Mindfulness teacher training enhances interoceptive awareness and reduces emotional distress: a controlled study.
Alberto Chiesa, Cristiano Crescentini, Fabio D'Antoni, Alessio Matiz
Frontiers in Psychology 2025 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1488204 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 62 |
| Population | Individuals training to become mindfulness-based intervention teachers and matched controls |
| Duration | 9-month program |
| Topics | Anxiety Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | Interoception Mind-body integration Mindfulness teacher training Mindfulness teachers |
| Citations | 5 |
| Key findings | Mindfulness teacher training significantly increased interoceptive awareness, specifically mind-body integration, compared with controls, and within the training group improvements in self-regulation were associated with reduced emotional distress. |
Abstract
Several mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have shown efficacy in enhancing interoceptive awareness (IA), the ability to perceive and interpret bodily signals, leading to improved mental and physical wellbeing. However, no study has yet explored the effects of mindfulness practice on IA in individuals training to become MBI teachers. Thus, we investigated the impact of a mindfulness teacher training (MTT) program on emotional distress and IA in individuals training to become mindfulness teachers. A group of 38 individuals undergoing MTT and a control group of 24 matched individuals were assessed before (T0) and after (T1) the 9 months MTT program. Emotional distress was assessed through the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and IA was assessed through the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA). The MTT group showed significantly higher increases in the awareness of mind-body integration in comparison with the control group. Although no significant between-group changes were observed in emotional distress, increases in MAIA self-regulation scores within the MTT group were associated with decreases in HADS depression and total emotional distress scores. This study offers further support to the positive impact of mindfulness practice on IA within an MTT program, suggesting that mindfulness training for future MBI teachers further enhances their ability to attend to and to regulate and interpret bodily signals. Future research should investigate the long-term impact of mindfulness training on IA and on mental health in comparison with active comparators.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cites 14
- Mindfulness Interventions Annual Review of Psychology September 30, 2016
- Competence in Teaching Mindfulness-Based Courses: Concepts, Development and Assessment Mindfulness September 21, 2011
- Training Teachers to Deliver Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Learning from the UK Experience Mindfulness April 26, 2010
- Effects of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Body Awareness in Patients with Chronic Pain and Comorbid Depression Frontiers in Psychology June 30, 2016
- The impact of a brief mindfulness training on interoception: A randomized controlled trial PLoS One September 7, 2022
and 9 more in the library