Mindfulness
2026
Manuella B Kury, Barbara L. Fredrickson, Patty van Cappellen et al.
Extensive research documents that mindfulness meditation (MM) and loving-kindness meditation (LKM) have benefits for emotional, social, and mental health outcomes. Despite this work documenting the benefits of meditation practice, research also demonstrates that meditation does not always have equivalent effects for all people. So, who is most likely to benefit from meditation practice? In this...
Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine
January 4, 2025
Elissa S Epel, Brian P Don, Stefanie E Mayer et al.
To cope with chronic stress, which can contribute to depression, humans often pursue arousal-reducing activities. Yet, hormetic stressors (intermittent, acute stressors) might also reduce chronic stress. We compared the effects of arousal-reducing and arousal-enhancing interventions on depressive symptoms and perceived stress. Female adults (N = 141; predominantly White, 63%, and Asian, 34%)...
Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology
November 1, 2024
Robin Blades, Wendy Berry Mendes, Brian P Don et al.
Stress is a driver of depression, and people with depression often struggle to cope with stress and anxiety. This study directly compares the mental health effects of a Wim Hof Method intervention to an active control condition (slow breathing) in women with high stress and high depressive symptoms. We randomized 84 healthy midlife women with high stress and high depressive symptoms to either:...
Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
September 1, 2022
Taylor N West, Brian P Don, Barbara L. Fredrickson
Research on attachment theory holds that insecure attachment influences people's daily social and emotional experiences. Mindfulness meditation and loving-kindness meditation have been associated with improvements in physical and mental well-being often through their influence on emotion experience and regulation. Yet, little research has examined how emotional well-being may be improved in...
Mindfulness
May 1, 2022
Brian P Don, Patty van Cappellen, Barbara L. Fredrickson
Abstract Objectives Research demonstrates that meditation interventions tend to positively influence social well-being. Yet, prior research has exclusively examined meditation in relation to average levels of social outcomes (e.g., social connectedness), despite other work demonstrating variability or fluctuations in social functioning play a distinct role in contributing to well-being. This...
Mindfulness
March 1, 2021
Brian P Don, Sara B Algoe, Barbara L. Fredrickson
Social approach and avoidance goals - which refer to individual differences in the desire to pursue rewards versus avoid negative experiences in social relationships - have numerous implications for the health and quality of social relationships. Although endorsement of these goals largely arises from people's pre-dispositions towards approach and avoidance, in this research we proposed that...