In this thesis I seek to establish an understanding of Loving Kindness Meditation (LKM), and to identify and evaluate the effects on wellbeing, that are claimed by practitioners and previous research. The context in which the thesis sits is the current focus on finding ways to improve wellbeing in the general public, to which LKM has the potential to contribute, given its unique focus on affect and connectedness, and their associated links with wellbeing. A mixed methods design was developed following a review of the limited current literature base. The review revealed discrepancies in how LKM was being employed. This included whether LKM was studied alone or in conjunction with other practices, the duration of exposure to LKM, and which aspects of the practice that were focused on during the practice. These differences may account for the variation in efficacy and the range of outcomes observed across the literature bases. As such, a programme exploring the impact of LKM on wellbeing, to test and affirm this assumption from theory and previous research findings, that employed a form of LKM that was reflective of realistic, everyday practice, was seen as useful. Two qualitative based studies were therefore used to establish an understanding of the practice, with practitioners who had a range of experience with LKM. The first study looked to clarify what the main aspects of the practice are, by interviewing very experienced LKM practitioners. Three themes emerged which spanned all aspects of the practice. Combined, these indicated that there was variation in how the practice is engaged with across the sample, with key components of the practice such as it being viewed more as a way of being, and elements such as connectedness and wholeness emerging as core underlying factors of the practice. The second study built on this, by expanding the sample to see whether the perception and understanding of the practice established from study one was consistent, or whether it was a viewpoint held by practitioners with extensive practice. To maintain depth of understanding, while identifying patterns of similar views, Q methodology was employed to sample a wide range of LKM practitioners. The resulting analysis indicated that there were consistent views held by the whole sample, evidenced by the placement of a few statements regarding the importance of the practice as a whole, as well as the self and enemies in the same area of the grid by all participants. This served to confirm, as well as add to, the key factors of the practice that had been observed in study one. The outcomes from the first two studies therefore fed into the design of the second two, which were more quantitative in design, and explored the impact of LKM in settings that were high in ecological validity; one online and one face to face. The third study made use of an existing programme, to explore the effects of the practice, as much of the previous literature focuses on interventions and programmes developed for purpose. The findings showed increases in wellbeing related measures, with exploratory analyses suggesting that self-compassion may be a key variable in linking LKM to improvements in wellbeing. The fourth study built on the findings from each of the previous studies, and explored the effects of an LKM programme developed to be in line with how existing practitioners engage with LKM. Additionally, to explore whether the focus of LKM resulted in different changes to other practices, a Mindfulness group was included as an active control. Findings suggested that LKM could impact positively on wellbeing related measures, with a measure of connectedness differing between the LKM and MM group in terms of magnitude of change. This indicated that connectedness is a core part of the LKM practice, compared to Mindfulness. Combined, the four studies complement one another in presenting a holistic understanding of LKM practice; how it can be understood, how it is practised, as well as what impacts the practice has. The thesis concludes by presenting the core components of the practice, but emphasises that connectedness is key. This was the factor that differentiates it from other practices such as mindfulness, the connection with the self and others may be one of the underlying mechanisms for how LKM results in positive change in the practitioner, and was a concept that was raised in every study in the thesis. In addition to this, the conclusions also suggest that given this core component of the practice, and the positive findings from the two studies that tested the impact of LKM, that the practice could be encouraged as a way of maintaining and improving wellbeing in the general public.

No description available.

Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience elevated levels of anxiety and worry compared to neurotypical people. However, there is a dearth of extant research on effective interventions for comorbid anxiety and worry in this population. Mindfulness, which is often defined as paying attention to the present moment in a nonjudgmental manner, has been shown to be a propitious treatment for anxiety, worry, and other psychological ailments in neurotypical people. However, in a relatively new area of study, evidence has been growing which suggests mindfulness can also be effective in helping people with ASD cope with anxiety and worry. The current study had two major aims: 1) to see if a group of high functioning young adults with ASD (n=23) had inherently less dispositional mindfulness abilities than a neurotypical group (n=22) and 2) to see if mindfulness affected trait anxiety and worry differently for the ASD group than for the control group. Results suggested that adults with ASD were less able than neurotypical adults to effectively label and describe their internal experiences, to act with awareness in the present moment, and to allow aversive inner experiences to come and go without struggle. The results also suggested that the one powerful predictor of anxiety and worry in people with ASD was nonreactivity to inner experiences. However, there were three salient predictors of anxiety for neurotypical people: nonreactivity to inner experience, acting with awareness in the present moment, and nonjudging of thoughts and feelings. In the current study, none of the mindfulness facets predicted less worry in the neurotypical group. These results have implications for the development and implementation of mindfulness interventions to more effectively treat anxiety and worry in people with ASD.

Mindfulness innebär att vara medvetet närvarande i nuet på ett icke-dömande sätt. Forskare har idag haft svårt att enas om en enhetlig definitition av begreppet. Att studera personlighetens betydelse kan hjälpa forskare till en ökad förståelse för begreppet mindfulness. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur de fem personlighetsegenskaperna neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness och conscientiousness predicerar mindfulness. Syftet föranledde en frågeställning huruvida mindfulness bäst bör definieras som en egenskap eller som en teknik. En enkätundersökning utfördes bestående av ett mindfulnesstest (MAAS-skalan) och ett personlighetstest (Big Five Inventory) med 113 undersökningsdeltagare. Datamaterialet analyserades med korrelations- och multipel regressionsanalyser. Resultaten visade att neuroticism var den starkaste prediktorn för mindfulness och även den personlighetsegenskap som förklarade mest varians för den samma. Resultatet skulle även kunna tyda på att mindfulness snarare bör definieras som en teknik hellre än en egenskap. För framtida forskning vore det intressant att studera personlighet och mindfulness på faktornivå för att skapa en djupare klarhet i begreppets innebörd

Bakgrund: Studier har visat att kvinnor som upplever att de har kunnat hantera smärtan välunder sin förlossning har mindre behov av farmakologisk smärtlindring och får en mer positivförlossningsupplevelse samt en ökad självkänsla. Mindfulness är en metod där manmedvetandegör och accepterar tankar, känslor och kroppsförnimmelser utan att värdera ellersträva efter att undvika dem. Om man istället accepterar och tillåter det som är gesoreflekterade tankar och känslor som ofta styr olika skeenden inte samma utrymme.Mindfulnessträning har ingått i program och utvärderats för t ex smärthantering ochstressreduktion. För att kunna genomföra en utvärdering där mindfulness ingår som metod föratt hantera förlossningssmärta behövs mera kunskap om kvinnors upplevelse av mindfulnessunder förlossning.Syfte: Syftet med studien var att beskriva hur några förstföderskor som genomgåttförlossningsförberedelse baserad på mindfulness, upplevde sin förmåga att hantera smärtanunder förlossningen.Metod: En kvalitativ studie baserad på intervjuer med fem kvinnor. Texterna analyseradesmed kvalitativ innehållsanalys enligt Graneheim och Lundman.Resultat: Kvinnorna beskrev hur de kände sig förberedda inför smärtan och att de upplevdeatt de hade ett ”verktyg” att ta till för att hantera smärtan. Genom att ha fokus på andningenoch därmed inte fästa sig vid tankar blev det ett stöd i att vara ”här och nu” i födandet ochkvinnorna upplevde en känsla av kontroll. Genom sin delaktighet kunde partnern hjälpakvinnan att hålla detta fokus.Konklusion: Mindfulnessbaserad förlossningsförberedelse kan utgöra ett redskap för kvinnoratt använda under förlossningen men behöver utvärderas.

No description available.

The adolescent stage of development is particularly challenging. Because of the biological, cognitive, and social transitions of adolescence, this stage of development is seen as an important time for interventions promoting well-being (Steinberg, 1999). Recent research suggests that self-compassionate teens experience greater psychological health than those without self-compassion (Neff & McGehee, in press). To date, however, there have been no self-compassion interventions targeted at the adolescent population. This dissertation is a pilot study investigating the development, implementation and assessment of a self-compassion intervention for an adolescent population. The intervention took the form of a weekend “Self-Compassion Retreat” for high-school students, ages 14-17. Over a two day period, 17 subjects participated in the intervention focused on helping the students to understand and begin to incorporate the three dimensions of self-compassion – self kindness, common humanity and mindfulness. The intervention attempted to deepen student understanding of self-compassion by focusing on experiential and contemplative learning strategies (Kabat-Zinn, 1997; Hart, 2004). The 17 students were introduced to the concept of self-compassion through presentations, small group and contemplative exercises as well as individual interviews. The self-compassion intervention was assessed by testing participants along five different dimensions: self-compassion, depression, anxiety, social connectedness, and happiness at three different time points. The intervention was also assessed through individual interviews following the intervention. Though the quantitative results from the pilot study yielded no significant data for the current sample, the qualitative data provided promising information for future interventions aimed at increasing self-compassion. / text

This study will attempt to integrate mindfulness meditation and yoga to take advantage of the benefits of both interventions and the popularity of yoga, proposing a pilot of a mindful yoga intervention. The second purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of mindful yoga at increasing mindfulness, as measured by the Mindfulness Awareness Attention Scale, and to assess mindfulness as the mechanism of change through which well-being is enhanced. One hundred adults, who are yoga and meditation beginners and between the ages of 35 and 45, would be recruited from the community to participate in this study. The study utilizes a walking group control and a mindful yoga intervention group. Before treatment condition effects would be assessed, a one-way ANOVA would be conducted with the pre-test outcome scores as the dependent variable and treatment group as the independent variable to assess potential pre-test differences. It is not expected that the two groups will differ significantly at baseline, so it is expected that the ANOVA will not be significant. In order to investigate possible differences between participants on the five dependent variables (satisfaction with life, perceived stress, blood pressure, medical symptom checklist, mindfulness awareness) a repeated measures MANOVA would be conducted with one between-subjects factor and one-within subjects factor. The present study predicts that increases in mindfulness will mediate the effect of treatment on perceived stress, satisfaction with life, physical symptoms, and blood pressure (measures of well-being). In order to analyze this effect, change scores will be created for the mindfulness and the well-being outcome measures for the change from pretest to posttest. While there is limited research supporting this integration, both yoga and mindfulness interventions have shown to be beneficial for the reduction of stress and the enhancement of various measures of well-being (Grossman et al., 2004; Baer, 2003). It is predicted that mindfulness will mediate the relationship between treatment and increase in measures of well-being. Support of this hypothesis indicates that the mindful yoga intervention will likely increase mindfulness, and it will provide further empirical evidence that mindfulness is the therapeutic factor responsible for enhancing well-being. / text

Bakgrund Kemiskt beroende – ofta benämnt drogmissbruk – är en sammansatt, komplicerad och svårbehandlad psykiatrisk sjukdom. Vägen in i missbruk och beroende påverkas av affektiva, kognitiva och sociala störningar och dysfunktionella beteenden. Den beroende personen är påverkad av långvarigt bruk av nervgifter (drogerna), som befäst och förvärrat psykiska besvär och dysfunktionella beteendestrategier. Samsjuklighet med olika psykiatriska och somatiska sjukdomar/symtom förekommer i hög utsträckning. Syftet med studien är att utvärdera pilotprojektet Mindfulness-Baserad Återfallsprevention (MBÅP) som genomförts vid Upplands Väsby Beroendeteam, samt att beskriva symtomförändring. Metod MBÅP bygger på Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) som baseras på Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) och har tidigare utvärderats i en randomiserad kontrollerad studie (RCT). Som utvärderingsmetod av MBÅP användes utvärderingsfrågor inklusive VAS-skala före och efter behandling, semistrukturerade djupintervjuer av deltagare och inspelning under en boostersession. Symtomförändring skattades med självscreeningsfrågor (SCL-90). Resultaten visar att interventionen förbättrade deltagarnas färdigheter att hantera utmanande situationer som riskerar leda till återfall. Det förekom ett felsteg bland deltagarna, men inget återfall i okontrollerat bruk. Denna studie indikerar att programmet skulle ge bättre effekt om det förlängdes till exempel med uppföljningsträffar. Ett noterbart resultat är att MBÅP-gruppen skattade markant högre på psykiatriska symptomjämfört med en grupp som fick mindfulness-baserad kognitiv terapi (MBCT) för depression. Slutsats Baserat på denna utvärdering av pilotprojektet MBÅP kan programmet rekommenderas som en verkningsfull behandling för att förebygga återfall i missbruk. Då deltagarna skattade högt på psykiatriska symtom indikerar detta behov av behandling för den samsjuklighet som framkom.

Det er gjennomført et kvalitativt studie med 9 semistrukturerte intervjuer av helsepersonell ved et sykehus, i forbindelse med et helsefremmende tiltak på arbeidsplassen. En fenomenologisk vinklet analyse inspirert av Giorgi (2009), er foretatt av de transskriberte intervjuene. Det ble tatt utgangspunkt i informantenes opplevelser og erfaringer omkring hva deltakelsen i tiltaket har kommet til å bety for deres personlige bevissthet i forhold til egenomsorg og opplevelse av sammenheng (OAS). Ny kunnskap og forståelse av tema utledes induktivt gjennom en ”bottom - up - tilnærming” som har gått fra intervjutekst til teori. Funn fra intervjuene viser at samtlige informanter beskriver opplevelsen av å ha gjennomgått en personlig bevisstgjøringsprosess gjennom deltakelsen som handler om økt oppmerksomt nærvær, og økt OAS. Alle informantene oppgir å ha hatt personlig utbytte av deltakelsen i mindfulness- prosjektet. Både i form av opplevelsen av å bli mer oppmerksomt nærværende, at tiltaket har hatt stressreduserende effekt, at de er blitt bedre på å ivareta seg selv, og at de opplever økt grad av håndterbarhet, begripelighet og meningsfullhet i dagliglivet sammenlignet med før tiltaksstart. Konklusjon: Funnene viser positive indikasjoner for at mindfulness- intervensjoner kan bidra til forbedring av psykologiske ferdigheter som egenomsorg, oppmerksomt nærvær og OAS hos helsepersonell på denne spesielle arbeidsplassen. Nøkkelord: Mindfulness, oppmerksomt nærvær, opplevelse av sammenheng, håndterbarhet, begripelighet, meningsfullhet, stressreduksjon, egenomsorg. / A quantitatively study consisting of nine semi-structured interviews (of health professionals) have been performed as part of a local health care project for employees at a work place in the health care sector. A phenomenological analysis inspired by Giori (2009), have been performed of the transcribed interviews performed in the project. The gained awareness of self-care and sense of coherence (SOC) is based on the informants experience from participating in the project. New knowledge and understanding of topics is derived inductively trough “bottom up approach” from interview text to theory. Findings from the interviews shows that all informants describe the experience of having gone through a personal process of awareness through participating and dealing with increased mindfulness, and increased SOC. All participants reported having experienced a personal benefit from being involved in the mindfulness project, in terms of extended awareness of “here and now”, stress-reduction effects, extended awareness of the importance of self- care, and an increased level of manageability, comprehensibility and meaningfulness (SOC) in daily life, compared to before the project. Conclusion: The findings show positive indications that mindfulness interventions may help to improve psychological skills as self-care, mindfulness and SOC of healthcare professionals at this specific workplace. Key Words: Mindfulness, Awareness, Sense of coherence, Comprehensibility, Manageability, Meaningfulness, Stress reduction, Self-care.