Mindfulness
January 1, 2025
Ryad Chems-Maarif, Kate Cavanagh, Ruth A. Baer et al.
A narrative review of traditional Buddhist and contemporary psychological definitions of mindfulness finds that Buddhist definitions emphasize memory, present-centered awareness, and ethicality, while psychological definitions converge on present-centered awareness, bare attention, and attitudes of acceptance and non-judgment. The authors conclude that conceptual commonality across both traditions is lacking, making a single comprehensive definition difficult. For psychological science, they propose a refined definition: “present-centered awareness of and bare attention to body sensations, affective valence, cognitive and emotional phenomena, and the external environment with an allowing and equanimous attitude.” This definition incorporates four scopes of mindfulness and highlights allowing and equanimity as key qualities.
Trials
January 19, 2023
T. Barnhofer, B. Dunn, C. Strauss et al.
This paper describes a planned randomized controlled trial testing whether Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), added to treatment as usual, reduces depression symptoms more than treatment as usual alone in patients who have not responded to at least 12 sessions of high-intensity psychological therapy through England's Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services. The trial will enroll patients meeting criteria for major depressive disorder, randomizing them to MBCT plus usual care or usual care alone. Assessments occur at baseline, 10 weeks, and 34 weeks post-randomization. The primary outcome is depression symptom reduction at 34 weeks measured by the PHQ-9. Cost-effectiveness will also be evaluated.
International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology
February 18, 2021
C. Strauss, Jenny Gu, J. Montero-Marín et al.
A randomized controlled trial assigned 234 National Health Service workers to either mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for life (MBCT-L) or a wait-list. MBCT-L reduced stress more than the wait-list, with a medium-to-large effect size, and improved well-being, depression, and anxiety. No effects were found for work-related outcomes. Mindfulness and self-compassion appeared to mediate the stress and well-being improvements. The authors suggest MBCT-L could be an effective component of a broader healthcare worker mental health strategy.
Journal of psychotherapy integration
September 14, 2020
Alesia Moulton-Perkins, D. Moulton, K. Cavanagh et al.
Delivering mindfulness-based programs like MBCT and MBSR through videoconferencing is feasible and acceptable, with medium positive effects on mental health outcomes compared to inactive controls (effect sizes from 0.44 to 0.71). Compared to in-person delivery, videoconference-based programs showed little difference, with all confidence intervals crossing zero. Safety considerations were largely unreported. The evidence on mindfulness or self-compassion as mechanisms of action was inconclusive. The review included ten studies with physical health and nonclinical samples, not mental health populations. Future research should target mental health populations using noninferiority designs and develop guidelines for remote delivery.
Mindfulness
January 12, 2019
A. Tickell, S. Ball, P. Bernard et al.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is delivered effectively and safely in routine mental health services, even though its use has expanded beyond the originally intended population. Across five UK mental health services with 1,554 participants, 47% entered with non-depressed scores, and 96% of those remained non-depressed after treatment. Among the 53% who entered with depressed scores, 45% recovered to non-depressed range, and overall depression severity significantly decreased. Reliable deterioration was low (3%), comparable to other psychotherapies.
Psychological Assessment
April 14, 2016
Jenny Gu, C. Strauss, C. Crane et al.
The 39-item and 15-item versions of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) show different factor structures before and after mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in adults with remitted recurrent depression. Before MBCT, a four-factor model (excluding the Observing facet) best fit the data; after MBCT, a five-factor model fit best. Configural invariance across time was not supported, meaning the questionnaire's structure changes with intervention, which may invalidate direct pre-to-post comparisons. Both versions had adequate internal consistency and sensitivity to change and did not differ in convergent validity. Researchers should consider omitting the Observing subscale when comparing scores before and after mindfulness interventions. The FFMQ-15 is a suitable brief alternative.
Clinical Psychology Review
April 1, 2015
Jenny Gu, C. Strauss, R. Bond et al.
Mindfulness, rumination, and worry are significant mediators of the effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on mental health outcomes. A systematic review and meta-analysis of mediation studies found strong, consistent evidence for cognitive and emotional reactivity, moderate and consistent evidence for mindfulness, rumination, and worry, and preliminary but insufficient evidence for self-compassion and psychological flexibility as mechanisms underlying MBIs. The review used two-stage meta-analytic structural equation modelling to quantitatively synthesize evidence for mechanisms with sufficient data. Most reviewed studies had key methodological shortcomings that preclude robust conclusions, but they provide important groundwork for future research.