Annals of Behavioral Medicine
February 1, 2007
Shamini Jain, Shauna L. Shapiro, Summer Swanick et al.
1,304 citations
A one-month mindfulness meditation program and a somatic relaxation training both reduced psychological distress and improved positive mood in 83 distressed students, compared with a no-treatment control group. The two active interventions produced similarly large reductions in distress, but mindfulness meditation had a larger effect on positive states of mind and was the only intervention that decreased both distractive and ruminative thoughts. Reducing rumination partially explained how mindfulness meditation lowered distress. No changes in spiritual experience were observed.
Annals of Behavioral Medicine
June 1, 2008
Ivan Nyklíček, Karlijn F. Kuijpers
535 citations
A randomized controlled trial compared mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) with a waiting-list control in 60 community adults (40 women, 20 men; mean age 43.6 years) experiencing distress. MBSR led to significantly greater reductions in perceived stress and vital exhaustion, and greater increases in positive affect, quality of life, and mindfulness. When mindfulness was accounted for, the effects on stress and quality of life became nonsignificant, suggesting that increased mindfulness may partially mediate MBSR's benefits.
Annals of Behavioral Medicine
November 15, 2006
Blaine Ditto, Marie Eclache, Natalie Goldman
357 citations
A body scan meditation, a component of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, produces distinct immediate physiological effects compared to other relaxing activities. In two laboratory studies, healthy young adults showed greater increases in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (a measure of cardiac parasympathetic activity) during meditation than during progressive muscular relaxation or listening to a novel. Meditation also shortened the cardiac pre-ejection period, indicating increased sympathetic activity. These opposing autonomic changes may explain why heart rate did not change. Women experienced a larger drop in diastolic blood pressure during meditation, while men showed a greater increase in cardiac output. The findings suggest that body scan meditation triggers a unique combination of parasympathetic and sympathetic responses.
Annals of Behavioral Medicine
January 22, 2019
E. Garland, M. A. Bryan, Sarah E. Priddy et al.
A mindfulness-based intervention, Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), improved the ability to inhibit responses when exposed to pain-related emotional distractors in adults with chronic pain and long-term prescription opioid use. In a controlled trial, participants in MORE showed greater reductions in errors of commission on an Emotional Go/NoGo Task with pain-related stimuli compared with a support group. More mindfulness practice and increased nonreactivity predicted better emotional response inhibition. Improvements in emotional response inhibition were linked to later reductions in pain severity at 3-month follow-up. The results provide preliminary evidence that MORE enhances inhibitory control under negative emotional interference.
Annals of Behavioral Medicine
September 22, 2016
L. Hilton, S. Hempel, Brett A. Ewing et al.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 38 randomized controlled trials found low-quality evidence that mindfulness meditation is associated with a small decrease in pain compared with various control conditions in adults with chronic pain. Statistically significant improvements were also seen for depression symptoms and quality of life. Only seven of the included trials reported on safety. The authors conclude that while mindfulness meditation improves pain, depression, and quality of life, additional well-designed, large-scale trials are needed to provide more definitive estimates of its efficacy.