Not all types of meditation are the same: Mediators of change in mindfulness and compassion meditation interventions.

Both a mindfulness program (MBSR) and a compassion program (CCT) improved mindfulness, decentering, body awareness, and self-compassion in 431 participants. MBSR produced larger gains in present-moment awareness (decentering and body awareness), while CCT produced larger gains in socio-emotional changes (common humanity and empathic concern). Both programs similarly reduced psychological distress (stress, anxiety, depression), maladaptive cognitive processes (rumination, thought suppression), and improved well-being. Mediation analyses indicated that MBSR reduces distress and improves well-being through changes in present-moment awareness mechanisms, whereas CCT achieves the same outcomes through socio-emotional mechanisms.

Study at a glance

Abstract

BACKGROUND The general aim of the study was to examine the relative effectiveness and mediators of change in standardized mindfulness and compassion interventions. METHODS A sample of 431 participants enrolled in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program (MBSR = 277) and a Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT = 154). The assessment before and after the program included a set of outcomes and mediators measures. A three-step data analysis plan was followed: ANCOVAs, Reliable Change Index, and mediations (simple and multiple). RESULTS Both interventions yielded increased mindfulness, decentering, body awareness, and self-compassion. Yet, present-moment awareness improvements (i.e., decentering, and body awareness) were significantly larger in the MBSR than in CCT, whereas socio-emotional changes (i.e., common humanity and empathic concern) were larger in the CCT than in MBSR. The magnitude of effect sizes ranged from medium to large. Furthermore, both mindfulness and compassion interventions yielded similar changes in psychological distress (i.e., stress, anxiety, and depression), maladaptive cognitive processes (i.e., rumination and thought suppression), and well-being. The mediation models showed that although the MBSR program seemingly relies on changes in present-moment awareness mechanisms (i.e., decentering and body awareness) to reduce psychological distress and to improve well-being, the CCT program seemingly achieves the same positive outcomes through changes in socio-emotional mechanisms (i.e., common-humanity and empathy concern). LIMITATIONS Due to our naturalistic design in real-world community setting, it was infeasible to randomly assign participants to conditions. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that mindfulness and compassion programs operate through different pathways to reduce psychological distress and to promote well-being.