Predictors and moderators of biopsychological social stress responses following brief self-compassion meditation training.
Joanna J Arch, Lauren N Landy, Kirk Warren Brown
Psychoneuroendocrinology July 1, 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.03.009 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study with baseline trait measurement and moderation analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Brief self-compassion meditation training |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Alpha-amylase Self-compassion Social anxiety Social evaluative threat Stress |
| Key findings | Trait non-attachment, rumination, and social anxiety moderated the effects of self-compassion meditation training on stress responses, but trait self-compassion did not. |
Abstract
Arch et al. (2014) demonstrated that brief self-compassion meditation training (SCT) dampened sympathetic (salivary alpha-amylase) and subjective anxiety responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), relative to attention and no-instruction control conditions. The present study examined baseline predictors and moderators of these SCT intervention effects. Baseline characteristics included two stress vulnerability traits (social anxiety and rumination) and two potential resiliency traits (non-attachment and self-compassion). We investigated how these traits moderated the effects of SCT on response to the TSST, relative to the control conditions. We also tested how these individual differences predicted TSST responses across conditions in order to uncover characteristics that confer increased vulnerability and resiliency to social stressors. Trait non-attachment, rumination (for sympathetic TSST response only), and social anxiety (for subjective TSST response only) interacted with training condition to moderate TSST responses such that following SCT, lower attachment and lower social anxiety predicted lower TSST stress responses, relative to those scoring higher on these traits. In contrast, trait self-compassion neither moderated nor predicted responses to the TSST. Thus, although SCT had robust effects on buffering stress across individuals with varying levels of trait self-compassion, other psychological traits enhanced or dampened the effect of SCT on TSST responses. These findings support the importance of examining the role of relevant baseline psychological traits to predict sympathetic and subjective responses to social evaluative threat, particularly in the context of resiliency training.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Application of a mindfulness and compassion‐based approach to the at‐risk mental state Clinical Psychologist July 1, 2017
- Effect of Seminar on Compassion on student self-compassion, mindfulness and well-being: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of American College Health March 22, 2018
- The SCD-Well randomized controlled trial: Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention versus health education on mental health in patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). Alzheimer's & Dementia 2018