A 5-week EmotionCore mindfulness training program improved adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies, emotional intelligence, and trait mindfulness in undergraduates, with gains maintained at one-month follow-up. Improvements in emotion regulation and emotional intelligence fully and sequentially mediated the increase in trait mindfulness. Participants with high baseline anxiety or depression showed greater reductions in anxiety and depression after training compared to those with low baseline symptoms, indicating the program is especially beneficial for high-risk populations.
A five-week emotion-targeted mindfulness training program improved working memory for facial expressions of happiness, sadness, anger, and neutrality, but not fear, in a study of 120 participants. The improvements lasted at least one month. Drift-diffusion modeling revealed that the training increased the efficiency of information processing (drift rate) across all emotional categories, and these increases correlated with accuracy gains. The findings suggest mindfulness training enhances both the accuracy and speed of visual working memory processing, independent of the specific emotion displayed.
A group mindfulness therapy program tailored for adolescents with anxiety was tested in a school setting. Twelve 6th and 7th graders with elevated anxiety participated in an after-school program that taught present-moment awareness, mindfulness in daily activities, body scan, loving-kindness, and self-acceptance. Significant improvements were observed in anxiety, internalizing symptoms, stress, and attention, with effect sizes ranging from 0.88 to 1.34. The program was feasible and acceptable, suggesting a cost-effective way to deliver mindfulness-based anxiety reduction in schools.