Attentional and Affective Concomitants of Meditation: A Cross-Sectional Study
Routledge eBooks July 12, 2017 DOI: 10.4324/9780203785843-31 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional study Longitudinal Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Meditators practicing varied forms of sitting meditation (transcendental meditation, Zen, traditional Buddhist breath-focus practices), including beginners, compared with controls |
| Intervention | Zen |
| Measures | Personal Experience Questionnaire intensity measure, Tellegen Absorption Scale |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | The authors argue that linear changes across meditation groups, together with correlational data, are more parsimoniously consistent with a training effect, supported by the absence of differences between control and beginner groups on two of three dependent measures. Across groups, the Personal Experience Questionnaire intensity measure correlated highly significantly with the Tellegen Absorption Scale score. |
Abstract
This chapter explores the association between the practices of relatively passive, sitting meditation and absorption and anxiety using a cross-sectional design. It provides a foundation for more systematic longitudinal research with the variables in the future. The type of meditation practiced by the subjects was varied and ranged from transcendental meditation to Zen and traditional Buddhist practices such as focusing attention on breathing. The linear changes obtained across groups in conjunction with the correlational data seem to be more parsimoniously consistent with a training effect. This interpretation is further supported by the lack of any differences between control and beginners on two out of the three dependent measures. Correlational data across groups revealed a highly significant correlation between the Personal Experience Questionnaire intensity measure and Telle gen Absorption Scale score. Different forms of meditation might be compared so that the generality of the findings could be ascertained.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups | 2008 | Cross-sectional study | |
| Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants | 2007 | Observational cross-sectional | n = 27 |
| Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents | 2011 | Cross-sectional validation study | n = 1,413 |
| Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators | 2012 | Cross-sectional study | n = 152 |
| Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates | 2008 | Cross-sectional, correlational |