Mindfulness-Based Intervention effect on the psychophysiological marker of self-regulation in women with endometriosis-related chronic pain.
Journal of Pain July 1, 2023 Marcelo de França Moreira, O. Gamboa, M. A. Oliveira
A brief Mindfulness-Based Intervention (bMBI) improved attention and autonomic regulation in women with endometriosis-related pain. In a pilot randomized controlled trial, the bMBI group (n=26) showed significantly better accuracy on the Flanker task and faster reaction times on both Flanker and Stroop tasks compared to the control group (n=28). The intervention also increased vagally-mediated heart rate variability at rest and during recovery after cognitive stress. Attention mediated the bMBI's effect on reducing affective pain, but this was linked to reduced parasympathetic tone in the control group, while the mindfulness group improved attention efficiency under higher parasympathetic tone. The authors suggest bMBI may improve self-regulation and provide broad biopsychosocial benefits.