Focused-attention meditation (FAM) training improved surgeons' flow levels, communication skills, and safety attitudes, and was associated with a lower incidence of adverse clinical events. In a randomized trial with 140 surgeons from three hospitals in China, those who received 8 weeks of FAM training showed significant improvements on three scales measuring flow, communication, and safety attitudes compared to a waitlist control group. The FAM group also had significantly fewer adverse events during the intervention period. The findings suggest that cognitive ergonomics approaches such as FAM may help reduce patient safety incidents in surgical settings.
An 8-week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Life (MBCT-L) course increased subjective well-being among 85 Taiwanese university students. Overall scores on the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire rose from 3.69 to 3.92 after the intervention. Females initially reported higher baseline well-being than males, but no significant sex differences remained after the course. Score changes varied by sex and internship status, suggesting the course affected different demographic groups differently. The study also validated a short 8-item version of the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire for similar research.
Animation-guided meditation, compared with audio-guided meditation, significantly increased mindfulness and creativity levels while reducing cognitive load over an 8-week intervention. Mindfulness had both a direct positive effect on creativity and indirect effects through flow and positive affect. The study involved 95 participants recruited from a creative industrial park, randomly assigned to animation (n=48) or audio (n=47) guided meditation sessions three times per week. Animation proved more effective than audio as a meditation guidance tool, likely because it lowers cognitive demands and improves cognitive ability, making it easier for people without meditation training to achieve a mindful state.
An 8-week loving-kindness meditation (LKM) training, guided either by an animated pedagogical agent (APA) or by audio alone, improved spirituality and subjective wellbeing among 82 flight attendants. APA-guided meditation also significantly enhanced social presence, whereas audio-guided meditation did not affect social presence. The findings suggest that APA-guided LKM offers a simple, accessible method for boosting mental health, particularly in contexts where in-person guidance is unavailable.