Mindfulness

Cross-Lagged Analyses Between Life Meaning, Self-Compassion, and Subjective Well-being Among Gifted Adults Abstract Objectives Highly intellectually gifted adults seem to be at a higher risk for existential crisis. However, not much is known about what contributes to their life meaning and/or well-being. This study examined if self-compassion may be a resource leading to a happy and/or meaningful life, or vice versa. Methods Cross-lagged associations between meaningfulness, subjective well-being, and self-compassion were examined. Additionally, we tested for differences concerning these constructs between the gifted and general population. One hundred highly intellectually gifted adults (55% female; mean age 43 ± 9 years) participated in a two-wave (4 years) online study with a cross-lagged design. Results Gifted adults experienced significantly lower levels of meaningfulness (T1: d = 0.55, 95% CI [− 0.76/− 0.33]; T2: d = 0.39, 95% CI [− 0.60/− 0.18]), subjective well-being (T1: d = 1.11, 95% CI [− 1.32/− 0.90]; T2: d = 0.82, 95% CI [− 1.03/− 0.61]), and self-compassion (T1: d = 1.21, 95% CI [0.99/1.42]; T2: d = 0.82, 95% CI [0.61/1.02]) compared to the general population. Cross-sectional analyses showed positive moderate to strong associations between the constructs. Cross-lagged analysis revealed that a sense of meaningfulness was a significant predictor of subjective well-being over time (β = 0.36, p < .05), after controlling for autoregressive effects. No cross-lagged effects between self-compassion and meaningfulness or self-compassion and subjective well-being were established. Conclusions Highly intellectually gifted adults might find it taxing to experience life meaning, subjective well-being, and self-compassion. Results suggested the importance of strengthening gifted adults’ life meaning which in further consequence may support highly gifted individuals in living a happier life.

Effect of Acceptance Versus Attention on Pain Tolerance: Dissecting Two Components of Mindfulness Abstract Objectives Previous studies have shown that brief mindfulness trainings can have significant analgesic effects. However, the effects of the various components of mindfulness on pain analgesia are not well understood. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of two components of mindfulness interventions—attention and acceptance—on pain analgesia. Methods One hundred and nineteen healthy college students without prior mindfulness experience underwent a cold-pressor test to measure pain tolerance before and after the training. Pain intensity, tolerance, distress, threshold, and endurance time were also tested. The participants were randomly assigned to one of the following four conditions: (1) acceptance of pain, (2) attention to pain, (3) acceptance of and attention to pain, or (4) control. Results The results showed that both the acceptance strategy and the combined acceptance and attention group increased pain endurance and tolerance after training. Furthermore, the acceptance group had longer pain endurance and tolerance times than the attention and control groups. Conclusions These results suggest that acceptance of pain is more important than attention to pain. Study limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Navigating Dilemmas in Training People to Deliver Non-Eight-Week Adapted Mindfulness-Based Interventions Abstract Practice and training norms and recommended minimum standards are available internationally for MBSR and MBCT. However, they are not available for delivering non-eight-week mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) adapted for specific contexts and populations. The delivery of these MBIs raises dilemmas for organisations with responsibility for safe and effective practice that invites us to steer a middle course between prohibition and permissiveness and between idealism and pragmatism. One response to practitioners delivering adapted MBIs is discussed with reference to a new briefer but specifically tailored training for those delivering adapted MBIs in a UK government-funded health service.

Psychometric Investigation of the Five Facets of Mindfulness and Well-Being Measures in the Kingdom of Bhutan and the USA Abstract Objectives Mindfulness is derived from Eastern and Buddhist traditions and is associated with the improvement of psychological well-being (WB). However, many empirical approaches designed to measure dispositional mindfulness and WB have been developed and validated within Western and non-Buddhist cultural contexts. Here, we sought to investigate the structure of dispositional mindfulness and WB in the Kingdom of Bhutan, a country characterized by an Eastern, Buddhist cultural context. Methods Self-report data were collected using the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and standardized WB (hedonic and eudaimonic) measures in Bhutan and in the USA. Data were subjected to a series of confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to examine the factor structure of each measure in both samples. Results For the FFMQ, we found that a four-factor correlated model (excluding the observe facet) best fit the sample data in Bhutan and in the USA. For WB, we did not observe a clear distinction in terms of goodness of fit indices between the one- and two-factor hierarchical models. We did observe that across both samples, the hedonia and eudaimonia WB factors were highly correlated with one another suggesting that a one-factor solution may be optimal. Multigroup CFA analysis demonstrated that while the majority of models displayed adequate configural invariance, the only model displaying adequate metric invariance was the hierarchical four-factor model of the FFMQ data. Conclusions These findings suggest that the way mindfulness and WB are conceptualized in a country characterized by an Eastern and Buddhist cultural context is different than in the USA.

Effects of Mindfulness Training on Borderline Personality Disorder: Impulsivity Versus Emotional Dysregulation Abstract Emotion dysregulation (ED) and impulsivity are the two core characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Although the mindfulness module of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has proven effective to treat general BPD symptomatology, no studies have yet been conducted to determine whether mindfulness specifically targets impulsivity and/or ED in patients with BPD. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to examine the impact of mindfulness training on those two characteristics. A clinical sample (n = 70) of individuals with BPD were randomized to one of two interventions: DBT mindfulness skills training (DBT-M) or DBT interpersonal effectiveness skills training (DBT-IE). Participants were assessed prior to treatment and at the end of the 10-week training program. Assessment included measures of impulsivity, emotion dysregulation, BPD severity, and mindfulness facets. Our findings showed that impulsivity decreased in the DBT-M group but not in the DBT-IE group. BPD psychopathology and some aspects of ED (e.g., emotional clarity and emotional acceptance) improved in both groups. These results show that the mindfulness module of DBT improves both emotion regulation and impulsivity. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03363230

Support for the Development and Use of the Child Observation of Mindfulness Measure (C-OMM) Abstract Objective We describe the Child Observation of Mindfulness Measure (C-OMM), a new instrument designed to assess young children’s outward expressions of self-regulated attention and orientation to experience. Methods Twenty-three 3- to 4-year-old children were assessed using the C-OMM. Using Generalizability theory, differentiated variances were examined across three settings (free play, teacher-directed activities, and meals), five dimensions (three for self-regulated attention and two for orientation to experience), and two components (summary scores for self-regulated attention and orientation to experience). A follow-up decision study was conducted to identify the number of raters needed and the number of observations per child required to achieve acceptable reliability. Results Results from the generalizability study indicate that the use of the C-OMM was moderately reliable (ϕ = .79 and .86, for self-regulated attention and orientation to experience, respectively) during teacher-directed activities only. The decision study indicated that future uses of the C-OMM require either a greater number of raters or a greater number of observations for acceptable reliability. Conclusion The C-OMM represents a more appropriate instrument for trained observers to assess children’s mindfulness related behaviors in certain educational settings given the limitations inherent to young children’s capacity to accurately self-report. Furthermore, as an observational measure of children’s mindfulness behaviors, the C-OMM might be more sensitive to multiple observations that therefore lends to the measurement of ongoing development over time.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction with Individuals Who Have Rheumatoid Arthritis: Evaluating Depression and Anxiety as Mediators of Change in Disease Activity Abstract Although the current randomized controlled trial has previously reported an effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on improving disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the possible mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unknown. This report presents secondary analyses examining anxiety and depression as potential mediators of the effect of MBSR on changes in RA disease activity. Fifty-one RA patients were randomized to either MBSR or to a wait-list control group. Depression and anxiety (Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale) and RA disease activity (DAS28-CRP) were assessed at baseline (T1), post-treatment (T2), and at two (T3) and four (T4) months’ follow-up. Intention to treat (ITT) and per protocol (PP) analyses using multivariate analyses of variance showed that depression was lower in the MBSR than in the control group, post-treatment and at both follow-up time points. PP analyses suggested that anxiety was lower in the MBSR than in the control group post-treatment. In partial support of expectation, mediation analyses showed that a reduction in depression across the intervention (T2-T1) mediated the effect of MBSR on improvements in RA disease activity at both follow-up time points (T3-T1; T4-T1). This effect held across ITT and PP analyses. PP analyses also suggested an indirect effect of MBSR on RA disease activity via increased anxiety at T3, but not at T4. Together, findings suggest that improvements in depression (rather than anxiety) may mediate the effect of MBSR on RA disease activity. Screening for, and treating depression in RA with MBSR, may have downstream benefits for RA disease activity.

Is Self-Compassion Related to Behavioural, Clinical and Emotional Outcomes in Adults with Diabetes? Results from the Second Diabetes MILES—Australia (MILES-2) Study Abstract Diabetes mellitus is a complex chronic condition requiring daily self-management to prevent/delay the onset of diabetes-related complications. The emphasis on control for diabetes self-management can lead to feelings of self-blame and failure when targets are not reached. Self-compassion may offer an alternative way of relating to the self when such feelings arise, and in turn, positively influence diabetes health outcomes. However, little is known about how self-compassion relates to behavioural, clinical and emotional outcomes in adults with diabetes. The aim of the current study was therefore to determine the associations between self-compassion and diabetes-related health behaviours and clinical outcomes, and emotional health outcomes. Cross-sectional data from adults (N = 1907) aged 18–75 years with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, who participated in the second Diabetes MILES—Australia (MILES-2) study, were analysed. Behavioural outcomes were healthy eating and physical activity (SDSCA subscales); clinical outcome was self-reported haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c; an important measure of average blood glucose in diabetes management); emotional outcomes were depressive symptoms (PHQ-8), anxiety symptoms (GAD-7) and diabetes distress (PAID). Self-compassion was measured using the Self-Compassion Scale Short-Form (SCS-SF). Self-compassion was significantly lower among those with severe diabetes distress or moderate-to-severe symptoms of depression and anxiety, as compared to those with no/mild symptoms. Further, hierarchical linear regression analyses, split by diabetes type, revealed that self-compassion was significantly associated with all specified outcomes, with the strongest associations observed among the emotional outcomes (β range, − 0.47 to − 0.55; all p < 0.01). The findings indicate self-compassion is meaningfully associated with more optimal behavioural, clinical and, especially, emotional outcomes in adults with diabetes.

Psychometric Properties of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) in an African American Clinical Sample Abstract Objectives Self-compassion has been recognized as a protective factor against adverse mental health outcomes. Recently, efforts have been taken to investigate the psychometric properties of a widely used measure of self-compassion, the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS). It is vital that psychometric studies include racially/ethnically diverse participants to ensure the SCS’s validity and utility among these samples. Methods The current study evaluated the psychometric properties of the SCS in a sample of 248 low-income African American individuals with a recent suicide attempt. Using confirmatory factor analyses, the following factor structure models of the SCS were tested: one-factor, two-factor, six-factor correlated, higher order, bifactor, and two-bifactor. Results Although our confirmatory factor analyses supported model fit for three of these models (two-factor, two-bifactor, six-factor correlated), the six-factor correlated model was most consistent with theoretical and practical applications of the SCS in this specific demographic and clinical sample. The SCS also demonstrated good internal consistency, as well as strong convergent validity with measures of suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, self-criticism, and mindfulness. Conclusions These results suggest that the SCS is a psychometrically sound tool for assessing the construct of self-compassion among a low-income, clinical African American sample.

Open Monitoring and Mindfulness Abstract This article explores the relationship of mindfulness to open monitoring in texts reflecting early Buddhist thought, extant in Pāli discourses and their Chinese parallels. The first of the discourses studied is the Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta, which together with its two Chinese Āgama parallels reflects an emphasis on open monitoring rather than on establishing a narrow focus. The second discourse commends a shift of practice towards a more directed form of meditation if the cultivation of mindfulness in the form of satipaṭṭhāna/smṛtyupasthāna should lead to distraction or sluggishness. The third discourse concerns the cultivation of mindfulness in relation to sensory experience in situations outside of formal meditation. Such cultivation is explicitly related to the experience of a boundless mental condition, reflecting the breadth of mind that appears to be characteristic of the early Buddhist conception of mindfulness when cultivated on its own, that is, when full prominence is given to mindfulness itself during formal meditation or daily life practice.