Non-attachment as a potential mechanism for the effects of mindfulness meditation on obsessive-compulsive symptoms among survivors of adverse childhood experiences.

Among young adult survivors of adverse childhood experiences who participated in a mindfulness-based intervention, cultivating non-attachment—the mentality of letting go of the desire to control external and internal experiences—directly reduced obsessive-compulsive symptoms. In a pilot analysis of a randomized controlled trial comparing a mindfulness-based intervention (21 participants) with an active control (19 participants), path analysis showed that only in the mindfulness group did changes in non-attachment scores directly predict changes in obsessive-compulsive symptoms, even after accounting for changes in depression and anxiety. This suggests non-attachment may be a key psychological mechanism through which mindfulness reduces obsessive-compulsive symptoms, distinct from exposure-based explanations.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms (OCS) arise from maladaptive appraisal of intrusive thoughts, for which Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) can be a major risk factor, due to distorted senses of responsibility and control. Emerging research suggests Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) can be beneficial for reducing OCS, but existing mechanistic understandings are still based on exposure therapy theories. This pilot study analyzed exploratory measures from a previous mechanistic randomized controlled trial (RCT) with young adult ACE survivors that compared MBI (N=21) vs. active control (N=19). Path analyses revealed that only in the MBI arm, post-intervention score changes (Δ) of "non-attachment" directly influenced ΔOCS (β=-0.50, p<0.05) after controlling for ΔDepression and ΔAnxiety. Such mechanistic finding highlights "non-attachment" as a potential psychological mechanism for MBI's effects on OCS, i.e., through cultivating the mentality of "letting go" of the desire of control over external and internal experiences.