Health Psychology
July 6, 2023
Richa Gawande, Lydia Smith, Alexandra Comeau et al.
21 citations
An 8-week warm mindfulness training program for primary care patients with anxiety, depression, or stress-related disorders improved emotion regulation and helped patients initiate health behavior changes more than a low-dose mindfulness comparator. Emotion regulation difficulties decreased significantly at 8 weeks and at 24 weeks. 63% of those in the full program started their action plan within three weeks, compared to 38% in the comparator group.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
September 9, 2021
Marcelo Trombka, Timothy B. Creedon, Marcelo Demarzo et al.
14 citations
Portuguese-speaking immigrants in the Boston area who completed an 8-week mindfulness program adapted for their language and culture attended an average of 6.1 sessions and practiced 213.7 minutes per week. Nearly all participants rated the program as very good or excellent, would recommend it, and would participate again. Depression symptoms decreased substantially and anxiety symptoms decreased moderately, while emotional regulation improved. Half of those who completed surveys initiated a health behavior change. The program appears feasible, acceptable, and culturally appropriate for this underserved population, though larger controlled studies are needed.
Psychiatry Research
December 1, 2024
Zev Schuman-Olivier, Richa Gawande, Timothy B. Creedon et al.
10 citations
Mindfulness training helps people change health behaviors partly by improving how they listen to and trust internal bodily signals, a process called interoceptive appreciation. In a randomized trial with 274 primary care patients who had depression, anxiety, or stress disorders related to chronic illness, those who received Mindfulness Training for Primary Care showed greater initiation of a chosen health behavior action plan compared to a low-dose mindfulness group. The effect was mediated by interoceptive appreciation: among patients without depression, listening to bodily signals played a key role; among those with moderate-to-severe depression, trusting bodily signals was more important. Regaining body trust may be a crucial step for behavior change in depression.
Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging
March 1, 2025
Michael Datko, Jacqueline Lutz, Richa Gawande et al.
1 citation
Mindfulness training for primary care patients with anxiety or depression increased activity in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex when anticipating pain, and this brain change was strongly linked to initiating health behavior changes. Greater increases in this brain response correlated with higher levels of action plan initiation, suggesting that mindfulness strengthens emotion regulation and goal-directed behavior in the face of discomfort.
Global advances in integrative medicine and health
January 1, 2024
Eunmi Kim, Diane Joss, Frannie Marin et al.
1 citation
This registered clinical trial protocol describes a planned study of Heart-Smile Training (HST), a compassion-based meditation program that cultivates awareness of heart-area bodily signals (interoception), for people with depression. The study aims to test the feasibility of the intervention and research procedures and to investigate neurocardiac mechanisms, specifically changes in the Heartbeat Evoked Potential measured by EEG. Fifty participants will be randomly assigned to a 4-week HST group or a waitlist control. Outcomes include depression severity, EEG gamma activity, heart rate variability, and psychological measures of self-compassion, mindfulness, and social connectedness. Results are not yet available.
Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging
December 1, 2022
Michael Datko, Jacqueline Lutz, Richa Gawande et al.
An 8-week Mindfulness Training for Primary Care (MTPC) program altered brain activity during interoceptive attention in adults with anxiety and/or depression. After training, fMRI scans showed increased response in the left anterior insula when participants focused on their heartbeat compared to a visual task. Among patients with moderate-to-severe depression, this increased insula response was linked to greater Body Trusting—a sense of trusting one's own body sensations and viewing the body as a safe place to attend to. The findings suggest that depression severity influences how patients respond to mindfulness-based treatment, and that cultivating body trust may be a key component for those with more severe depression.