, 2013;Roemer et al., 2015). ...
... Thus, by promoting positive reappraisal, individuals are able to perceive negative inner and outer experiences as tolerable and manageable, thereby leading to reduced stress (Garland et al., 2011;Roemer et al., 2015). In a similar and complementary manner, our results are also consistent with the notion of mindfulness as a process of maintaining attitude of acceptance toward unpleasant sensations and events (Kabat-Zinn, 2013;Roemer et al., 2015). Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. ...
Objectives
Cognitive behavioral and mindfulness interventions have been shown to promote well-being in individuals with chronic illness. However, the underlying psychological processes through which these interventions impact well-being are not fully explored. This secondary analysis study aimed to examine the role of perceived social support, interpersonal sensitivity, and perceived stress as mediators of the positive effect of individualized online Cognitive Behavioral and Mindfulness Intervention (COBMINDEX) on life satisfaction among patients with Crohn’s disease (CD).
Method
Patients with mild or moderately active disease (n=142) were randomly assigned to either COBMINDEX intervention or treatment-as-usual control group. After a period of 3 months, the control group also received the COBMINDEX intervention. Complete data were collected from 120 patients (COBMINDEX=60, TAU=60). Analysis of covariance assessed group differences in post-intervention scores, controlling for baseline scores. Multiple parallel mediation analysis assessed the proposed mechanisms for the entire sample.
Results
Individuals in the COBMINDEX condition reported significantly lower levels of perceived stress (F=28.06, p<0.01) and interpersonal sensitivity (F=12.78, p<0.01) than those in the control condition. The COBMINDEX group also had significantly higher levels of life satisfaction (F=9.79, p<0.01) compared to the control group. Perceived social support did not differ across groups (F=2.73, p=0.10). Analysis of indirect effects revealed significant effects of perceived stress (b=0.52, 95% CI [0.16, 1.03]) and interpersonal sensitivity (b=0.73, 95% CI [0.31, 1.35]); thus, the positive effect of COBMINDEX on life satisfaction was mediated by changes in interpersonal sensitivity and perceived stress.
Conclusions
The findings highlight the importance of targeting mental processes such as interpersonal sensitivity to enhance patients’ life satisfaction. These findings suggest that practitioners might consider COBMINDEX as an adjunct intervention for patients with CD.
Preregistration
The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT05085925) and with the Ministry of Health in Israel (https://my.health.gov.il/CliniTrials/Pages/MOH_2020-02-24_008721.aspx ).
... The relationship between dispositional mindfulness and life satisfaction through cognitive reappraisal can be explained by the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory (Garland et al., 2015). According to the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory by Garland and associates (2015), dispositional mindfulness allows one to decenter from stress reactivity and automatic appraisals that will perpetuate emotional distress to a metacognitive state of awareness and broadened attention (Burzler et al., 2019;Corcoran et al., 2009;Roemer et al., 2015). Decentering is the act of disengaging from the contents of emotions, cognitions, and sensations, taking a non-judgmental and present-focused stance regarding internal experiences and accepting them (Fresco et al., 2007). ...
... Through decentering, one disengages their attention from automatic appraisals and broaden to a metacognitive state of awareness by having separate awareness of two areas: the cognition of the attended object and the way the dynamic models of the attended object is perceived (Nelson et al., 1999). Throughout the process, the person will develop some degree of psychological distance from the elements of consciousness, which are emotions, thoughts and sensations (Bernstein et al., 2015;Grecucci et al. 2015;Roemer et al., 2015). As a result, their attention will be shifted toward self-reflection and metacognitive (Bernstein et al., 2015), experiencing the emotions nonjudgmentally to a certain extent (Roemer et al., 2015). ...
... Throughout the process, the person will develop some degree of psychological distance from the elements of consciousness, which are emotions, thoughts and sensations (Bernstein et al., 2015;Grecucci et al. 2015;Roemer et al., 2015). As a result, their attention will be shifted toward self-reflection and metacognitive (Bernstein et al., 2015), experiencing the emotions nonjudgmentally to a certain extent (Roemer et al., 2015). This means that one is aware of the quality of their own awareness. ...
Undergraduate students are facing different challenges and stressors in their life, which may lower their life satisfaction. Dispositional mindfulness has been found to increase life satisfaction, and this relationship might include cognitive process namely cognitive reappraisal. Hence, grounded in Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory, this study examined cognitive reappraisal as the mediator in the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and life satisfaction among 147 undergraduate students (aged 18-25 years old) who were studying in Malaysia. A non-experimental correlational design was used, where the students were required to fill in three questionnaires through Google Form survey, the results were analysed through hierarchical multiple regression. The results supported all four hypotheses, with significant positive relationships found among dispositional mindfulness, cognitive reappraisal and life satisfaction. Cognitive reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and life satisfaction. The findings provide valuable information for the experts to devise mindfulness interventions by incorporating cognitive reappraisal strategies, allowing students to use cognitive reappraisal to cope with challenges, improving life satisfaction.
... It was hypothesized that benefits and mechanisms of action would differ significantly between the health education control program and the mindfulness intervention. Building on previous work (Fishbein et al., 2016;Mendelson et al., 2010) and models of mindfulness in the literature (Block-Lerner et al., 2007;Farb et al., 2014;Guendelman et al., 2017;Philippot and Segal, 2009;Roemer et al., 2015), the larger parent study was guided by a conceptual model that centered on the mechanisms underlying the impacts of mindfulness practices. We posited that enhanced attention and awareness due to mindfulness practices would lead to reduced internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors (Brown et al., 2007;Dunning et al., 2019;Enkema et al., 2020), with improvements in emotion regulation and stress physiology mediating these outcomes among students (Morton et al., 2020). ...
... The theme of enhanced emotional intelligence that emerged from focus groups with mindfulness participants included participant descriptions of increased capacities for awareness of emotions, perspective taking, and empathy. These capacities are highlighted in conceptual models of mindfulness proposed in the literature (e.g., Block-Lerner et al., 2007;Farb et al., 2014;Guendelman et al., 2017;Philippot and Segal, 2009;Roemer et al., 2015). Support for the impact of mindfulness training on aspects of emotion awareness and regulation, perspective taking (sometimes referred to as theory of mind), and empathy has also been provided in prior empirical studies with adults (Birnie et al., 2010;Hafenbrack et al., 2020;Tan et al., 2014) and children (Berti & Cigala, 2022;Cheang et al., 2019;Flook et al., 2015). ...
Objectives
In the context of adverse social conditions, adolescents may not progress to adulthood with the emotional and behavioral skills needed to effectively navigate inevitable life challenges. Appropriately timed, evidence-based interventions have the potential to improve youth developmental trajectories. This qualitative study explored adolescents’ perceptions of two different types of school-based programs designed to promote healthy development and decision-making: mindfulness and health education.
Method
Focus group data were analyzed to explore adolescent perceptions of how the programs impacted them. Ninth grade students (n = 79) in three schools serving marginalized urban communities, where traumatic experiences are common, were randomly assigned to one of the two interventions as part of a trial to identify mechanisms of behavioral change. Separate focus groups were conducted for participants in the mindfulness and health education programs at each school (n = 6 focus groups). Of the 70 participants who attended one or more program sessions, 45 participated in a focus group (mean age: 14.7 years; 86.7% Black; 51.1% female).
Results
Four themes were identified through analysis of the focus group data: (1) enhanced emotional intelligence–emotion recognition, perspective taking, and empathy (mindfulness only); (2) a mindset shift toward cognitive control through greater focus, awareness, and intentionality; (3) utilizing program skills in other contexts to manage stress or make healthy choices; and (4) reinforced and transferred program learning through sharing.
Conclusions
Students perceived benefits of program participation, many of which overlapped between programs. Enhanced emotional intelligence was unique to the mindfulness-based intervention. These findings have implications for the development and adaptation of school-based programs and selection of comparison or active control conditions in intervention trials.
Preregistration
This study is registered with clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03989934).
... The awareness practices that characterize mindfulness-based interventions are thought to improve emotion regulation by cultivating a more fine-grained awareness of what is occurring in one's mind (Hill & Updegraff, 2012;Roemer et al., 2015). Furthermore, the way in which internally oriented observation occurs in many mindfulness practices-with curiosity, openness, and a less reactive "decentered" stance-supports dismantling and defusing destructive emotions (Roemer et al., 2015). ...
... The awareness practices that characterize mindfulness-based interventions are thought to improve emotion regulation by cultivating a more fine-grained awareness of what is occurring in one's mind (Hill & Updegraff, 2012;Roemer et al., 2015). Furthermore, the way in which internally oriented observation occurs in many mindfulness practices-with curiosity, openness, and a less reactive "decentered" stance-supports dismantling and defusing destructive emotions (Roemer et al., 2015). ...
Experts translate the latest findings on embodied cognition from neuroscience, psychology, and cognitive science to inform teaching and learning pedagogy.
Embodied cognition represents a radical shift in conceptualizing cognitive processes, in which cognition develops through mind-body environmental interaction. If this supposition is correct, then the conventional style of instruction—in which students sit at desks, passively receiving information—needs rethinking. Movement Matters considers the educational implications of an embodied account of cognition, describing the latest research applications from neuroscience, psychology, and cognitive science and demonstrating their relevance for teaching and learning pedagogy. The contributors cover a range of content areas, explaining how the principles of embodied cognition can be applied in classroom settings.
After a discussion of the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of embodied cognition, contributors describe its applications in language, including the areas of handwriting, vocabulary, language development, and reading comprehension; STEM areas, emphasizing finger counting and the importance of hand and body gestures in understanding physical forces; and digital learning technologies, including games and augmented reality. Finally, they explore embodied learning in the social-emotional realm, including how emotional granularity, empathy, and mindfulness benefit classroom learning.
Movement Matters introduces a new model, translational learning sciences research, for interpreting and disseminating the latest empirical findings in the burgeoning field of embodied cognition. The book provides an up-to-date, inclusive, and essential resource for those involved in educational planning, design, and pedagogical approaches.
Contributors
Dor Abrahamson, Martha W. Alibali, Petra A. Arndt, Lisa Aziz-Zadeh, Jo Boaler, Christiana Butera, Rachel S. Y. Chen, Charles P. Davis, Andrea Marquardt Donovan, Inge-Marie Eigsti, Virginia J. Flood, Jennifer M. B. Fugate, Arthur M. Glenberg, Ligia E. Gómez, Daniel D. Hutto, Karin H. James, Mina C. Johnson-Glenberg, Michael P. Kaschak, Markus Kiefer, Christina Krause, Sheila L. Macrine, Anne Mangen, Carmen Mayer, Amanda L. McGraw, Colleen Megowan-Romanowicz, Mitchell J. Nathan, Antti Pirhonen, Kelsey E. Schenck, Lawrence Shapiro, Anna Shvarts, Yue-Ting Siu, Sofia Tancredi, Chrystian Vieyra, Rebecca Vieyra, Candace Walkington, Christine Wilson-Mendenhall, Eiling Yee
... Conceptual models of mindfulness-based interventions (see Fig. 1) suggest that mindfulness training reduces subjective urges (e.g., cravings) and negative feeling states that arise from a stimulus (e.g., trigger, PTSD symptoms) by increasing emotion regulation, decreasing impulsivity, and decreasing stress [37,38]. Studies have found improvements in emotion regulation, impulsivity, and stress following an mindfulness-based intervention [39][40][41][42][43], and recent theoretical work explains that mindfulness-based interventions work through reductions in subjective urges (e.g., substance use craving) and negative feeling states [44,45]. Results from the few mindfulness-based intervention studies with veterans have found that assignment to an MBI (compared to treatment as usual) resulted in lower stress levels [46] and improved PTSD symptoms [47]. ...
... Results from the few mindfulness-based intervention studies with veterans have found that assignment to an MBI (compared to treatment as usual) resulted in lower stress levels [46] and improved PTSD symptoms [47]. Recent work on in-person MBRP and related mindfulness-based interventions has found changes in perceived stress [48], selfregulation [39][40][41], and craving [49][50][51] to be key mechanisms in reducing substance use outcomes. ...
Background:
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are highly prevalent, and co-occurring among post-9/11 veterans. Mobile health (mHealth) applications, specifically those focused on mindfulness-based techniques, may be an effective avenue to intervene with veterans who cannot or will not seek care at traditional in-person settings. Thus, to address areas of improvement in mHealth for veterans, we developed Mind Guide and prepared it for testing in a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) with veterans.
Methods:
We have completed phase 1 (treatment development) and Phase 2 (beta test) of our mobile mHealth app, Mind Guide. In this paper we describe the methods for Phase 1 as well as results for our beta test (n = 16; inclusion criteria included screen for PTSD, AUD, a post-9/11 veteran, and not currently receiving treatment) for Mind Guide as well as outline procedures for our pilot RCT of Mind Guide (Phase 3). The PTSD Checklist, self-reported alcohol use, the Perceived Stress Scale, Penn Alcohol Craving Scale, and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire were used.
Results:
Results of our beta test of Mind Guide show promising past 30 day effects on PTSD (d = -1.12), frequency of alcohol use (d = -0.54), and alcohol problems (d = -0.44), and related mechanisms of craving (d = -0.53), perceived stress (d = -0.88), and emotion regulation (d = -1.22).
Conclusion:
Our initial beta-test of Mind Guide shows promise for reducing PTSD and alcohol related problems among veterans. Recruitment is ongoing for our pilot RCT in which 200 veterans will be recruited and followed up for 3 months.
Clinicaltrials:
gov Identifier: NCT04769986.
... Эффекты систематической практики осознанной медитации В последнее десятилетие медитация осознанности переживает пик интереса со стороны не только обывателей, но и научного сообщества. Исследования фиксируют такие ее значимые эффекты, как снижение депрессии (Reangsing et al., 2021), склонности к навязчивым мыслям и руминации (Осин, Турилина, 2020), развитие навыков эмоциональной регуляции, улучшение эмоционального состояния (Eberth, Sedlmeier, 2012;Roemer et al., 2015). Показана эффективность медитации в развитии саморегуляции (Осин, Турилина, 2020), контроля аддиктивного поведения (Schellhas et al., 2016). ...
... Согласно полученным данным, прохождение курса связано с улучшением эмоционального состояния, что соответствует результатам других исследований (Eberth, Sedlmeier, 2012;Roemer et al., 2015). Это может иметь особое практическое значение в контексте современной экономической, политической нестабильности и потребности населения в техниках эмоциональной регуляции и самопомощи. ...
В статье представлены результаты исследования влияния систематического восьминедельного опыта практики медитации осознанности на характеристики саморегуляции. Мы предположили, что ее эффекты могут быть различными: систематический медитативный опыт связан с улучшением эмоционального состояния, с повышением продуктивных и снижением непродуктивных форм рефлексии, а также с развитием навыков самоконтроля и саморегуляции. Для проверки этих гипотез было проведено исследование с предварительным и повторным замером: перед началом курса и в конце восьмой недели. Использование для анализа качественных и количественных методов исследования позволяет говорить о реализации его смешанного дизайна (embedded mixed-methods) с количественной основой. Участниками исследования выступили ученики восьминедельной онлайн-программы обучения осознанной медитации: 61 респондент (47 женщин, 14 мужчин) в возрасте от 21 до 52 лет (M = 35.31, SD = 7.57). Полученные результаты позволяют говорить о том, что прохождение восьминедельной программы осознанной медитации связано с разносторонней трансформацией системы самоконтроля и саморегуляции, что проявляется в развитии навыков самомотивации, саморелаксации, когнитивного самоконтроля, концентрации, ориентации на действие при неудаче, интеграции противоречий, в развитии осознанности и гармонии, в улучшении эмоционального состояния, а также в снижении непродуктивных форм рефлексии. Результаты качественного анализа согласуются с количественными, позволяют показать, какие изменения в себе к концу курса отмечают сами респонденты, и открывают поле новых возможных переменных для будущих исследований. В целом, полученные данные указывают на развитие контакта с настоящим моментом и возрастание гибкости в процессе саморегуляции.
... Therefore, it is crucial to use cognitive therapy items along with physical activity. As such, mindfulness focused on acceptance of emotions and finding values can improve behavioral flexibility (Roemer et al., 2015). Mindfulness can help people with depression to learn how to deal with active lifestyle obstacles and also being present. ...
... The following four hypotheses and one (exploratory) research question were formulated. First and second, following other work (Norouzi et al., 2020;Ong et al., 2012;Roemer et al., 2015) we assumed that mindfulness intervention would improve emotion regulation and sleep over time. Third and fourth, we expected that in line with others (Brand et al., 2018Gerber et al., 2019;Mellion, 1985), physical activity would result in improvement of emotion regulation and sleep. ...
Background
As the disorder progresses, patients with depression suffer from decreased emotional stability, cognitive control and motivation. In the present study, we examined the effectiveness of three interventions on emotion dysregulation and insomnia severity: 1) mindfulness; 2) physical activity, and 3) mindfulness plus physical activity.
Method
A total of 50 participants (mean age 33.21 ± 5.72 SD, 59% females) with major depression were randomly assigned to one of the three study conditions. Emotional dysregulation and insomnia severity were assessed at baseline, eight weeks later at study completion, and 4 weeks after that at follow-up.
Results
Emotion regulation and sleep quality improved over time from baseline to study completion and to follow-up. Compared to the mindfulness and physical activity alone conditions, the mindfulness plus physical activity condition led to higher emotion regulation and sleep quality.
Conclusion
The combination of physical activity and mindfulness seems to have a beneficial effect on sleep quality and emotion regulation in those with major depression disorder and could be a valuable treatment strategy.
... The operating mechanism is to concentrate on the current moment with a nonjudgmental attitude while preventing oneself from being absent-minded, thereby triggering the reperception experience and achieving emotional regulation. In this way, negative emotions can be effectively reduced (28). Currently, mindfulness training is well established in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which is also most prominently used in manualized and structured group settings, such as groups practicing stress reduction based on mindfulness (11) or cognitive therapy based on mindfulness (29). ...
Introduction
We aimed to estimate the effect of mindfulness therapy on mental health.
Methods
Two researchers searched 12 databases to identify relevant trials that were published from 1 January 2018 to 1 May 2023. We performed a meta-analysis to determine the effect of mindfulness therapy on depression, which was measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS); anxiety, which was measured by the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), PROMIS, and DASS, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7); stress, which was measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), DASS, and GAD-7; mindfulness, which was measured by the GAD-7, Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Short Form-12 Mental Component Score (SF-12 MCS) and Short Form-12 Physical Component Score (SF-12 PCS); and sleep quality, which was measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). After screening studies based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 11 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 1,824 participants were ultimately included.
Results
All these studies demonstrated positive effects of mindfulness therapy on depression (SMD = −0.33, 95% CI: [−0.44, −0.22], p < 0.00001, I2 = 29%), anxiety (SMD = −0.35, 95% CI: [−0.46, −0.25], p < 0.00001, I2 = 40%), stress (SMD = −0.39, 95% CI: [−0.48, −0.29], p < 0.00001, I2 = 69%) and sleep quality scores (SMD = −0.81, 95% CI: [−1.54, −0.09], p = 0.03, I2 = 0%). However, there was no significant difference in mindfulness (SMD = −0.12, 95% CI: [−0.36, −0.12], p = 0.34, I2 = 34%) between the mindfulness therapy group and the control group.
Discussion
In future studies, it is necessary to consider the investigation on whether the strategies of improving the mindfulness therapy in adherence and fidelity can work on the improvement of the outcomes in mental health.
Systematic Review Registration
https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/ , https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/ , identifier [CRD42023469301].
... Second, this study demonstrated a significantly greater increase in mindfulness of mental events in the PAMIND condition as compared to the PA only condition. Practically, given that mindful awareness facilitates enhanced emotion regulation (Roemer et al., 2015), promoting mindfulness during physical activity could enhance MVPA participation by reducing negative and increasing positive emotional responses. Ultimately, integrating mindfulness and MVPA has potential to improve adherence to MVPA guidelines resulting in improved health outcomes and reducing disease risk. ...
Background
Most adults are insufficiently active. Mindfulness training may increase moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) adoption and adherence. However, physiological and psychological factors underlying these effects are not well understood. This study examined the effects of an acute bout of MVPA, mindfulness training, and combined MVPA and mindfulness training on physiological and psychological outcomes.
Methods
Healthy adults ( N = 29, M age = 28.6) completed 20-min counterbalanced conditions: (a) mindfulness training (MIND); (b) moderate intensity walking (PA), and (c) moderate intensity walking while listening to MVPA-specific guided mindfulness training (PAMIND). Heart rate (HR), Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), Feeling Scale (FS) and Blood Pressure (BP) were measured at rest, at regular intervals during each condition, and post-condition. Mindfulness, state anxiety, and self-efficacy were assessed pre- and post-condition.
Results
Average and peak HR, systolic BP (SBP), and RPE were significantly higher, and average and peak FS were significantly lower during the PA and PAMIND conditions compared to MIND ( p < 0.001). Average RPE was significantly higher for PA compared to PAMIND ( p < 0.001). Heart rate, feeling scale, body and mental events mindfulness, and self-efficacy for walking increased from pre to post (all p ’s < 0.001) for all conditions. Time by condition interactions were significant for change in heart rate, mental events mindfulness, and state anxiety from pre- to post-condition.
Conclusion
The physiological response to MVPA and PAMIND were similar. However, RPE was rated lower in the PAMIND condition, which could have implications for MVPA adoption and maintenance. Future work should further explore RPE combining MVPA and mindfulness training.
... Thirdly, it raises the possibility of protecting the mental health of family members through interventions that promote emotional regulation, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (Hayes et al., 2009), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (Linehan, 1993), Mindfulness (Roemer et al., 2015), Unified Protocol (Barlow et al., 2017) or Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (Blum et al., 2002). This is especially relevant in the case of family members of persons with BPD, where, due to the symptomatology of the disorder, the family member has less control over the things that happen in his or her life. ...
Although it has been suggested that family members of persons suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) endure high levels of burden, however, the process and the impact of this burden in their lives, and specifically the relation between the burden and emotional regulation has not been broadly investigated among this population. The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of burden on quality of life and depression, anxiety and stress, as mediated by difficulties in emotional regulation in family members of persons diagnosed with BPD.
Method. Participants were 167 family members of persons diagnosed with BPD. The Burden Assessment Scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, Multicultural Quality of Life Index, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 were filled out. Mediation analysis was conducted using the Maximum Likelihood estimator, bootstrap method and listwise deletion for missing data.
Results. Burden showed a significant, negative effect on quality of life and positive on depression, anxiety and stress. Difficulties in emotion regulation significantly mediated these relations. After accounting for the mediating role of difficulties in emotion regulation, burden still had an impact on quality of life, depression, anxiety and stress. Women showed a higher level in both burden and stress than men. The caregivers with secondary and higher studies showed
higher levels in burden than those with no studies. Not signficant differences in burden, emotion regulation, depression, anxiety
and stress were found related to marital status.
Conclusion. Difficulties in emotion regulation mediate the relations between burden and quality of life, depression, anxiety, and stress. Family members could engage in group interventions designed specifically for family members of people with BPD, oriented toward understanding the disorder or learning skills.
... Either conceptualization of mindfulness has been related to positive outcomes, including prosocial attitudes (Malin, 2023) and psychological well-being (Bowlin & Baer, 2012;Bullis et al., 2014;Cebolla et al., 2018;Coffey & Hartman, 2008;Short et al., 2016;Tomlinson et al., 2018). Evidence suggests that mindfulness can have a positive influence on psychological well-being via an enhanced regulation of negative emotions (Fisher et al., 2022;Hanley et al., 2021;Roemer et al., 2015). Furthermore, mindfulness can be linked to an increased appreciation of happiness as a general attitude towards existence, and as not being dependent upon fluctuations of external conditions per se (Hanley et al., 2020;Jo et al., 2022;Van Gordon et al., 2015). ...
Objectives
Research on the effects of time perspectives and dispositional mindfulness on psychological well-being can be potentially insightful. However, time perspective and dispositional mindfulness constructs have mostly been studied separately, leaving room for discussion regarding their interactions. There is, so far, a limited number of empirical studies and no systematic review on this area of research. This systematic review thus aimed at providing an informative outline.
Method
Key databases including Scopus and Web of Knowledge were screened, and the most recent search was conducted in June 2023. Initially, 593 entries were found to meet the criterion of cross-sectional design. Final analysis incorporated the narrative synthesis strategy for resulting 16 eligible articles.
Results
Dispositional mindfulness is closely related to a flexible shift in time perspectives, called the balanced time perspective. In general, dispositional mindfulness was found to positively correlate with an optimistic view of both the past and the future, and it was also positively linked to savoring the present moment experiences. Furthermore, a non-judgmental focus is central to mindful decentering when being attentive to the actual characteristics of present stimuli.
Conclusions
The balanced time perspective is an important construct possibly linking dispositional mindfulness and time perspectives. The present-eudaimonic perspective, self-compassion, and decentering are variables that can further help guide research in outlining complex interactions that also relate to psychological well-being. Future research is advised to include longitudinal and experimental designs for a more comprehensive understanding of relevant interactions.
Preregistration
This study was preregistered to PROSPERO with the number CRD42021241388.
... This would be particularly needed by teaching assistants who play various assisting roles in school settings with highly job-demanding to them (Farrell et al., 2010;Webster et al., 2011Webster et al., , 2013. Fortunately, there are accumulated positive effects of interventions by using mindfulness workshops and training to enhance emotion regulation strategies (Roemer et al., 2015;Teper et al., 2013) and in samples of teacher trainees (Roeser et al., 2012;Wimmer et al., 2019) that could be extended to teaching assistants. The positive association between positive emotions and job satisfaction in this study call for practical support to teaching assistants from the perspective of boosting their positive emotions through these evidence-based interventions Jacobs & Gross, 2014;Wimmer et al., 2019). ...
... In this regard, one psychological factor that may act as a protective mechanism for BD patients and their emotional regulation deficit is dispositional mindfulness or trait mindfulness (Roemer et al., 2015). Trait mindfulness is the enduring dispositional tendency that facilitates disconnection from automatic thoughts and unhealthy habits or behavioral patterns (Brown & Ryan, 2003). ...
Mindfulness trait and the potential mediating role of emotional regulation strategies in bipolar disorder. Mindfulness rasgo y el potencial papel mediador de las estrategias de regulación emocional en el trastorno bipolar. Abstract: This cross-sectional study investigates the association between the main symptoms of Bipolar disorder (BD) and emotional regulation difficulties in adaptive and maladaptive emotional regulation strategies (ERS). In addition, this study examines the possible mediating effects of ERS with dispositional mindfulness and bipolar symptoms. Method. Twenty-four adults diagnosed with BD completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), the Altman Mania Self-Assessment Scale (ARSM), the Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-R), and the Cognitive Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). Results. First, multiple regression analysis showed how depression was significantly positively related to self-blame, whereas trait anxiety was positively associated with self-blame and catastrophizing. Second, the results of the mediation analysis have shown a significant mediation effect for the self-blame in the relationship between mindfulness and depression (a*b =-0.15; BCI 95% [-0.36,-0.03]) and between mindfulness and trait anxiety (a*b =-0.09; BCI 95% [-0.27,-0.01]). Conclusions. Our results report the role of self-blame and catastrophizing in BD and how these might significantly mediate between dispositional mindfulness and symptoms of depression and anxiety. These results suggest that a meditation practice focused on reducing catastrophizing and self-blame may be especially helpful for symptoms of depression and anxiety in bipolar patients. Resumen: En este estudio transversal se investiga la asociación entre los principales síntomas del Trastorno bipolar (TB) y las dificultades asociadas a las estrategias de regulación emocional (ERE) adaptativas y desadaptativas. Además, este estudio examina los efectos mediadores de las ERE con el mindfulness rasgo y el TB. Método. Veinticuatro adultos con TB completaron la Escala Cuestionario de Regulación Emocional Cognitiva (CERQ). Resultados. El análisis de regresión múltiple mostró cómo la depresión se relacionaba significativa y positivamente con la autoculpabilización, mientras que la ansiedad rasgo estaba positivamente asociada con la autoculpabilización y el catastrofismo. En segundo lugar, el análisis de mediación mostró un efecto de mediación significativo para la autoculpabilidad en la relación entre mindfulness y depresión (a*b =-0,15; ICB 95% [-0,36,-0,03]) y entre mindfulness y ansiedad rasgo (a*b =-0,09; ICB 95% [-0,27,-0,01]). Conclusiones. Nuestros resultados informan del papel de la auto-culpabilidad y el catastrofismo en el TB y de cómo éstas podrían mediar significativamente entre el mindfulness rasgo y el TB. Estos resultados sugieren que una práctica de meditación enfocada en el catastrofismo y la autoculpabilidad puede ser especialmente útil para reducir los síntomas en los pacientes bipolares.
... Exposure, extinction, and reconsolidation are additional elements that have an impact on emotion regulation (Roemer et al., 2015). When one practices mindfulness, leaders can learn to face unpleasant stimuli, such as negative emotions, rather than run from them (exposure). ...
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the world, and its impact on leadership is still being explored. There is growing evidence that mindfulness can play a key role in helping leaders navigate AI’s challenges and opportunities. This chapter discusses how mindfulness can help leaders to:
Understand the risks and benefits of AI, its potential to automate jobs, create new forms of bias, and be used for unethical purposes. Mindful leaders can identify risks and develop strategies to mitigate them.
Make ethical decisions about AI, a powerful tool that can do good or evil. Mindful leaders can make ethical decisions around AI’s and ensure it benefits society.
Build stronger relationships with AI-powered systems, as they become increasingly sophisticated and capable of interacting with humans in more complex ways. Mindful leaders can build stronger relationships with these systems and leverage their capabilities.
This chapter delves into the relationship between AI and authentic leadership, suggesting:
Authentic leaders are open to new ideas and technologies, unafraid of change, and willing to experiment with new ways of working. This positions them to lead organizations through the transition to an AI-powered world.
Authentic leaders are transparent and ethical, honest with their employees, and use AI in a responsible way. This builds the trust and confidence essential for successful leadership.
Authentic leaders are compassionate and empathetic, understand the impact of AI on humanity, and are committed to using AI in a way that benefits society. This makes them role models for others and helps build a positive future.
... When addressing the evolution of the EDA parameters, taking all the sample and stimuli types into account, one observes the expected evolution throughout the 4 data collection sessions [31]. The mean values of the amplitude, nSCRs, and SCL decrease with the progression of the Mindfulness course (Fig. 5), which might be a good indicator of the development of Mindfulness abilities such as attentional control and acting with awareness and without judgment [28,[53][54][55]. In addition to that pattern of evolution, the increase in latency of the response, also as a function of the Mindfulness training, patent in Fig. 5, suggests the development of efficient emotional regulation and the capacity to avoid automatic reactions [54], therefore these results are in line with the inverse relation between Mindfulness and the affective reactivity to visual stimuli found in previous studies [31,32]. ...
In recent years the psychophysiological benefits of Mindfulness meditation on emotional processing have drawn great interest in scientific research. Currently, the effects of this meditation practice on stress, anxiety and well-being have been mostly evaluated using self-reporting questionnaires, which lead to a quite subjective assessment. This study assesses the effect of Mindfulness practice on the reaction to emotionally charged visual stimuli through Electrodermal Activity (EDA) data.
Twenty-five healthy volunteers, without any previous experience of meditation techniques completed a 12-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. EDA and psychological measures were collected longitudinally in 4 scheduled sessions. Statistical analysis was performed to find changes in the most relevant EDA parameters throughout the 4 sessions of data collection.
We found an increase in response latency, and a decrease in amplitude, area, number of specific responses, and skin conductance level along Mindfulness training. Both outcomes might suggest a reduction in the reactivity to the presented stimuli and an improvement in the emotional well-being of the practitioners. Furthermore, this study showed preliminary evidence that women improve more their attitude towards stressful stimuli than man, after the mindfulness practice.
The statistical analysis also showed a correlation between the main EDA parameters and the scores reported by each participant in the depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS) questionnaire.
This study contributed to a more objective evaluation of the physiological changes observed during Mindfulness practice, and so to understand the underlying mechanisms that explain the benefits of meditation training.
... Similarly, some studies have reported that MBIs impact psychological outcomes via improvements in emotional regulation (Farb et al., 2014;Lindsay & Creswell, 2017;Roemer et al., 2015). Emotional regulation refers to the process of modulating one or more aspects of emotional experience and emotion-related behaviors at the physiological, cognitive, or behavioral level (Eisenberg & Spinrad, 2004). ...
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in the school context are increasingly widespread worldwide. The present study evaluates the effectiveness of a school-MBI (GrowingUp Breathing program) on children's socio-emotional and academic development. Three hundred thirteen elementary students from 7 to 12 years old from two schools in Madrid (Spain) participated. A cluster-randomized control trial was designed, assigning eight classrooms to the MBI-group (N = 155) and eight classrooms to the waiting-list control group (N = 158). Measures were evaluated at pre- and post-intervention in both groups and a 3-month follow-up was collected in the MBI-group. Children self-reported their mindfulness skills (i.e., dispositional mindfulness and psychological inflexibility) and well-being (i.e., anxiety and life satisfaction) and teachers evaluated children's social-emotional competence (i.e., emotion regulation, peer-relationship problems, and prosociality), well-being (i.e., emotional symptoms), and academic competence (i.e., student engagement and academic achievement). Mindfulness skills and emotional regulation were examined as potential mediators. Results revealed that children who received the MBI, compared to children in the WLC-group, improved their mindfulness skills, emotion regulation, prosociality, and emotional and behavioral engagement and decreased anxiety and peer-relationship problems. Positive changes in dispositional mindfulness led to reductions in children's anxiety and psychological inflexibility. Positive changes in emotional regulation led to improvements in prosociality and student engagement and decreased peer-relationships problems and emotional symptoms. Therefore, the results showed that a brief-MBI integrated in the Spanish regular school curriculum enhanced children's socio-emotional and academic development. Dispositional mindfulness and emotion regulation work as processes of change that underlie the intervention's impact.
... Mindfulness has been reported to be closely intertwined with emotion regulation. Studies have reported that mindfulness is closely associated with adaptive emotion regulation (Roemer, Williston, & Rollins, 2015), and higher mindfulness traits have been associated with enhancing positive affect and reducing negative affect (Mandal, Arya, & Pandey, 2012). Researchers have argued that mindfulness mediators are better at tolerating negative emotions and sensations (Eifert & Heffner, 2003) and need less time to recover from the impact of negative events (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). ...
Mindfulness has gained significant attention in recent years due to its potential benefits for cognitive and emotional processes. However, how mindfulness interplays with affect to exert its effect on decision-making remains relatively less explored. The present study examined and compared the performance of both mindfulness meditators and non-meditators on decisionmaking tasks under different affective states. A total of 100 participants (50 mindfulness meditators and 50 non-meditators) responded to the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and performed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Both groups were further divided into positive affect and negative affect conditions. The International Affective Picture System (IAPS) was used to induce positive and negative affective states among the participants. The baseline affective state of the participants was assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Independent sample t-tests and a univariate ANOVA were computed to analyze the obtained data. Results showed that mindfulness meditators scored significantly higher on the total FFMQ as well as on its different facets. Furthermore, the results revealed a significant main effect of mindfulness and the affect group on IGT performance. The interaction between mindfulness and affective conditions was also found to be significant. Mindfulness meditators performed equally well on IGT under both positive and negative affect conditions, whereas non-meditators performed better only under positive affect conditions. The findings have practical implications, as they suggest that mindfulness meditation enhances decision-making by promoting effective emotion regulation and suppressing impulsive responses during decision-making in different domains of life.
... More than half of the participants wrote (in Part 1. Writing reflections and discussion) about the emotional aspects of their mindfulness practices, as both wishes and experienced benefits. Further, in their magic machine designs, participants responded to these aspects through emotion-evoking [59], emotion regulation [69], or both. ...
Many digital technologies have been invented to support mindfulness, the practice of bringing attention to the present moment without judgment. While most technologies focus on mindfulness meditation training for novices, in this paper, we explore designing technology to support everyday mindfulness activities for people with varying levels of experience. Through 9 magic machine workshops, 30 mindfulness practitioners explored and reflected on their personal experiences of everyday mindfulness, and generated designs that support their daily practice. Our findings identified six categories of designs conceptualized by our participants: everyday objects, physical spaces, wearables, metaphorical art, companions, and toys. We further analyze the practitioners’ thought processes and considerations for designs that support everyday mindfulness, such as eliciting and regulating emotion and associating mindfulness with routine daily activities. Finally, we discuss the implications of designing individualized mindfulness products and the potential of using co-design magic machine workshops to explore a practical design space.
... It is also possible that specific aspects of each mechanism (e.g., ability to remain nonjudgmental) are particularly impactful on ED. Moreover, it may be that some mechanisms need to be delivered or developed before others (e.g., mindfulness may facilitate behavioral skills acquisition), as some have theorized (e.g., Linehan, 1993;Roemer et al., 2015). Future research would benefit from more granular study of ED, of ER strategies (e.g., frequency, effectiveness, timing of adaptive strategies, use of maladaptive ones; see Southward et al., 2021), and of any dependencies among mechanisms. ...
Emotion dysregulation (ED) is a key target for change among empirically supported treatments for emotional disorders, including dialectical behaviour therapy skills training (DBT-ST), yet how treatments improve ED is poorly understood. Using data from a randomised trial of DBT-ST versus supportive group therapy for transdiagnostic ED, we tested whether three mechanistic variables-behavioural skills use, mindfulness, and perceived control-explain variability in ED within people over time. We additionally explored the mediating roles of these variables between conditions. Adults with transdiagnostic ED (N = 44) participated in weekly groups for 4 months, with assessments at pre-, mid- and post-treatment and at 2-month follow-up. As hypothesised, multilevel models disaggregating within- and between-person effects indicated that skills use, mindfulness, and perceived control each had significant total and unique within-person associations with ED at concurrent time points, net the effect of time. Unexpectedly, these within-person relations were not significant for mechanistic variables predicting ED 2 months later. Further, unique between-person variability in skills use, mindfulness, and perceived control did not significantly mediate the relationship between condition and ED improvements. The present study is an important step in clarifying ED mechanisms of change, both within and between persons.
... Its core concepts and values are placed on compassion, love and attention to oneself, with attention being paid to the controllable present instead of the unchangeable past or the unpredictable future. Frequent practice of mindfulness-based techniques is believed to increase the neural activities in the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for emotion regulation (Roemer et al., 2015) and attention control (Valk et al., 2017). According to the Window of Tolerance model (Siegel, 1999), the ability to regulate thoughts and emotions is important to manage physiological and psychological loads so that they do not exceed the threshold of tolerance for stress, worries and anxiety. ...
Considering the heightened needs for an internet-based approach to alleviating psychological symptoms during global health crises, we conducted a series of experiments to investigate the effects of online mindfulness-based programs on Covid-related stress, mental well-being, and general anxiety in college students. In Study 1, thirty college students participated in either a wait-list control (n = 14) or an experimental group (n = 16) practicing a weekly mindfulness-based stress reduction program delivered via video-conferencing in 4 weeks. Outcomes variables were measured with the Covid-19 Stress Scale and the WHO-5 Well-Being Index. A significant difference in the stress level of the experimental group as compared to the control group was found, but not for the well-being level. To test whether a shorter and more compact course of intervention including only the practice of
mindful breathing could still produce positive results on more general anxiety and not Covid-related, Study 2 recruited a larger sample (N = 65) and conducted the experiment in 7 consecutive days. The results showed that this online daily practice of standalone mindful breathing significantly reduced self-reported state and trait anxiety. We discuss the possibilities and limitations of short-term online mindfulness-based interventions for young adults in global emergency contexts.
... Emotional awareness and expression therapies can help the patients internalize how their bodily conditions are influenced by central nervous system psychological processes, and foster their awareness and expression of emotions related to emotional disturbances, psychological trauma, or conflict (Burger et al., 2016). Patients can benefit from relaxation exercises, yoga, and bodily oriented psychotherapies (Evans et al., 2014;Röhricht, 2009) to be able to regulate their bodily processes during emotional perturbations; or from mindfulnessoriented psychotherapies to become aware of their emotions and regulate them (Roemer et al., 2015). Cognitive or dynamic-oriented psychotherapies can help work on perceptions, thoughts, or mentalization related to emotional elicitors and somatic experiences . ...
Abstract
Somatic symptom and related disorders (SSD) are one of the most prevalent conditions in health care. Patients with SSD suffer significantly from one or multiple bodily symptoms and associated psychological problems, such as excessive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to the symptoms. SSD can lead to high disability in patients, seriously limit their quality of life and social functioning.
Several studies have documented emotional processes and regulation as crucial factors contributing to the development, maintenance, and worsening of somatic symptoms. However, before we can understand emotion regulation, we should first know what is it that is being regulated. Although contemporary emotion research has embraced a dynamic and embodied perspective stressing emotions' social nature (Butler, 2015; Kuppens & Verduyn, 2015; Lewis, 2005; Scherer, 2009), research on SSD has failed to integrate such developments into its field. This limitation poses a gap in understanding the biopsychosocial mechanisms of the relationship between emotions and SSD.
This dissertation aims to investigate emotional processing and regulation in SSD with a contemporary framework of emotions that understands emotions as a continuously changing process (i.e., a dynamic system) consisting of subsystems, such as subjective affect, body/physiology, and appraisals. Furthermore, this work addresses the social nature of emotions by examining socio-emotional mechanisms occurring in SSD patients' interpersonal interactions. In total three studies were conducted for this research.
The first study systematically reviewed earlier empirical research to investigate Emotion Regulation (ER) processes that characterize SSD. We organized findings based on the targets/components of the regulation (i.e., attention, body, knowledge). The review of the 64 articles largely supported the association between SSD and disturbances in ER, which are usually shared by different diagnoses of SSD. The overview of the findings indicates that patients show a reduced engagement with the cognitive content of emotions while their bodily ER processes seem to depict an over-reactive pattern. Similarly, patients tend to encounter difficulties flexibly disengaging their (spontaneous) attention from emotional material. The review also detected a scarcity of experimental and interpersonal studies in research on ER in SSD.
The second study attempted to develop a methodology to assess embodied and interpersonal emotional processes in couples with an SSD patient and healthy couples. This case study showed the utility of the experimental manipulation and method that successfully created variations in the couples' physiological processes and subjective affect.
Drawing on the methodology of the case study, the third study investigated whether interpersonal emotion dynamics between interacting partners, namely physiological coherence, differ between couples with an SSD patient partner and healthy couples across various emotional conditions. Results showed that emotional conditions and having a partner with an SSD significantly affected physiological coherence between partners. From baseline to anger condition, physiological coherence between patients with SSD and their partners significantly increased while it decreased between the healthy partners. Interdependence between partners' subjective affect, as measured by correlations across groups, followed a comparable pattern to the physiological coherence in healthy and SSD patient-couples. Inability to reduce emotional interdependence in the domains of sympathetic activity and subjective affect during a mutual conflict observed in SSD patient-couples appears to capture emotion co-dysregulation.
These data provide empirical evidence for a disturbance in ER processes in SSD at intra- and inter-personal levels. Investigating the dynamic interaction of several ER modalities concurrently at individual and social levels promises insights for better understanding the ER mechanisms in SSD. The research results represent a further step towards developing a holistic treatment approach for SSD that integrates emotional interventions, framing them as embodied and social.
... This includes being attentive to and not avoidant of one's internal experience, including emotions and external experiences, such as physical surroundings [17,18]. Research suggests that mindfulness processes exert their therapeutic effects by improving maladaptive affect regulation (e.g., correlational data [19]; experimental data [20]; review [21]). Thus, mindfulness may improve emotional eating by supporting an individual's adaptive management of their emotions. ...
Background: Mindfulness is a meaningful therapeutic target in the treatment of emotional eating in adults with overweight/obesity. Descriptive research mapping relations between mindfulness facets and emotional eating types in treatment-seeking adults with overweight/obesity is needed.
Methods: Cross-sectional relations between mindfulness facets (i.e., acting with awareness, describe, non-judgment, non-reactive, and observe; Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form) and emotional eating types (i.e., self-reported negative and positive emotional eating; Emotional Eating Scale-Revised, Emotional Appetite Questionnaire) were examined in a treatment-seeking sample of adults with overweight/obesity (N=63).
Results: Significant bivariate correlations revealed negative relations between mindfulness facets and emotional eating types. Multiple regressions revealed that higher describe (β=-.42, p=.004) mindfulness was associated with lower self-reported emotional eating-anger/anxiety; higher non-reactive (β=-.31, p=.01) and non-judgment (β=-.28, p=.02) mindfulness were associated with lower self-reported emotional eating- depression; and higher non-judgment (β=.26, p=.04) mindfulness was associated with higher self-reported emotional eating-positive.
Conclusions: Describe, non-judgment, and non-reactive mindfulness were uniquely and significantly associated with eating in response to negative and positive emotions. Results suggest the potential need for intervention programs to be sensitive to the multidimensional nature of mindfulness in the treatment of distinct types of emotional eating in adults with overweight/obesity.
... Body awareness refers to the attention and awareness of internal body sensation (Mehling et al., 2009). Emotion regulation is the way an individual expresses themselves, emphasizing on the modulation of emotional and behavioural responses towards the environment (Roemer et al., 2015). Mindfulness led emotion regulation inhibits emotional expression and actively reinterprets the emotional stimuli to modify its effect, resulting in a better regulation of unpleasant affective states (Chiesa et al., 2013). ...
Aims
To evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness‐based interventions (MBIs) on mental and cognitive outcomes including, anxiety, depression, attention, memory, global cognition and neuroplastic changes in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Design
Systematic review and meta‐analysis.
Data source
A three‐step search strategy was conducted on eight electronic databases, grey literature and reference lists from inception to February 2022.
Review methods
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining MBIs on older adults with MCI were screened and assessed for risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Meta‐analysis was conducted using RevMan using a random‐effect model. Narrative synthesis was performed for studies where results could not be pooled statistically.
Results
Ten RCTs were included in the review. Results suggested that right frontal parietal and left inferior temporal gyrus of the brain showed increased cortical thickness after receiving MBIs. There were significant interaction effects for global efficiency and significant interactions in the insular and gyrus regions. Functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex, bilateral medial prefrontal cortex and left hippocampus were increased in participants undergoing MBIs. Nevertheless, meta‐analysis showed non‐significant pooled effects, favouring control groups on anxiety, depression, attention, memory and global cognition.
Conclusion
This review suggested the potential effects of MBIs in improving cortical thickness and connectivity in regions associated with memory and attention. Nevertheless, the effects of MBIs compared to active control groups on depression, anxiety, attention, memory and global cognition are inconclusive due to the lack of studies and non‐significant results.
Impact
The review advocates for more rigorous studies with larger sample size and utilizing wait‐list controls to evaluate the effects of MBIs. MBIs can be considered as an adjunct with other therapies to further enhance the effect on psychological and cognitive outcomes for older adults with MCI.
No Patient or Public Contribution as this is a meta‐analysis.
... Top-down pathways refer to cognitive processes allowing for conscious behavioral control (e.g., directed attention) and are thought to be governed by higher order cortical brain regions, while bottom-up pathways refer to processes that result in a "reactive" response (e.g., craving) activated by lower, subcortical-limbic brain areas (Witkiewitz et al., 2013). In regard to mindfulness, researchers suggest that engagement in mindful behavior may alter these pathways and thereby allow for increases in selfregulated cognitive/emotional control and deautomatization of reward-related habitual processes, respectively (Garland et al., 2020;Roemer et al., 2015;Witkiewitz et al., 2013). ...
Objective:
This study compared two mechanisms by which mindfulness may reduce hazardous drinking: effortful control and craving, "top-down" and "bottom-up" processes, respectively. These relationships were compared in a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial of mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) versus relapse prevention (RP) treatments to explore if they differed based on more explicit versus subtle mindfulness training.
Method:
A total of 182 individuals (48.4% female; 21-60 years old) who reported drinking > 14/21 drinks/week (for females/males, respectively) in the past 3 months but who wished to quit/reduce their drinking were recruited from Denver and Boulder, CO, United States. Participants were randomly assigned to either 8 weeks of MBRP or RP treatment and completed assessments at baseline, halfway through treatment, and at the end of treatment. The Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form, Alcohol Urge Questionnaire, and Effortful Control Scale completed halfway through treatment assessed the predictor, dispositional mindfulness, and mediators, craving and effortful control, respectively. The Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Task was completed after treatment and measured hazardous drinking. Cross-group path analyses were conducted including both mediators/treatments in the same model.
Results:
Comparing models with and without equality constraints across treatments, no paths significantly differed based on a chi-square test of difference, χ²(5) = 5.11, p = .40, and only the indirect effect of craving was significant (B = -1.01, p = .01).
Conclusions:
Findings suggest mindfulness may be associated with hazardous drinking reductions through craving but not effortful control and this indirect relationship works similarly across treatments engendering mindfulness explicitly and implicitly. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
... affect. Aspects of mindfulness have been shown to increase creativity (Agnoli et al., 2018;Baas et al., 2014;Henriksen et al., 2020;Lebuda et al., 2016;Zabelina et al., 2011) and mindfulness has been widely shown to increase both positive affect (Bellosta-Batalla et al., 2020;Gotink et al., 2016) and emotion regulation (Roemer et al., 2015). Empirical data likewise provide some support for both creativity influencing affect, and affect influencing creativity. ...
Prior research has found that people tend to be more creative when experiencing positive affect, especially when experiencing high activation positive affect (e.g., excitement, joy). In addition, creativity may also boost positive affect. We aimed to extend past work by examining the effect of felt creativity on subsequent positive affect in daily life, and by examining whether felt creativity was associated with greater willpower self-efficacy and decreased stress. The current study was an ecological momentary assessment study (n = 104) where creativity, willpower, and affect were assessed seven times per day for 1 week. Participants also completed nightly prompts where they reported on daily stress, creative activities engaged during the day, and overall perceptions of daily creativity. Using lagged analyses, we found that higher momentary felt creativity predicted subsequent high-activation positive affect, but not low-activation positive affect. Higher momentary felt creativity also predicted greater willpower, even when controlling for positive affect. Lastly, we found that experiencing a higher number of daily stressors was associated with greater total engagement in creative activities, suggesting that people may use creative activities to manage or distract from stress. Results suggest that creativity may be useful as a behavioral activation activity to increase both positive affect and perceived self-control (i.e., willpower self-efficacy). Perhaps feeling more creative can help people feel more confident in exerting self-control and thus approaching challenging activities with a greater chance of success.
... Lower acceptance of emotions, not having strategies, or using less effective ER strategies have been associated with higher depressive symptoms [25,26]. This relationship between ER and mood disorders has been observed in other diagnostic groups, including individuals with traumatic brain injury and eating disorders, [27,28] and suggests that use of effective ER strategies (e.g., mindfulness practices and meditation) may have a role to play in the management of mood disorders [29]. ...
Emotion regulation difficulties are associated with many neurological conditions and negatively impact daily function. Yet little is known about emotion regulation in adults with cerebral palsy (CP). Our aim was to investigate emotion regulation in adults with CP and its relationship with condition-related and/or socio-demographic factors. In a cross-sectional study of adults with CP, participants completed a survey containing the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), and socio-demographic and condition-related questions. Descriptive statistics, chi-squared and Mann–Whitney tests were performed. Of the 42 adults with CP (x31.5 years, SD13.5) that were tested, 38 had within normal limits DERS total scores; however, a significantly higher proportion of participants experienced elevated scores (i.e., more difficulties with emotion regulation) than would be expected in the general population across five of the six DERs subdomains. Moderate–extremely severe depression and anxiety symptoms were reported by 33% and 60% of participants, respectively. The DERS total scores for participants with elevated depression, anxiety, and stress scores were significantly higher than the DERS totals score for those without elevated depression, anxiety, and stress scores. DERS and DASS-21 scores did not differ significantly by condition-related nor socio-demographic characteristics. In conclusion, emotion regulation difficulties were associated with elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety, which were overrepresented in the adults with CP participating in this study.
... The mindfulness intervention was indeed associated with improvement in anxiety symptomatology as well as subjectively perceived stress, but not in depressive symptomatology. It is possible that the mindfulness intervention provided participants in the experimental group with a new coping mechanism with which to regulate stress, a possibility that is well described in the literature [83][84][85][86]. Another possibility, also supported in the literature, is that mindfulness-based interventions indirectly affect emotion regulation by increasing emotional differentiation [87]. ...
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine and metabolic disorder affecting women of reproductive age. Research has shown that epigenetic alterations such as DNA methylation may play a role in the development and progression of abnormal ovarian function and metabolic disorders in PCOS. Studies have identified specific genes (related with insulin signaling and steroid hormone metabolism) that are methylated in women with PCOS. DNA methylation appears to respond to various interventions aimed at altering health and lifestyle factors. We tested the efficacy of a mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR) in PCOS patients. We examined its effects on anthropometric measurements, mental health and wellbeing, and alterations in DNA methylation in peripheral blood. MBSR was associated with a reduction in body mass index, waist circumference and blood glucose level, an improvement in subjectively perceived general health, emotional role limitation, and levels of pain, as well as mindfulness-like traits. MBSR reduced the expression of anxious symptomatology and subjectively perceived stress. Methylation changes were observed in four genes: COMT, FST, FKBP51, and MAOA. We conclude that MBSR may be a useful supplementary therapy to mitigate the deleterious effects of PCOS on mental health.
... Mindfulness involves attending to the entirety of one's immediate experience without accentuating one's desires or suppressing one's aversions. Its practice creates an attentional gap between stimulus and response (Bargh and Chartrand, 1999;Kang et al., 2013), reducing emotional bias (Roemer et al., 2015) and fostering self-detached thinking (Farb et al., 2007). In turn, mindfulness minimizes mind-wandering (Brewer et al., 2011;Hasenkamp et al., 2012), decreases distractibility (Y.-Y. ...
Entrepreneurial venture creation hinges on opportunity recognition, which is enabled by malleable cognitive characteristics such as alertness, creativity, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Meditation presents a promising strategy for cultivating these antecedents. In two studies, we examined the immediate effects of meditation on the antecedents of opportunity recognition. In Study 1, a 12-min guided meditation was administered to nascent entrepreneurs in a pre-post within-subjects experimental design. In Study 2, a 15-min breath counting task was used to assess how variations in accuracy and breathing rate shaped differences in outcomes. We found that the intervention in Study 1 had a small effect on alertness (d = 0.44), a medium effect on creativity (d = 0.79), and a large effect on entrepreneurial self-efficacy (d = 0.93). Study 2 revealed a more nuanced relationship, whereby faster breathing rates predicted greater counting accuracy and alertness; in contrast, slower breathing rates and more frequent mind-wandering predicted greater uniqueness in the generated ideas. These findings suggest that meditation is useful for nascent entrepreneurs to prime their minds for successful opportunity recognition. The improvement in creativity may not solely be due to meditative practice itself but rather to the periods of mind-wandering that occur during the practice.
... According to the mechanisms described by Hölzel et al. (2011), mindfulness training might influence emotional, cognitive (attentional), bodily, and perspective-changing abilities. Regarding emotional abilities, the practice of mindfulness was associated with healthy emotion regulation in one study (Roemer et al., 2015); however, another study did not find a significant improvement in emotion regulation (Amundsen et al., 2020). Amundsen et al. (2020) examined the effectiveness of a 6-week mindfulness program (Living Mindfully Programme, UK) for 9-to 10-year-old children on outcomes such as well-being and emotion regulation. ...
Objectives
The primary goal of this study was to investigate the influence of the Mindfulness Education Workbook, a 6-week mindfulness-based tool, on emotion regulation, inhibition, physical self-concept, resources, and connectedness to nature. Furthermore, we explored whether a difference in number of hours of mindfulness practice would affect the outcomes.
Method
Ninety-one children from a public elementary school (M age = 9.74 years, SD = 0.76) participated in the study and were divided into three groups according to their respective school classes. The intervention group was divided into two groups that varied by number of hours of mindfulness practice: (a) mindfulness-plus and (b) mindfulness. In addition to biweekly training, the mindfulness-plus group also repeated a daily exercise. The passive control group received the standard school day instruction. The five concepts of emotion regulation, inhibition, physical self-concept, resources, and connectedness to nature were measured before and after the mindfulness intervention.
Results
For the measurement of emotion regulation, there was a significant effect in favor of the two mindfulness groups compared with the control group for the adaptive strategies in total as well as for their comprising emotions, anger, fear, and sadness, separately. Solely for the subscale mood elevation, the mindfulness-plus group showed significantly higher scores compared to the control group. Both mindfulness-plus and mindfulness groups varied from the control group on the measure of emotion regulation strategies, however not on the other four domains that were assessed (self-reports of resources, physical self-concept, and connectedness to nature as well as a mental task assessing inhibition). There was no evidence that the additional practice in the mindfulness-plus group significantly added to the intervention’s effectiveness.
Conclusions
The Mindfulness Education Workbook is a promising tool for elementary schools. Follow-up studies may provide further insights into the various effects of offering mindfulness training in schools. Further research with objective markers may also allow individual aspects under the umbrella term mindfulness to be investigated in more detail.
Preregistration
This study was not preregistered.
... Erectile dysfunction has been linked to anxious behaviors and the process of spectatoring (Barlow, 1986), as well as negative emotions and cognitions (Nobre, 2010). The ability to be aware of emotional experiences and to have clarity about emotional responses, as well as to accept one's own emotional experiences, has been associated with mindfulness states (Coffey et al., 2010;Cooper et al., 2018;Roemer et al., 2015;Tsur et al., 2016), and mindfulness states have been associated with better erectile function and greater satisfaction with sexual life and erectile function (Banbury et al., 2021;Jaderek & Lew-Starowicz, 2019;Stephenson, 2017). Consistent with these empirical findings, it is possible that male sports practitioners with erectile problems reported significantly more difficulty with emotion regulation strategies such as clarity, awareness, and, particularly, acceptance compared to male sports practitioners without erectile problems. ...
Emotion regulation is a transdiagnostic process strongly related with emotional difficulties, which may interfere with sexual functioning. Little is known about this association in athletes. The current study examined differences in difficulties in emotion regulation in sports practitioners with and without sexual difficulties. A total of 174 athletes (64 women and 110 men) completed a web-survey, answering a sociodemographic information questionnaire, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Short Form, and the Female Sexual Functioning Index/the International Index of Erectile Function. Results suggested that 34 women (53.1%) experienced sexual difficulties and 40 men (35.1%) reported erectile difficulties. Women with sexual difficulties revealed greater difficulties in goal-directed behavior. Men with erectile difficulties revealed greater lack of emotional awareness and clarity, more difficulties in goal-directed behavior (focusing on relevant information and ignoring distractors) and impulse control, and higher nonacceptance of emotions. Overall, current findings enhance the role of difficulties in emotional regulation in sexual functioning in male and female sports practitioners.
... As such, a variety of program types were present in the findings, mirroring how these interventions have influenced the development of school-based programs and curricula (Kuyken et al., 2013;Maloney et al., 2016). The ability for mindfulnessbased practices to help children develop self-regulation skills, noted in many articles, is also commonly present in research in the area (e.g., Roemer et al., 2015;Piotrowski et al., 2017). ...
Mindfulness practices have been increasingly adopted in schools across Canada and beyond. While previous literature has explored a range of purposes for mindfulness little is yet known about the ways in which it is understood by broad communities. News media serves as a key source of public discourse on topics like mindfulness in education that can reflect and influence public understanding and actions. This study explores the depiction of mindfulness within schools as it existed in Canadian news media between 2014 and 2019. The Canadian Major Dailies Proquest database was searched using the terms ‘mindfulness’ and ‘education OR school’. After an initial scan of 719 articles, 69 were retained. Deductive content analyses were conducted; themes included emotional, cognitive, social, and physical effects of mindfulness practices in schools. Divergent narratives were noted, reflecting a need for greater coherence and a shared rationale supporting the use of mindfulness practices in schools.
... (Kim) Mindfulness-related literatures confirm that people who focus on living in the present moment are less distressful than those who are focused on the past or worry about the future (Hanh 2012;Kabat-Zinn 2012). Mindfulness-related abilities and practices have been shown to be closely linked to the mechanisms of emotion regulation, relying heavily on aspects of self-awareness (Chambers et al. 2009;Roemer et al. 2015). One nurse explained: ...
Self-care is how nurses promote their own physical and mental health. Effective self-care is any strategy practiced on a regular basis to prevent stress and anxiety and to enhance the health and well-being. Self-care ranges from getting more rest to seeking professional help. Meditation practice is known to be an effective self-care strategy. The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of meditation as a self-care strategy among Korean nurses. Two groups of nurses at the university hospital, one with meditation experience and the other without, were selected as study participants, and their depression and resilience were analyzed. The results of the study show that, first, depressive symptoms were more prevalent among the nurses in the non-meditative group (62.2%) than the ones in the meditative group (15.6%), and resilience positivity was higher in the meditative group (4.01 ± 0.44) than in non-meditative group (3.04 ± 0.41). Second, nurses with depressive symptoms demonstrated particularly low resilience in both groups, indicating that resilience is inversely associated with other metal disorders. Third, after one and a half years since the study, the turnover rate of the non-meditative group (17.8%) was twice that of meditative group (8.9%). As stated in the earlier self-care literature that stressed the benefits of meditation, this study confirms that consistent meditation experience on a regular basis has an effect on nurses’ well-being via lower depression and promotes higher psychological well-being via resilience. This study is expected to provide the data collected from the field, including personal narratives, to establish more effective self-care strategies in personal and professional settings.
... This type of intervention aims to develop acceptance skills and alternative responses to emotional distress or negative thought. Research on the specific therapeutic mechanisms of mindfulness has shown that the reduction in RNT and emotional reactivity significantly mediates the therapeutic effect of mindfulness-based interventions (Gu et al., 2015;Lin et al., 2018;Roemer et al., 2015). More precisely, by promoting metacognitive awareness, decentring and improvement of cognitive abilities such as executive control (flexibility, inhibition, attentional control etc.), mindfulness could reduce the automatic nature of repetitive thinking and improve emotional regulation (Greeson et al., 2014;Teper et al., 2013;Wolkin, 2015). ...
The process-based approach assumes that transdiagnostic psychological processes are involved in the onset and maintenance of mental disorders. Case conceptualization is used to identify such psychological processes and to individualize the intervention accordingly. This approach is fundamentally different from syndrome-based approaches in which standardized treatments are administered for psychiatric diagnoses or symptoms. In the current case, we proposed a process-based conceptualization and treatment for a woman with concomitant problematic substance use and emotional symptoms. Our idiosyncratic process-based conceptualization showed that for this person, substance abuse consisted in a maladaptive coping strategy to deal with repetitive negative thinking and poor emotion regulation skills, for which we decided to use a mindfulness-based intervention. Treatment comprised 8 weeks of individually delivered Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy sessions. A comprehensive assessment of psychiatric symptoms and psychological processes was conducted at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up. The post-treatment assessment revealed that psychological processes targeted by the intervention were improved, together with the mindfulness trait. At the symptom-based level, we observed a significant reduction in substance abuse and emotional symptoms. Treatment gains were maintained at follow-up. From a process-based perspective, this result implies that the intervention successfully targeted the psychological processes underlying the presenting symptoms. Adopting a process-based approach rather than symptom- or syndrome-based approaches is a valuable alternative in the conceptualization and treatment of complex cases presenting with multiple comorbidities.
... Le contact avec la nature joue-t-il un rôle sur la rumination ? Nos données montrent l'existence d'un phénomène de pleine conscience lors d'une expérience de nature et cette dernière joue un rôle protecteur vis-à-vis des errances mentales telles que les ruminations mentales (Chambers et al., 2009 ;Chiesa & Serretti, 2009;Roemer et al., 2015). Plus spécifiquement, l'analyse thématique objective un lien dialectique entre centration (N=46) et décentration (N=12) traduisant une dynamique attentionnelle allant d'une décentration de soi pour se centrer sur l'environnement. ...
Les bienfaits des espaces de nature urbains sur la santé mentale sont attestés par de nombreuses publications scientifiques. Aujourd’hui, les recherches montrent que la diversité paysagère ainsi que les caractéristiques inter-individuelles induisent des effets différentiels sur la santé et le bien-être des usagers. L’objectif de cette thèse est de spécifier comment une expérience de nature bénéfique combine les composantes subjectives et environnementales. La recherche est menée à partir d’une expérience de nature in situ. Les comportements sont évalués par l’oculométrie, les cognitions avec l’entretien d’explicitation et les affects par le biais d’échelles psychométriques relatives à l’humeur et l’anxiété. Nos données objectivent un phénomène de restauration attentionnelle lors de cette expérience. La combinaison des approches psychologiques et paysagères renseigne qu’un paysage avec une faible verticalité et un champ visuel étendu favorise davantage la restauration. Enfin, nos analyses indiquent que le caractère thérapeutique de l’expérience de nature est lié à l’expérimentation d’états de pleine conscience. L’originalité de ce travail est de proposer une méthodologie mettant en évidence l’effet bénéfique de paysages contrastés Elle présente cependant des limites pour lesquelles des solutions sont proposées. Nos résultats suggèrent que l’expérience de nature constitue une véritable stratégie pour réduire l’anxiété et promouvoir l’euthymie en ramenant aux sensations présentes, c’est-à-dire à une expérience proche de la pleine conscience.
... Another experimental study on senior Brazilian students who received mindfulness intervention, a significant negative correlation was observed between mindfulness and difficulties in emotional regulation (Chiodelli et al., 2018). Roemer et al. (2015) claim that an emerging body of research findings comprising of laboratory and quasi experiments and treatment outcomes provided evidence for a positive relationship between mindfulness and reduction in distress, self-referral process and enhancement in emotional recovery and goal directed behaviour -all converging on emotional regulation. The experimental study by Taylor et al. (2011) studied the fMRI images of mindfulness practitioners while they were exposed to pleasant, unpleasant and neutral pictures. ...
Externalizing disorders characterized by behavioral problems manifest in the children's outward behaviors such as poor impulse control, impulsivity, and inattention may result in children negatively acting out on the external environment. When untreated, these problematic behaviors are associated with a wide range of negative outcomes for children and adolescents. In recent years, mindfulness-based interventions have become increasingly popular and have been shown to improve the ability to sustain attention and concentration, decrease impulsivity, help calm down and relax, increase frustration tolerance, and reduce stress; which enables the individual to respond with greater choice and solve problems and daily difficulties with greater skill. This chapter makes use of a narrative review format to describe the intervention procedure, duration, and process of each of the therapies along with existing research evidence in support of these therapies, and concludes with recommendations for further research.
Increasing numbers of adolescents are experiencing poor mental health, whether struggling with diagnosed conditions such as anxiety and depression, or simply suffering from poor wellbeing. Many have attributed this to changes experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, it is likely that there are other factors which are also leading to difficulty maintaining positive mental health. A growing number of Equine Assisted Services (EAS) are being developed to meet needs for mental health support, ranging from therapeutic riding to equine assisted psychotherapy. This chapter will focus on non-riding interventions and include research primarily from equine assisted learning and equine assisted therapy programs. The authors acknowledge that there are differences between the two, but also that these modalities share several similarities which are relevant to discuss here. Four key aspects of EAS which could be supporting the development of positive mental health will be examined; the culture of EAS, key features of EAS, experiential learning of emotional skills, and common outcomes of EAS, followed by the limitations and a discussion of the current research in the area. This will indicate factors which might be missing from the lives of adolescents which could have implications for broader wellbeing and mental health programs.
Sporcuların optimal ve minimal performans hedeflerinde etkili olan unsurlar arasında duygu düzenleme stratejileri ve ruminatif düşüncelerin önemli bir yeri vardır. Ruminasyon, sporcunun önceden deneyimlediği olumsuz yaşantıların ve sonuçların sporcunun zihnini sürekli meşgul etmesi, sporcunun yeni deneyimlerinde de benzer sonuçlar oluşturacağı düşüncesinin zihinde tekerrür etmesidir. Bu durum sporcunun hedef yönelimlerinde de etkili olmaktadır. Duygu düzenleme stratejileri ise ruminatif ve benzeri düşünceleri aşmada önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Araştırmanın amacı, Ruminasyonun sporcuların hedef yönelimleri üzerindeki etkisinde duygu düzenleme stratejilerinden bilişsel yeniden değerlendirmenin rolünü incelemektedir. Araştırma ilişkisel tarama yöntemine göre tasarlanmıştır. Veriler Google form ve yüz yüze anket aracılığıyla kolayda örnekleme yöntemine göre lisanslı 307 sporcudan elde edilmiştir. Ölçekler arası ilişkiler pearson korelasyon testi ile test edilmiştir. Aracı modele ilişkin analizler SPSS 26 programında Process eklentisi ile Hayes’ in Model (4) tasarımı üzerinden test edilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgulara göre ruminasyon ile hedef yönelimi ve bilişsel yeniden değerlendirme arasında istatistiki açıdan anlamlı pozitif yönlü doğrusal bir ilişki bulunmaktadır (p
Bu çalışmanın amacı yetişkin erkek futbolcularda bilinçli farkındalık, bilişsel yeniden değerlendirme ve bastırma arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemektir. Araştırmaya, 2021-2022 sezonunda Türkiye’de çeşitli liglerde oynayan 17-43 yaş aralığında (M= 23.36, SS= 6.00) 186 erkek futbolcu katılmıştır. Çalışma verileri “Kişisel Bilgi Formu”, “Sporcu Bilinçli Farkındalık (Mindfulness) Ölçeği” ve “Sporcu Duygu Düzenleme Ölçeği” kullanılarak elde edilmiştir. Verileri analiz etmek için SPSS 23.00 kullanılmıştır. İlk olarak değişkenler arasındaki ilişkiyi saptayabilmek için Pearson korelasyon analizi yapılmış ve daha sonra bilinçli farkındalığın, bilişsel yeniden değerlendirme ve bastırma üzerindeki yordayıcı rolünü test etmek için çoklu doğrusal regresyon analizi yapılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda bilinçli farkındalık ve bilişsel yeniden değerlendirme arasında pozitif ve anlamlı bir ilişki olduğu, bilinçli farkındalık ve bastırma arasında anlamlı bir ilişki olmadığı; bilinçli farkındalığın bilişsel yeniden değerlendirmedeki toplam varyansın %27’sini anlamlı bir şekilde yordadığı ve bastırmanın ise anlamlı bir yordayıcısı olmadığı bulgulanmıştır. Sonuç olarak, bu araştırmanın modelinden nedensel bir çıkarım yapmak mümkün olmasa da mevcut örneklem grubunda, bilinçli farkındalık arttıkça bir duygu düzenleme stratejisi olan bilişsel yeniden değerlendirme becerisi de artmaktadır. Dahası, bilişsel yeniden değerlendirmenin bir kısmından bilinçli farkındalık sorumludur. Bununla birlikte, bilinçli farkındalık bir duygu düzenleme stratejisi olan bastırma ile ilişkili değildir.
The identification of variables which facilitate good quality and quantity sleep represents an important step in tackling the current global sleep loss epidemic. Previous research has established links between good sleep and the positive psychological traits of mindfulness, self-compassion, gratitude and optimism. However, studies have typically focused on single traits, limiting understanding of their collective and independent associations. The two studies reported here address this gap by exploring the combined and unique contributions of mindfulness, self-compassion, gratitude and optimism to sleep; Study 2 further investigated emotion regulation as a common underlying mechanism. Participants in both studies (Study 1 N = 268; Study 2 N = 333) completed online questionnaires assessing the four positive psychological traits and sleep quality and quantity; participants in Study 2 also completed measures of adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation. Multiple regression analyses revealed that mindfulness, self-compassion, gratitude and optimism collectively accounted for 24.96% (Study 1) and 15.81% (Study 2) of the variance in overall sleep quality and quantity. Optimism and mindfulness emerged as significant linear predictors in their own right, with higher levels of optimism and mindfulness respectively being associated with better sleep. Study 2 further identified maladaptive emotion regulation as a common mediating mechanism. Findings highlight the importance of positive psychological traits in relation to sleep and indicate that optimism and mindfulness might make unique contributions to the prediction of sleep outcomes. Findings also flag emotion regulation as a potential common mediator of associations between positive psychological traits and sleep.
Introduction:
This study aimed to examine the mediating role of cognitive flexibility in the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and mindfulness in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Methods:
The research was conducted by correlation method) using Structural Equation Modeling). The statistical population consisted of all women and men with type 2 diabetes. Two hundred fifty-three samples were selected by convenience sampling method. The participants responded to the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Kentucky inventory of mindfulness skills, and the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory.
Results:
The results showed that the total path coefficient between the adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and mindfulness (β = 0.243, P = 0.005) was positive and significant, and the total path coefficient between the maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and mindfulness (β = -0.453, P = 0.001) was negative and significant. The path coefficient between cognitive flexibility and mindfulness (β = 0.273, P = 0.009) was positive and significant. The indirect path coefficient between the adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and mindfulness (β = 0.094, P = 0.007) was positive and significant, and the indirect path coefficient between the maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and mindfulness (β = -0.117, P = 0.009) was negative and significant.
Conclusion:
Improving emotion regulation skills increases cognitive flexibility and mindfulness in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Obesity has become a health problem that plagues people worldwide, and emotional eating is a significant cause of obesity. It is essential to reduce the frequency of emotional eating. We innovatively put forward E-Reminder: an interactive mindfulness-based eating reminder system. Based on mindful eating, E-Reminder encourages users to reduce the frequency of emotional eating and establish normal eating behavior by reminding them to focus on their feelings and the characteristics of the food itself. E-Reminder includes a wearable mindfulness interactive device and a mobile application. The system can be used during eating to improve emotional eating problems and establish normal eating behavior. The results of user experiments show that E-Reminder can effectively improve users' emotional eating in the short term and implant weight loss ideas in them.KeywordsMindfulnessEmotional eatingInteractive system
Parenthood is one of the most significant and gratifying life experiences, but it is also one of the most challenging and demanding tasks. High levels of parenting stress are increasingly prevalent in modern society, and almost all parents experience some degree of parenting stress at some point in their lives. Parenting stress has a profoundly negative impact on parental behaviors and, consequently, can seriously affect children’s emotional, social, and cognitive development. Therefore, it is extremely important to identify and better understand modifiable protective factors that can help parents better cope with the demands and challenges of parenting and experience lower levels of parenting stress. Self-compassion is an important modifiable psychological resource that can help parents feel less stress in their relationships with their children and better deal with negative emotions in this context. Self-compassion can also promote more mindful and compassionate parenting, which is known to be associated with more positive parenting behavior and better adjustment of the child at various levels. In this chapter, we will review the empirical evidence that supports the role of self-compassion in parenting. Next, we propose a conceptual model that describes how incorporating self-compassion and mindfulness into the parent–child relationship can help parents adopt more positive parenting behaviors and experience less parental stress. We further propose that this approach contributes to a child’s secure attachment and the development of important internal resources (e.g., self-compassion, emotional regulation) and, consequently, to a better child’s mental health. The empirical evidence that supports the links established in the model is thoroughly discussed.KeywordsParentingSelf-compassionMindfulnessParentsChildren
From risk to resilience and from mental illness only to including mental well-being, a paradigm shift occurs within the field of clinical psychology. Resilience, consisting of recovery as well as sustainability and growth processes, pertains to the successful (and common) adaptation to adversity. This includes a return to baseline functioning or a new emotional equilibrium, as well as maintaining approach motivations toward personal values and goals. There is growing evidence that self-compassion is an inner resource that promotes resilience. Self-compassion aspects of mindfulness, self-kindness, and common humanity facilitate both short-term and long-term adaptation processes. Using examples of going through war (veterans) and going through cancer, this chapter illustrates how self-compassion can contribute to decreased mental distress (including anxiety and loneliness) and increased mental well-being (including emotional stability and self-care behaviors). Compassion-based interventions, both face-to-face and in online format, can contribute to facilitating resilience in the face of adversity. Future research should further investigate the different ways in which self-compassion can promote resilience, taking into account both mental distress and mental well-being aspects of mental health.KeywordsResilienceSelf-compassionMental well-beingMental distressCancerVeteransCompassion-based interventionsAdaptation
Our aim was to explore the association between COVID-19 pandemic-related product shortages and symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression in Australian families, concurrently and longitudinally, while controlling for demographic, health, and psychological characteristics. This prospective study used two waves of data (baseline, Time 0 = April 2020; Time 1 = May 2020) from a longitudinal cohort study of Australian parents of a child aged 0-18 years. Parents were surveyed at baseline about whether they had experienced product shortages related to COVID-19. DASS21 was used to measure symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress at both waves. The sample included 2,110 participants (N = 1,701, 80.6% mothers). About 68.6% of the respondents reported being impacted by one or more shortages. Product shortages correlated significantly with higher combined and individual scores for anxiety, depression, and stress (r = 0.007 to 0.18, all p < 0.001) at baseline. At Time 1, parental emotion regulation explained 4.0% of the variance (p < .001). Our findings suggest a role for improving parental emotion regulation in coping with stressors, such as shortages and lockdowns.
Purpose:
Research has focused on cigarette use motives and have not included military personnel. The current study assessed tobacco use motives for different products, and differences within males and females and those with different racial identities given historical disparities in tobacco use.
Design:
A cross-sectional survey about tobacco use was administered from October 2019 to February 2022.
Setting:
Four Technical Training bases in the US.
Sample:
Air Force Airmen who used tobacco (N = 3243).
Measures:
Questions were about sociodemographic characteristics, tobacco use, and the Tobacco Motives Inventory (representing affect regulation, boredom, enhancement, and social motives).
Analysis:
Linear regressions assessed associations between overall tobacco use and motives. Stratified analyses assessed associations between tobacco use and motives among males and females, and individuals from different racial backgrounds. Logistic regressions assessed differences in motives and use of different tobacco products between "some day" and "everyday" users.
Results:
Overall, boredom (B = .09, SE = .01) and affect regulation (B = .05, SE = .00) motives were associated with higher tobacco use. Males and females and individuals from different racial backgrounds endorsed different motives, but all endorsed boredom as a motive for higher tobacco use. Individuals who used cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or smokeless tobacco "some days" endorsed higher social motives than everyday users, but everyday users endorsed different motives across products.
Conclusion:
There are motives differentiating between "some day" and "everyday" users of tobacco products, which may need to be differentially targeted in intervention programs. Additionally, there are some overlapping motives (affect regulation, boredom) that may be beneficial to address with all tobacco users.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) has been called the “basic” anxiety disorder, in the sense that generalized anxiety is, by definition, a component of other anxiety and related disorders. Indeed, generalized anxiety disorder, although characterized by marked fluctuations, is chronic. Some have even considered that generalized anxiety might be better conceptualized as a personality disorder, or the clinical manifestation of the temperament of neuroticism itself, since many individuals with this problem cannot report a definitive age of onset; rather, they note that it has been with them all their lives. Psychological and drug treatments, although often evaluated, have not produced the robust results evident with some other anxiety disorders. For this reason, further study of new treatment protocols is all the more pressing.
The protocol presented in this chapter, developed by Drs. Roemer and Orsillo at our Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, illustrates a cutting-edge, acceptance-based approach to GAD that has achieved a high rate of success. This protocol also illustrates, along with chapter 3 describing process based CBT for social anxiety disorder, principles associated with the so-called “third-wave” cognitive-behavioral approach to psychological disorders. Clinicians and students interested in how this approach is actually implemented will find the case study of “Hector” particularly fascinating.—D. H. B.
People respond to stressful events in different ways, depending on the event and on the regulatory strategies they choose. Coping and emotion regulation theorists have proposed dynamic models in which these two factors, the person and the situation, interact over time to inform adaptation. In practice, however, researchers have tended to assume that particular regulatory strategies are consistently beneficial or maladaptive. We label this assumption the fallacy of uniform efficacy and contrast it with findings from a number of related literatures that have suggested the emergence of a broader but as yet poorly defined construct that we refer to as regulatory flexibility. In this review, we articulate this broader construct and define both its features and limitations. Specifically, we propose a heuristic individual differences framework and review research on three sequential components of flexibility for which propensities and abilities vary: sensitivity to context, availability of a diverse repertoire of regulatory strategies, and responsiveness to feedback. We consider the methodological limitations of research on each component, review questions that future research on flexibility might address, and consider how the components might relate to each other and to broader conceptualizations about stability and change across persons and situations.
© The Author(s) 2013.
This article reports differences across 23 countries on 2 processes of emotion regulation––reappraisal and suppression. Cultural dimensions were correlated with country means on both and the relationship between them. Cultures that emphasized the maintenance of social order––that is, those that were long-term oriented and valued embeddedness and hierarchy––tended to have higher scores on suppres-sion, and reappraisal and suppression tended to be positively correlated. In contrast, cultures that minimized the maintenance of social order and valued individual Affective Autonomy and Egalitarianism tended to have lower scores on Suppression, and Reappraisal and Suppression tended to be negatively correlated. Moreover, country-level emotion regulation was significantly correlated with country-level indices of both positive and negative adjustment. The 37 coauthors of this article, in alphabetical order by last name, are as follows:
Recent research suggests that mindfulness benefits emotion regulation and smoking cessation. However, the mechanisms by which mindfulness affects emotional and behavioral functioning are unclear. One potential mechanism, lower affective volatility, has not been empirically tested during smoking cessation. This study examined longitudinal associations among mindfulness and emotional responding over the course of smoking cessation treatment among predominantly low-socioeconomic status (SES) African American smokers, who are at high risk for relapse to smoking and tobacco-related health disparities. Participants (N = 399, 51% female, mean age = 42, 48% with annual income <$10,000) completed a baseline measure of trait mindfulness. Negative affect, positive affect, and depressive symptoms were assessed at five time points during smoking cessation treatment (up to 31 days postquit). Volatility indices were calculated to quantify within-person instability of emotional symptoms over time. Over and above demographic characteristics, nicotine dependence, and abstinence status, greater baseline trait mindfulness predicted lower volatility of negative affect and depressive symptoms surrounding the quit attempt and up to 1 month postquit, ps < 0.05. Although volatility did not mediate the association between greater mindfulness and smoking cessation, these results are the first to show that mindfulness is linked to lower affective volatility (or greater stability) of negative emotions during the course of smoking cessation. The present study suggests that mindfulness is linked to greater emotional stability and augments the study of mindfulness in diverse populations. Future studies should examine the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on volatility and whether lower volatility explains effects of mindfulness-based treatments on smoking cessation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
Emotion regulation has been conceptualized as a process by which individuals modify their emotional experiences, expressions, and physiology and the situations eliciting such emotions in order to produce appropriate responses to the ever-changing demands posed by the environment. Thus, context plays a central role in emotion regulation. This is particularly relevant to the work on emotion regulation in psychopathology, because psychological disorders are characterized by rigid responses to the environment. However, this recognition of the importance of context has appeared primarily in the theoretical realm, with the empirical work lagging behind. In this review, the author proposes an approach to systematically evaluate the contextual factors shaping emotion regulation. Such an approach consists of specifying the components that characterize emotion regulation and then systematically evaluating deviations within each of these components and their underlying dimensions. Initial guidelines for how to combine such dimensions and components in order to capture substantial and meaningful contextual influences are presented. This approach is offered to inspire theoretical and empirical work that it is hoped will result in the development of a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the relationship between context and emotion regulation.
© The Author(s) 2013.
We examined coping self-efficacy as one potential mediator of the relationship between four specific mindfulness skills (observing, describing, acting with awareness, and accepting without judgment) and emotion regulation difficulties. Participants were 180 undergraduate students (M
age = 21.13; 71 % female; 82 % Caucasian) who completed self-report measures for course credit. Pearson correlations, independent samples t test, and ANOVAs were used to examine bivariate relationships between study variables. Simple mediation was examined in a path analysis framework by testing the indirect effect of mindfulness skills on emotion regulation difficulties through coping self-efficacy. Results indicated that a greater use of describing, acting with awareness, and accepting without judgment were associated with greater coping self-efficacy, and coping self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between each of those skills and emotion regulation difficulties (indirect effects: b weight = −0.26 to −0.29, p < 0.01). The mindfulness skill of observing was not related to coping self-efficacy or emotion regulation difficulties. Findings suggest that coping self-efficacy partially explains the relationships between mindfulness and emotion regulation difficulties. Clinicians administering mindfulness-based interventions should be aware of the role of coping self-efficacy in the relationship between mindfulness and emotion regulation.
Although the psychological benefits of mindfulness training on emotion regulation are well-documented, the precise mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. In the present account, we propose a new linkage between mindfulness and improved emotion regulation—one that highlights the role played by executive control. Specifically, we suggest that the present-moment awareness and nonjudgmental acceptance that is cultivated by mindfulness
training is crucial in promoting executive control because it increases sensitivity to affective cues in the experiential
field. This refined attunement and openness to subtle changes in affective states fosters executive control because it improves response to incipient affective cues that help signal the need for control. This, in turn, enhances emotion regulation. In presenting our model, we discuss how new findings in executive control can improve our understanding of how mindfulness increases the capacity for effective emotion regulation.
Rumination, worry, and other forms of negative self-referential processing are familiar to everyone, as reflecting on the self is perhaps our most human characteristic. However, for a substantial subgroup of patients, negative self-referential processing (NSRP) arises in response to intense emotionality, worsening the clinical presentation and diminishing the treatment response. The combination of emotionality and NSRP likely reflects the endophenotype of complicated and treatment refractory patients who fail to achieve a satisfactory treatment response in our trials and our clinics. An important next step is to personalize treatments by deliberately targeting NSRPs within established treatment protocols or in as yet novel treatments. Enriching treatments with mindfulness meditation is one possible avenue for personalized care of patients with this hypothesized endophenotype.
Interventions based on training in mindfulness skills are becoming increasingly popular. Mindfulness involves intentionally bringing one's attention to the internal and external experiences occurring in the present moment, and is often taught through a variety of meditation exercises. This review summarizes conceptual approaches to mind-fulness and empirical research on the utility of mindfulness-based interventions. Meta-analytic techniques were incorporated to facilitate quantification of findings and comparison across studies. Although the current empirical literature includes many methodological flaws, findings suggest that mindfulness-based interventions may be helpful in the treatment of several disorders. Methodologically sound investigations are recommended in order to clarify the utility of these interventions.
There has been substantial interest in mindfulness as an approach to reduce cognitive vulnerability to stress and emotional distress in recent years. However, thus far mindfulness has not been defined operationally. This paper describes the results of recent meetings held to establish a consensus on mindfulness and to develop conjointly a testable operational definition. We propose a two-component model of mindfulness and specify each component in terms of specific behaviors, experiential manifestations, and implicated psychological processes. We then address issues regarding temporal stability and situational specificity and speculate on the conceptual and operational distinctiveness of mindfulness. We conclude this paper by discussing implications for instrument development and briefly describing our own approach to measurement.
Bishop et al. (this issue) propose an operational definition of mindfulness developed by a recent consensus panel. The group provides a solid empirical framework from which to develop measures of mindfulness, and they propose an exciting research agenda. We describe measurement development work from our research group that provides initial support for the proposed consensus definition and that examines mindfulness in relation to emotion regulation variables. We extend the discussion by describing how mindfulness can enhance the stabilizing and destabilizing aspects of therapeutic change, and we illustrate this in the context of our treatment program for depression.
The effect of mindfulness meditation (MM) on attentional control in emotional contexts was examined. In Study 1, MM practitioners
(N=28) categorized tones presented 1 or 4s following the onset of affective pictures. Reaction times (RTs) to tones for affective
minus neutral pictures provided an index of emotional interference. Participants with more MM experience showed less interference
from affective pictures and reported higher mindfulness and psychological well-being. Study 2 was a controlled, randomized
experimental study in which participants (N=82) received MM training, relaxation meditation (RM) training, or no intervention (waiting-list control; WLC). Behavioral,
self-report, and psychophysiological measures were administered before and after a 7-week intervention period. Although both
MM and RM resulted in smaller skin conductance responses to unpleasant pictures and increased well-being, reductions in emotional
interference from unpleasant pictures were specific to MM. These findings indicate that MM attenuates prolonged reactivity
to emotional stimuli.
The stress-reductive effect of mindfulness practice is well-established, yet less is known about the cognitive mechanisms
underlying this salutary outcome. We conducted a prospective observational study of 339 participants (mean age 45.7 ± 13.4)
undergoing an 8-week mindfulness-based stress and pain management course and found support for our hypotheses that a) pre-post
intervention increases in dispositional mindfulness are reciprocally linked with increases in positive reappraisal coping
and b) the stress-reductive effects of increases in dispositional mindfulness are mediated by increases in positive reappraisal
independent of changes in catastrophizing. Positive reappraisal and mindfulness appear to serially and mutually enhance one
another, creating the dynamics of an upward spiral. Through mindfulness practice, individuals may engender a broadened state
of awareness that facilitates empowering interpretations of stressful life events, leading to substantially reduced distress.
Study findings have implications for cognitive therapy that couples mindfulness practices with restructuring techniques oriented
toward benefit finding and positive reappraisal.
KeywordsMindfulness–Reappraisal–Stress–Catastrophizing–Positive emotion–Upward spiral
Background:
Individual differences in mindfulness have been associated with numerous self-report indicators of stress, but research has not examined how mindfulness may buffer neuroendocrine and psychological stress responses under controlled laboratory conditions. The present study investigated the role of trait mindfulness in buffering cortisol and affective responses to a social evaluative stress challenge versus a control task.
Methods:
Participants completed measures of trait mindfulness, perceived stress, anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation before being randomized to complete the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST; Kirschbaum et al., 1993) or a control task. At points throughout the session, participants provided five saliva samples to assess cortisol response patterns, and completed four self-report measures of anxiety and negative affect to assess psychological responses.
Results:
In accord with hypotheses, higher trait mindfulness predicted lower cortisol responses to the TSST, relative to the control task, as well as lower anxiety and negative affect. These relations remained significant when controlling for the role of other variables that predicted cortisol and affective responses.
Conclusions:
The findings suggest that trait mindfulness modulates cortisol and affective responses to an acute social stressor. Further research is needed to understand the neural pathways through which mindfulness impacts these responses.
The present meta-analysis investigated the effectiveness of strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation in modifying emotional outcomes as indexed by experiential, behavioral, and physiological measures. A systematic search of the literature identified 306 experimental comparisons of different emotion regulation (ER) strategies. ER instructions were coded according to a new taxonomy, and meta-analysis was used to evaluate the effectiveness of each strategy across studies. The findings revealed differences in effectiveness between ER processes: Attentional deployment had no effect on emotional outcomes (d(+) = 0.00), response modulation had a small effect (d(+) = 0.16), and cognitive change had a small-to-medium effect (d(+) = 0.36). There were also important within-process differences. We identified 7 types of attentional deployment, 4 types of cognitive change, and 4 types of response modulation, and these distinctions had a substantial influence on effectiveness. Whereas distraction was an effective way to regulate emotions (d(+) = 0.27), concentration was not (d(+) = -0.26). Similarly, suppressing the expression of emotion proved effective (d(+) = 0.32), but suppressing the experience of emotion or suppressing thoughts of the emotion-eliciting event did not (d(+) = -0.04 and -0.12, respectively). Finally, reappraising the emotional response proved less effective (d(+) = 0.23) than reappraising the emotional stimulus (d(+) = 0.36) or using perspective taking (d(+) = 0.45). The review also identified several moderators of strategy effectiveness including factors related to the (a) to-be-regulated emotion, (b) frequency of use and intended purpose of the ER strategy, (c) study design, and (d) study characteristics.
Given recent attention to emotion regulation as a potentially unifying function of diverse symptom
presentations, there is a need for comprehensive measures that adequately assess difficulties in emotion
regulation among adults. This paper (a) proposes an integrative conceptualization of emotion
regulation as involving not just the modulation of emotional arousal, but also the awareness, understanding,
and acceptance of emotions, and the ability to act in desired ways regardless of emotional
state; and (b) begins to explore the factor structure and psychometric properties of a new measure, the
Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Two samples of undergraduate students completed
questionnaire packets. Preliminary findings suggest that the DERS has high internal consistency, good
test–retest reliability, and adequate construct and predictive validity.
Cultivation of mindfulness, the nonjudgmental awareness of experiences in the present moment, produces beneficial effects on well-being and ameliorates psychiatric and stress-related symptoms. Mindfulness meditation has therefore increasingly been incorporated into psychotherapeutic interventions. Although the number of publications in the field has sharply increased over the last two decades, there is a paucity of theoretical reviews that integrate the existing literature into a comprehensive theoretical framework. In this article, we explore several components through which mindfulness meditation exerts its effects: (a) attention regulation, (b) body awareness, (c) emotion regulation (including reappraisal and exposure, extinction, and reconsolidation), and (d) change in perspective on the self. Recent empirical research, including practitioners' self-reports and experimental data, provides evidence supporting these mechanisms. Functional and structural neuroimaging studies have begun to explore the neuroscientific processes underlying these components. Evidence suggests that mindfulness practice is associated with neuroplastic changes in the anterior cingulate cortex, insula, temporo-parietal junction, fronto-limbic network, and default mode network structures. The authors suggest that the mechanisms described here work synergistically, establishing a process of enhanced self-regulation. Differentiating between these components seems useful to guide future basic research and to specifically target areas of development in the treatment of psychological disorders.
© Association for Psychological Science 2011.
The high likelihood of recurrence in depression is linked to a progressive increase in emotional reactivity to stress (stress sensitization). Mindfulness-based therapies teach mindfulness skills designed to decrease emotional reactivity in the face of negative affect-producing stressors. The primary aim of the current study was to assess whether Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is efficacious in reducing emotional reactivity to social evaluative threat in a clinical sample with recurrent depression. A secondary aim was to assess whether improvement in emotional reactivity mediates improvements in depressive symptoms. Fifty-two individuals with partially remitted depression were randomized into an 8-week MBCT course or a waitlist control condition. All participants underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) before and after the 8-week trial period. Emotional reactivity to stress was assessed with the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory at several time points before, during, and after the stressor. MBCT was associated with decreased emotional reactivity to social stress, specifically during the recovery (post-stressor) phase of the TSST. Waitlist controls showed an increase in anticipatory (pre-stressor) anxiety that was absent in the MBCT group. Improvements in emotional reactivity partially mediated improvements in depressive symptoms. Limitations include small sample size, lack of objective or treatment adherence measures, and non-generalizability to more severely depressed populations. Given that emotional reactivity to stress is an important psychopathological process underlying the chronic and recurrent nature of depression, these findings suggest that mindfulness skills are important in adaptive emotion regulation when coping with stress.
Mindfulness involves nonjudgmental attention to present-moment experience. In its therapeutic forms, mindfulness interventions promote increased tolerance of negative affect and improved well-being. However, the neural mechanisms underlying mindful mood regulation are poorly understood. Mindfulness training appears to enhance focused attention, supported by the anterior cingulate cortex and the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC). In emotion regulation, these PFC changes promote the stable recruitment of a nonconceptual sensory pathway, an alternative to conventional attempts to cognitively reappraise negative emotion. In neural terms, the transition to nonconceptual awareness involves reducing evaluative processing, supported by midline structures of the PFC. Instead, attentional resources are directed toward a limbic pathway for present-moment sensory awareness, involving the thalamus, insula, and primary sensory regions. In patients with affective disorders, mindfulness training provides an alternative to cognitive efforts to control negative emotion, instead directing attention toward the transitory nature of momentary experience. Limiting cognitive elaboration in favour of momentary awareness appears to reduce automatic negative self-evaluation, increase tolerance for negative affect and pain, and help to engender self-compassion and empathy in people with chronic dysphoria.
Considerable research has disclosed how cognitive reappraisals and the modulation of emotional responses promote successful emotion regulation. Less research has examined how the early processing of emotion-relevant stimuli may create divergent emotional response consequences. Mindfulness-a receptive, non-evaluative form of attention-is theorized to foster emotion regulation, and the present study examined whether individual differences in mindfulness would modulate neural responses associated with the early processing of affective stimuli. Focus was on the late positive potential (LPP) of the event-related brain potential to visual stimuli varying in emotional valence and arousal. This study first found, replicating past research, that high arousal images, particularly of an unpleasant type, elicited larger LPP responses. Second, the study found that more mindful individuals showed lower LPP responses to high arousal unpleasant images, even after controlling for trait attentional control. Conversely, two traits contrasting with mindfulness-neuroticism and negative affectivity-were associated with higher LPP responses to high arousal unpleasant images. Finally, mindfulness was also associated with lower LPP responses to motivationally salient pleasant images (erotica). These findings suggest that mindfulness modulates neural responses in an early phase of affective processing, and contribute to understanding how this quality of attention may promote healthy emotional functioning.
Research on the effectiveness and mechanisms of mindfulness training applied in psychotherapy is still in its infancy (Erisman & Roemer, 2010). For instance, little is known about the extent and processes through which mindfulness practice improves emotion regulation. This experience sampling study assessed the relationship between mindfulness, emotion differentiation, emotion lability, and emotional difficulties. Young adult participants reported their current emotional experiences 6 times per day during 1 week on a PalmPilot device. Based on these reports of emotions, indices of emotional differentiation and emotion lability were composed for negative and positive emotions. Mindfulness was associated with greater emotion differentiation and less emotional difficulties (i.e., emotion lability and self-reported emotion dysregulation). Mediational models indicated that the relationship between mindfulness and emotion lability was mediated by emotion differentiation. Furthermore, emotion regulation mediated the relationship between mindfulness and both negative emotion lability and positive emotion differentiation. This experience sampling study indicates that self-reported levels of mindfulness are related to higher levels of differentiation of one's discrete emotional experiences in a manner reflective of effective emotion regulation.
The present investigation examined the incremental predictive validity of mindfulness skills, as measured by the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS), in relation to multiple facets of emotional dysregulation, as indexed by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), above and beyond variance explained by negative affectivity, anxiety sensitivity, and distress tolerance. Participants were a nonclinical community sample of 193 young adults (106 women, 87 men; M(age) = 23.91 years). The KIMS Accepting without Judgment subscale was incrementally negatively predictive of all facets of emotional dysregulation, as measured by the DERS. Furthermore, KIMS Acting with Awareness was incrementally negatively related to difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior. Additionally, both observing and describing mindfulness skills were incrementally negatively related to lack of emotional awareness, and describing skills also were incrementally negatively related to lack of emotional clarity. Findings are discussed in relation to advancing scientific understanding of emotional dysregulation from a mindfulness skills-based framework.
The regulation of negative emotion through reappraisal has been shown to induce increased prefrontal activity and decreased amygdala activity. Individual differences in dispositional mindfulness reflect differences in typical recognition, detachment and regulation of current experience, thought to also operate as top-down control mechanism. We sought to investigate whether such individual differences would be associated with brain activity elicited during reappraisal of negative emotion. Eighteen healthy participants completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging task that involved attending to or reappraising negative stimuli, and provided emotion experience ratings after each trial. Dispositional mindfulness was assessed with a self-report questionnaire. Reappraisal induced activity in a brain network involving predominantly dorsal portions of the prefrontal cortex, replicating previous studies. A voxelwise regression analysis showed that individual differences in the tendency to be mindful predicted activity in neural regions underlying reappraisal, with dorsomedial prefrontal cortex activation increasing with more mindfulness traits. Notably, this prefrontal activation was inversely correlated with the amygdala response to negative scenes, further supporting its role in down-regulating emotion-generation regions. These findings suggest that individual differences in dispositional mindfulness, which reflect the tendency to recognize and regulate current states, may modulate activity in neural systems involved in the effective cognitive control of negative emotion.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an established program shown to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. MBSR is believed to alter emotional responding by modifying cognitive-affective processes. Given that social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by emotional and attentional biases as well as distorted negative self-beliefs, we examined MBSR-related changes in the brain-behavior indices of emotional reactivity and regulation of negative self-beliefs in patients with SAD. Sixteen patients underwent functional MRI while reacting to negative self-beliefs and while regulating negative emotions using 2 types of attention deployment emotion regulation-breath-focused attention and distraction-focused attention. Post-MBSR, 14 patients completed neuroimaging assessments. Compared with baseline, MBSR completers showed improvement in anxiety and depression symptoms and self-esteem. During the breath-focused attention task (but not the distraction-focused attention task), they also showed (a) decreased negative emotion experience, (b) reduced amygdala activity, and (c) increased activity in brain regions implicated in attentional deployment. MBSR training in patients with SAD may reduce emotional reactivity while enhancing emotion regulation. These changes might facilitate reduction in SAD-related avoidance behaviors, clinical symptoms, and automatic emotional reactivity to negative self-beliefs in adults with SAD.
Despite encouraging preliminary findings regarding the efficacy of mindfulness and acceptance-based treatments for a range of psychological presentations, we have yet to elucidate mechanisms of action within these treatments. One mechanism through which mindfulness may reduce psychological symptoms and promote functioning is enhancing emotional responding and regulation. In this study, we used multimodal assessment to examine the effects of a brief mindfulness intervention in a laboratory setting on emotional experiences and regulation in response to distressing, positive, and affectively mixed film clips. Although there were no condition (mindfulness vs. control) effects on reports of emotional response or difficulties in regulation after the distressing film clip, participants in the mindfulness condition reported significantly greater positive affect in response to the positive film. Additionally, participants in the mindfulness condition reported more adaptive regulation (approaching significance, medium to large effect size) in response to the affectively mixed clip and significantly less negative affect immediately after this clip, although not after a recovery period. No significant differences emerged between conditions on physiological measures (skin conductance and heart rate) throughout the study.
Recovery from emotional challenge and increased tolerance of negative affect are both hallmarks of mental health. Mindfulness training (MT) has been shown to facilitate these outcomes, yet little is known about its mechanisms of action. The present study employed functional MRI (fMRI) to compare neural reactivity to sadness provocation in participants completing 8 weeks of MT and waitlisted controls. Sadness resulted in widespread recruitment of regions associated with self-referential processes along the cortical midline. Despite equivalent self-reported sadness, MT participants demonstrated a distinct neural response, with greater right-lateralized recruitment, including visceral and somatosensory areas associated with body sensation. The greater somatic recruitment observed in the MT group during evoked sadness was associated with decreased depression scores. Restoring balance between affective and sensory neural networks-supporting conceptual and body based representations of emotion-could be one path through which mindfulness reduces vulnerability to dysphoric reactivity.
Given recent attention to emotion regulation as a potentially unifying function of diverse symptom presentations, there is a need for comprehensive measures that adequately assess difficulties in emotion regulation among adults. This paper (a) proposes an integrative conceptualization of emotion regulation as involving not just the modulation of emotional arousal, but also the awareness, understanding, and acceptance of emotions, and the ability to act in desired ways regardless of emotional state; and (b) begins to explore the factor structure and psychometric properties of a new measure, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Two samples of undergraduate students completed questionnaire packets. Preliminary findings suggest that the DERS has high internal consistency, good test–retest reliability, and adequate construct and predictive validity.
Mindfulness is associated with reduced negative affective states, increased positive affective states, and reduced clinical affective symptomatology (e.g., depression, anxiety) in previous studies. This chapter examines an emerging body of fMRI and EEG research exploring how mindfulness alters neurobiological emotion processing systems. We examine how dispositional (trait) mindfulness and how adopting a mindful attentional stance (after varying levels of mindfulness training) relate to changes in neural responses to affective stimuli. Evidence suggests mindfulness-related changes in a ventral affective processing network associated with core affect, a dorsal processing network associated with making attributions and appraisals of one’s affective experience, and regulatory networks involved in modulating affective processes. These neural effects may underlie the previously observed relationships between mindfulness and changes in reported emotion processing and reactivity. Findings are discussed in light of existing neurobiological models of emotion and we describe important questions for the field in the coming years.
One of the fastest growing areas within psychology is the field of emotion regulation. However, enthusiasm for this topic continues to outstrip conceptual clarity, and there remains considerable uncertainty as to what is even meant by “emotion regulation.” The goal of this review is to examine the current status and future prospects of this rapidly growing field. In the first section, I define emotion and emotion regulation and distinguish both from related constructs. In the second section, I use the process model of emotion regulation to selectively review evidence that different regulation strategies have different consequences. In the third section, I introduce the extended process model of emotion regulation; this model considers emotion regulation to be one type of valuation, and distinguishes three emotion regulation stages (identification, selection, implementation). In the final section, I consider five key growth points for the field of emotion regulation.
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Generalized anxiety disorder and major depression (often termed “distress disorders”; see Watson, 2005) are commonly comorbid and appear to be characterized by temperamental features that reflect heightened sensitivity to underlying motivational systems related to threat/safety and reward/loss. Further, individuals with these disorders tend to perseverate (i.e., worry, ruminate) as a way to manage this motivationally relevant distress and often utilize these self-conscious processes to the detriment of engaging new contextual learning. Emotion Regulation Therapy integrates principles from traditional and contemporary cognitive behavioral treatments (e.g., skills training & exposure) with basic and translational findings from affect science to offer a blueprint for improving intervention by focusing on the motivational responses and corresponding regulatory characteristics of individuals with distress
disorders. This emphasis on affect science permits identification of candidate mechanisms of treatment in terms of core disruptions of normative cognitive, emotional, and motivational systems, which in turn, helps generate more targeted solutions for clients to utilize adaptive ways to cope or compensate for these core deficits. In essence, contrasting a client’s difficulties with what we understand as normative functioning allows us to generate theory-driven hyp