Mindfulness interventions for offsetting health risk following early life stress: Promising directions.
Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health August 26, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbih.2021.100338 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based interventions |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Inflammation Interventions Health disparities Early life stress |
| Key findings | The author argues that mindfulness-based interventions show promise for offsetting physical health risk tied to early life stress, particularly for mental health and quality of life, but whether they influence inflammatory markers and physical health in exposed populations remains untested. The review calls for well-controlled randomized trials and implementation studies in diverse, at-risk groups. |
Abstract
Early life stress (ELS), common to childhood maltreatment, socioeconomic disadvantage, and racial discrimination, is thought to create a proinflammatory phenotype that increases risk for poor health in adulthood. Systemic change is needed to address the root causes of ELS, but a substantial number of adults are already at increased health risk by virtue of ELS exposure. Interventions that target stress pathways have the potential to interrupt the trajectory from ELS to inflammatory disease risk in adulthood. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), which train acceptance toward present-moment experience, have shown promise for reducing stress and improving a variety of stress-sensitive health outcomes. Although MBIs have primarily been conducted in more advantaged populations, evidence suggests that they may be uniquely effective for improving mental health and health-related quality of life among those with a history of ELS. Whether these effects extend to physical health remains unknown. To shed light on this question, I review evidence that MBIs influence inflammatory markers in at-risk samples, explore the promise of MBIs for improving stress-related health outcomes in diverse at-risk populations, and describe adaptations to MBIs that may increase their acceptability and efficacy in populations exposed to ELS. This prior work sets the stage for well-controlled RCTs to evaluate whether MBIs influence stress and inflammatory pathways among those exposed to ELS and for pragmatic and implementation trials focused on disseminating MBIs to reach these at-risk populations. Overall, the evidence assembled here shows the potential of MBIs for offsetting physical health risk related to ELS.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical populations | 2003 | Review | |
| Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects | 2007 | Review | |
| Mindfulness Interventions | 2016 | Review | |
| Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation | 2017 | Review | |
| Mindfulness and acceptance: expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition | 2005 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cites 48
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2000
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2004
- How Does Mindfulness Training Affect Health? A Mindfulness Stress Buffering Account Current Directions in Psychological Science December 1, 2014
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for preventing relapse in recurrent depression: A randomized dismantling trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology December 3, 2013
and 43 more in the library