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Explaining Variations in Mindfulness Levels in Daily Life.

Han Suelmann, André Brouwers, Evelien Snippe

Mindfulness 2018 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-018-0932-1 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Experience sampling study Peer reviewed
Sample size 29
Population People with an explicit intention to be mindful and an ongoing mindfulness practice
Duration 7 to 10 days, with momentary assessments five times a day
Topics Meditation
Keywords Attention Experience sampling Experiential avoidance Intention
Key points Awareness of present-moment experience was higher when participants had an activated intention to be mindful, felt good, were not busy or hurried, and were not in social interaction. Reactivity was higher with unpleasant affect, hurry, or tiredness; threat increased reactivity but not decreased awareness. The authors argue these results generally support competition for scarce attentional resources as a framework for being or not being mindful.

Abstract

Despite the apparent benefits of being mindful, people are often not very mindful. There seem to be forces that drive people toward as well as away from mindfulness. These forces are conceptualised in terms of competition for scarce attentional resources. To explore these forces and to test this framework, an experience sampling study was performed among people with an explicit intention to be mindful and an ongoing practice to examine concurrent associations between state mindfulness and daily life experiences that may affect it. Participants (N = 29, 1012 observations) filled out questions on momentary experiences at semi-random intervals, five times a day, over a period of 7 to 10 days. Predictors of within-person variations in awareness of Present Moment Experience (PME) and non-reactivity to PME were examined using multilevel analyses. Participants were more aware of PME when they had an activated intention to be mindful and when they felt good, and not very busy or hurried, and were not involved in social interaction. They were more reactive to PME when they experienced unpleasant affect, and when they were hurried or tired. An activated intention to be mindful was also associated with an increased tendency to analyse PME. Experiencing threat was associated with increased reactivity, but not with decreased awareness. Our study generally supports the idea that competition for attention can be a fruitful framework to describe mechanisms behind being or not being mindful.

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

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