Caregivers of persons with dementia are a considerably understudied segment of the population. Caregiver burden is widely recognized and characterized by an increased risk for stress-related disorders and illness, including depression, sleep disorder, and cognitive impairment. Employing a randomized controlled trial, this study examined the effect of mindfulness training on cognitive function and psychological wellbeing …
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How do thoughts about social closeness promote health and well-being?
In this experimental intervention, 121 adults participated in a randomized control trial testing whether daily reflection on social and nonsocial aspects of wellbeing is beneficial for mental and physical health. Every day for seven weeks, participants randomly assigned to the social wellbeing condition were asked to reflect on daily social interactions and rate how close …
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Impacts of tailored mindfulness training for maternal caregivers on intrapersonal wellbeing and interpersonal experiences
The chronic stress of caregiving can lead to experiences of chronic fear, and impair relationships, creating frequent conflict and mistrust. We developed a tailored mindfulness-based intervention, (Health Enhancement and Resiliency Training (HEART) for caregiving mothers of children with autism and mothers of neurotypical children. HEART aims to promote awareness, reduce experiential avoidance, promote acceptance of …
Compassion training for emotional numbing in post-traumatic stress disorder
For individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the emotional numbing and isolation that are core aspects of their suffering often remain after initial treatments. The proposed study examined whether CBCT (Cognitively-Based Compassion Training), a secularized compassion program based on the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist lojong tradition, is effective for reducing emotional numbing and enhancing social connectedness …
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Mindfulness in interpersonal judgments and relationships in daily life
Having close social connections powerfully predicts well-being and longevity (Holt-Lunstad, Smith, & Layton, 2010). Our study examined whether taking a 6-week mindfulness meditation training would lead to gains in perceived social connection from pre to post training, compared to an active-control wellness training group. We also examined possible cognitive and emotional mechanisms of this hypothesized …
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Trauma-Informed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction to promote intra- and interpersonal flourishing among survivors of traumatic violence
This pilot randomized control trial (RCT) addressed the design and evaluation of a trauma-informed adaptation of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (TI-MBSR) as a trauma-informed intervention for women who identified themselves as survivors of interpersonal violence and felt that these past experience still negatively affected them currently. A mixed methods approach included using quantitative measures to …
The role of state mindfulness and self-compassion in attenuating depressive symptoms: Early prediction through ecological momentary assessment and smartphone sensing
Depression is a serious mental health condition and is highly prevalent among college students. One-occasion depression-related self-report measures can provide early indication of upcoming depressive episodes, but such assessments are typically infrequent, burdensome, and thus hinder prevention efforts. Recent technological advancements in app-based, automatic smartphone-sensing can now permit collection of depression-related, day-to-day location, mobility, and …
Mindfulness-based intervention for both parents in families with mothers who have postpartum depression and anxiety
Many mothers are diagnosed with anxiety or depression after childbirth. Child development and mother’s mental health are closely linked. Partners, too, are often distressed in these families. Relationship conflicts are a predictor of mother’s depression and negatively affect the child. Our goal is to explore the effect of including partners in a mindfulness program along …
Long-term sustainability of mindfulness practice and treatment gains in women with co-occurring substance use disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder following a mindfulness-based relapse prevention program
Up to 60% of women enrolled in substance use treatment meet criteria for both substance use disorder (SUD) and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), presenting with more severe clinical profiles and psychiatric disorders, higher relapse rates, and lower treatment gains and compliance with aftercare than women with either disorder alone. Although evidence suggests treating SUD …
Generalizing mindful emotion regulation: Toward a transdiagnostic approach to training emotion regulation with mindfulness
Emotion dysregulation, difficulties managing intense emotions, is common across many psychiatric disorders and is central to some of the most severe and difficult-to-treat populations in psychiatry. To immediately decrease suffering from emotions, individuals with emotion dysregulation often rely on destructive behaviors, including substance use and violence. Mindfulness may help prevent these problems, as it effectively …
