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Behavioral Sciences

ISSN 2076-328X

80 papers in the library · 344 citations · publishing 2013-2026

Papers

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The Combined Effect of Mindfulness and Physical Activity on Stress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Behavioral Sciences September 11, 2026 Cong Liu, Wenfeng Tan, Yuyan Liu et al.

Background: Interventions combining mindfulness and physical activity are increasingly used for stress management, but their average efficacy and incremental benefit over either component alone remain uncertain. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate combined mindfulness–physical activity interventions for stress or stress-related outcomes relative to passive or general control conditions,...

Iterative Refinement of a Sensory-Based Mindfulness Coaching Approach: An Exploratory Qualitative Action Research Study with Korean University Students.

Behavioral Sciences September 8, 2026 Myoung Jin Hong, Song Yi Lee

This exploratory qualitative action research study examined the implementation and iterative refinement of mindfulness-flow-awareness-coaching (MFAC), a sensory-based mindfulness coaching approach, and explored participants' reported experiences. Six Korean university students completed pre-MFAC and post-MFAC interviews and the six-session MFAC framework. One participant's initial Session 4 was...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16091598 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) University students Sensory awareness Qualitative action research Sensory-based mindfulness coaching

Life Satisfaction and Mindfulness in Esports-Involved Gamers in Türkiye: Parallel Mediation of Problematic Online Gaming and Maladaptive Daydreaming.

Behavioral Sciences September 8, 2026 Seyhan Bekir

The present study explores the parallel mediating roles of problematic online gaming and maladaptive daydreaming on the relationship between life satisfaction and mindfulness in esports-involved gamers in Türkiye. This research area has attracted growing scholarly interest due to its potential implications for esports-involved gamers' mindfulness and life satisfaction. The present study...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16091595 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Mindfulness Life satisfaction Maladaptive daydreaming Esports +1

Contemplative Practice and Responses to Mortality Salience: Evidence from Long-Term Sufi Meditators

Behavioral Sciences August 26, 2026 Elisa Puvia, Luca Simione, Nima Gholizadeh et al.

Mortality salience research has played a central role in understanding responses to death awareness and existential threat. At the same time, relatively little research has examined whether long-term contemplative practice may shape affective, cognitive, and implicit responses to mortality-related stimuli. The present study investigated these processes in long-term contemplative practitioners...

The Effect of Brief Mindfulness Meditation on Attention Networks in University Students with Problematic Short-Video Use

Behavioral Sciences August 25, 2026 Tingting Liu, Siti Hajar Halili, Norharyanti Mohsin et al.

To examine the effects of brief mindfulness meditation on attention network function in university students with problematic short-video use, participants were screened using the SPAI and an adapted IAT and assigned to an intervention or control group. The intervention group received 4 weeks of brief mindfulness meditation, whereas the control group received no training. Both groups completed...

Eight-Week Mindfulness Training Effectively Improves Performance in Children with ADHD: A Comparison with Cognitive-Behavioral Training

Behavioral Sciences July 6, 2026 Chenguang Zhao, Yifei Sun, Wei Zhang

Background: This study compared the effects of mindfulness training (MT) and cognitive-behavioral training (CBT) on ADHD symptoms, test anxiety, and self-concept in children with ADHD and explored potential pathways of change associated with the two interventions. Methods: After a two-stage screening and eligibility confirmation procedure, 63 children with ADHD were included in the final...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16071128 (opens in new tab) Mindfulness Anxiety Psychological intervention Analysis of variance +6

Errors or Adaptations? A Critical Review of Predictive Processing in Psychiatry

Behavioral Sciences July 3, 2026 Matthew Crippen

Predictive processing (PP) accounts often characterize mental illness as maladaptive and epistemically distorting due to mismatches between brain-generated top-down models and bottom-up sensory inputs, with this review identifying exceptions. First, hypervigilance in trauma survivors with PTSD or depression may sustain desirable gaps between anticipated problems and actual harms that would...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16071116 (opens in new tab) Neurocognitive Normative Hypervigilance Schizophrenia object-oriented programming +9

Effects of Mindfulness-Acceptance-Insight-Commitment (MAIC) Training on Stress and Sleep Quality in Elite Swimmers: A Randomized Controlled Mixed-Methods Trial.

Behavioral Sciences June 29, 2026 Ning Su, Bingyan Zhang, Xiyu Zhou et al.

Elite swimmers are exposed to sustained high training loads, early-morning sessions, and restricted recovery opportunities, all of which may increase psychological strain and compromise sleep. This study examined the effects of an 8-week Mindfulness-Acceptance-Insight-Commitment (MAIC) program, embedded within routine high-load training, on athlete-specific psychological stress, subjective...

Toward Integrating Intranasal Esketamine with Traumatic-Memory Psychotherapy in Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Narrative Review and Feasibility-Oriented Protocol Proposal.

Behavioral Sciences May 14, 2026 Fabiola Raffone, Carlo Ignazio Cattaneo, Enrico Pessina et al.

Trauma-related autobiographical memories can manifest as involuntary, vivid, emotionally charged intrusions that perpetuate avoidance, negative emotions, and functional impairment. While these memories are central to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), they also occur across diagnoses and are often reported in depressive disorders, including treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Although...

Does Psychological Flexibility Correlate with Mystical Experiences: A Machine Learning Approach Including State of Surrender, Near-Death Experiences, and Psilocybin Consumption.

Behavioral Sciences April 30, 2026 Dylan Briggs, Thomas B Sease, Ruthie Menou et al.

Mystical experiences are characterized by a profound sense of interconnectedness and transcendence of ordinary reality. These experiences can facilitate feelings of connectedness with oneself and others and have been documented as leading to significant positive changes in thoughts, emotions, and behavior. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the extent to which the four mindfulness...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16050686 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Mystical experiences Near death experiences Psychedelic use Psychological flexibility +1

Marijuana Consumption and Reactivity Are Positively Associated with the Fading Affect Bias for Marijuana Events in Person and Online

Behavioral Sciences April 20, 2026 Jeffrey Alan Gibbons, Chayse Angela Cotton, Matthew Traversa et al.

The fading affect bias (FAB) is the faster fading of unpleasant than pleasant affect, and this effect is positively and negatively related to healthy/adaptive and unhealthy/non-adaptive outcomes, respectively. Research has argued that the FAB makes people happy and it prompts them to seek out pleasant experiences. Although Pillersdorf and Scoboria found a negative relation between the FAB and...

The Influence of Mindfulness-Enhanced Resistance Training Program on the Subjective Well-Being of Female College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Behavioral Sciences April 8, 2026 Ping Qu, Fang-Bin Li, Yi-Wen Zhou et al.

This study evaluates the effects of a 30-week mindfulness-enhanced resistance training (MRT) program on the physical and mental health of female college students and explores whether changes in self-esteem or mindfulness mediate the relationship between MRT and subjective well-being. Sixty-four healthy female college students were randomly assigned to either the MRT or resistance training (RT)...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16040553 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Mindfulness Subjective well-being Self-esteem Resistance training +2

Ketamine Use in Self-Described Therapeutic Contexts: A Thematic Analysis of Reddit Posts

Behavioral Sciences March 24, 2026 J. Richard Kendrick, Ghonwa Ahmad, Audrey Wood et al.

The use of ketamine for the management of neuropsychiatric conditions outside clinical settings has rapidly expanded, creating a critical need to understand diverse individual experiences. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of posts from the r/TherapeuticKetamine subreddit. From 3302 threads, the 500 highest-engagement threads (12,852 comments) were analyzed by independent coders...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16040480 (opens in new tab) Ketamine Addiction Thematic analysis Adverse effect +4

Know Your Nose: A Narrative Review of the Developmental and Functional Impact and Importance of the Nose, Nasal Breathing and Techniques on Health and Emotional Wellbeing.

Behavioral Sciences March 21, 2026 Alireza Amirsadri, Hooman Sedighi

This narrative review synthesizes research demonstrating the multi-domain import of nasal breathing across developmental, physiological, immunological, and neuropsychological domains, with the aim of communicating its potential clinical relevance and motivating future empirical investigation. We broadly address developmental and evolutionary foundations and the pathways through which nasal...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16030467 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Autonomic nervous system Nasal breathing Nitric oxide Psychological wellbeing +1

Understanding Mind-Body Experience from the Perspective of Interoceptive Awareness: A 21-Day Embodied Practice Intervention.

Behavioral Sciences March 11, 2026 Zixi Liu, Zhen Wu, Jingchao Zeng et al.

This qualitative study examined how a 21-day integrated program fosters interoceptive awareness and mind-body integration among urban adults in mainland China (n = 11). The intervention combined daily nasal breathing regulation, spontaneous mandala making, and descriptive journaling, complemented by weekly group sharing. Using a cultural-psychological lens, we investigated how an inward-turning...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16030411 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Breathing practice Cross-cultural perspective Embodied cognition Flow experience +2

Hypnosis as a Mechanism of Emotion Regulation and Self-Integration: An Integrative Review of Neural, Cognitive, and Experiential Pathways to Fundamental Peace

Behavioral Sciences March 9, 2026 Luis Miguel Gallardo, Saamdu Chetri 3 citations

Hypnosis has traditionally been conceptualized as a clinical technique for reducing physiological symptoms (e.g., pain, nausea) and psychological symptoms (e.g., anxiety, intrusive thoughts), yet emerging neuroscientific evidence suggests it operates through the fundamental mechanisms of emotional regulation and self-integration. This integrative review synthesizes research on clinical hypnosis...

Psilocybin Treatment as an Adjunct to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorders: Therapeutic Rationale & Considerations for Protocol Development.

Behavioral Sciences March 6, 2026 Elena Koning, Susan Gamberg, Aaron Keshen 1 citation

Eating disorders (EDs) remain challenging to treat, with high dropout and low remission rates in cognitive-behavioral therapy for EDs (CBT-ED). Psilocybin treatment (PT) demonstrates therapeutic potential to enhance CBT-ED by exerting several neurobiological, psychological, and experiential effects (e.g., antidepressant, neuroplasticity, emotional openness) that are hypothesized to increase...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16030376 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Psilocybin Eating disorders Psychedelic treatment Psychotherapy

Baseline Mood and “Relational Triad” Predict Acute Qualities of Psychedelic Experience

Behavioral Sciences February 23, 2026 Joshua Lipson, Hannes Kettner, Robin Carhart-Harris et al.

BACKGROUND: The quality and valence of psychedelic experiences are influenced by a range of psychological and contextual factors. This study examines baseline mood and the "relational triad"-comprising social connectedness, mindfulness, and spirituality-as potential predictors of the quality of naturalistic psychedelic experiences. METHODS: Data were drawn from the Predicting Responses to...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16020310 (opens in new tab) Anxiety Baseline sea Mood Depression economics +1

Subliminal Semantic Processing of Grasping Actions: Evidence from ERP Measures of Action-Verb Priming.

Behavioral Sciences January 30, 2026 Yanglan Yu, Anmin Li

Human interaction with manipulable objects relies heavily on the ability to perceive and execute grasping actions, yet it remains unclear whether the semantics of these actions are processed without conscious awareness. While previous work has identified bottom-up influences on grasp recognition, direct evidence for subliminal semantic processing of grasping actions is limited. Grounded in...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16020206 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Embodied semantic recognition Event-related potentials erps Grasping manipulative actions Subliminal visual consciousness

Tai Chi Training and Pre-Competition Anxiety in High-Level Competitive Athletes: A Chain Mediation Model of Flow and Mental Toughness.

Behavioral Sciences January 23, 2026 Runze Guo, Jing Liu

With the increasing competition in elite sports, pre-competition anxiety has become increasingly prevalent among high-level competitive athletes, and high levels of such anxiety may impair sports performance and threaten athletes' psychological health. Traditional psychological interventions (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy) are often poorly accepted and costly; however, pre-competition...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16020163 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Tai chi training Flow experience High-level competitive athletes Mental toughness +1

The Museum as a Mindful Space: Reducing Visitors' Stress and Anxiety Levels Through the ASBA Protocol.

Behavioral Sciences January 14, 2026 Annalisa Banzi, Pier Luigi Sacco, Maria Elide Vanutelli et al.

Active involvement in creative activities, known as creative health, has been shown to enhance wellbeing, with museums serving as unique spaces for health promotion; however, visitors often require guidance to derive significant benefits from these institutions. This study, part of the larger ASBA (Anxiety, Stress, Brain-friendly museum Approach) project, evaluates the first phase of an...

Effect of Mindful Hypnotherapy on Psychological Distress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Behavioral Sciences January 13, 2026 Victor Julián Padilla, Vanessa Muñiz, Katherine Scheffrahn et al.

Mindful hypnotherapy is an intervention that integrates hypnotic induction and direct suggestions (hypnosis) to increase mindfulness and reduce distress. In the present study, a systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to investigate the effects of mindful hypnotherapy on psychological distress and mindfulness in adults. Further, the study evaluated the methodological quality of the...

Nondual Awareness, Body Boundary Perception, and Creative Attitudes in Japanese University Students Through a Brief Paired Martial Arts Exercise: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Behavioral Sciences November 28, 2025 Arisa Yokosu, Takahiko Maruyama, Hiromitsu Miyata

Mind–body practices such as meditation, yoga, and martial arts have been suggested to enhance flexible self-experience and psychological well-being. However, few studies have examined short-term effects of contemplative bodywork rooted in traditional martial arts on perception of self–other boundaries and relevant psychological states. The present study employed a three-arm randomized...

DOI: 10.3390/bs15121638 (opens in new tab) Martial arts Creativity Randomized controlled trial Salience neuroscience +4