Encountering social, economic, or family adversity early in life can exert lifelong consequences on stress systems that contribute to health and well-being. On the cellular level, early life adversity can negatively impact telomeres, which are repetitive DNA sequences that protect chromosomes from instability and degradation. Telomeres typically shorten slowly with age, but are shorter in …
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Measuring meta-awareness in the present moment
You know that moment when you notice your mind wandering? Maybe you’re reading a book and notice that you’ve been scanning the page but thinking unrelated thoughts? This project will develop an innovative tool to model when and how your brain notices, i.e. “meta-awareness” (MA). We have some idea of neural-correlates of MA (the salience …
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Mindfulness training to enhance emotion regulation in a polarizing political context: A multimethod investigation
Predominant theories of intergroup relations argue that ideological conflicts between American political groups are sustained by negative emotions. Cognitive reappraisal (CR), defined as the explicit reinterpretation of negative events, has been shown to reduce intergroup negative emotions. However, CR is limited in its applications to real-world political events. Mindfulness also appears to foster negative emotion …
Cultivating mindful schools to promote an equitable climate of learning
Despite decades of school reform, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disproportionality in student academic opportunities and discipline continues to be a significant concern throughout the education system. The University of Southern California (USC), the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD), and Mindful Schools (MS) are collaborating on bringing mindfulness training to K-5 teachers/staff to foster an …
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A meditation intervention for repetitive subconcussive head impact exposure in youth sports
The goal of this project is to attempt to create a safe “non-invasive” intervention for adolescents that counteract changes in blood flow seen in the brain that are associated with cumulative and repetitive non-concussive head impacts after participating in a year of American football. There is concern that accumulation of a lifetime of participation could …
The histories of Varela’s legacy within the contemplative sciences
‘The Histories of Varela’s Legacy within the Contemplative Sciences’ is a mixed methods historical research project. Through the decades of development of mindfulness and contemplative studies, historians have begun to recount the emergence and evolution of the theory and methods involved in such endeavours. Francisco Varela’s career, and his influence on the direction of the …
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VOICES: Vocalizing Oppression and Interconnection in Contemplation and Embodiment Spaces
We propose a research study that partners with community leaders to give a platform to racial/ethnic minorities to speak about their experience with contemplative and healing practices such as meditation, prayer, movement, storytelling, and others. This will be community-based participatory qualitative research and is motivated by 1) the underrepresentation of racial/ethnic minority people in existing …
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 …
Effects of Mindful Compassion Training on social emotion regulation in daily life
Many contemplative traditions emphasize social benefits of contemplative practice, yet more research is needed to determine whether and how contemplative training supports social well-being. Recent advances in understanding social emotion regulation (SER) highlight the importance of both intrapersonal and interpersonal strategies, and offer exciting new approaches and methods for investigating social effects of contemplative practice. …
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Mindfulness for the masses: Understanding the approachability of mindfulness-based interventions and measurement of mindfulness among understudied diverse communities
Evidence for the therapeutic effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been demonstrated primarily in high-socioeconomic, White samples. The under-representation of socioeconomically and racially and ethnically diverse samples in MBI studies has raised questions about the approachability and cultural relevancy of MBIs for these communities. Further, among the few studies that have included diverse samples, scores …
