Background: In today's health care environment, developing expertise and making good decisions can be challenging when confronted with demands for high performance, high productivity, and low cost. Mindfulness may be a practice that can promote expertise and improve decision making, despite the pressures faced by occupational and physical therapists. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and examine the potential relationships between expertise, mindfulness, and decision making. Methods: Occupational and physical therapists participated in a two-part study that included both quantitative and qualitative methodology. Seventy-five therapists completed a demographic questionnaire, a modified version of the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS-M), and the Peer-Rated Expertise in Occupational and Physical Therapy Scale (PREOPT). In the second part of the study, four therapists completed a case study using a think aloud protocol. Their verbalizations were analyzed, using verbal protocol, for trends and patterns that would reveal differences in the therapists' decision making processes. Results: Results of the first part of the study did not reveal a significant relationship between mindfulness, measure by the KIMS-M and expertise, measured by the PREOPT. Qualitative analysis suggests that mindfulness may affect therapists' approaches to decision making but does not indicate that these approaches result in better decision making. Further, the differences were surprising, as they were not consistent with current arguments about the effects of mindfulness. Conclusion: These preliminary results suggest a relationship between mindfulness and decision making approaches. However, further research is needed to confirm these observations and explore the nature of this relationship. / Educational Psychology

Learning a foreign language can be challenging. If the learning environment is compulsory, motivation can also contribute to the struggles. Mindfulness, a psychological construct, is a robust topic in the academic literature. Mindfulness is a mindset that views the world from multiple perspectives, reorganizing what is perceived, focusing on the present moment and keeping open to new ideas (Langer, 1997). Moreover, mindfulness is claimed to increase interest and academic outcomes. Therefore, the construct was employed in this research to validate these claims and to contribute to second language education. This study was designed to fill several gaps in the second language acquisition (SLA) literature. First, the construct of mindfulness has not been explored in SLA as a mindset to engage students in learning. Second, the construct of interest has not been investigated in SLA in tandem with mindfulness. Lastly, mindfulness has never been employed with motivated or unmotivated high school students in the compulsory education system in Japan. The following research hypotheses and research question were investigated: (a) The treatment group receiving the mindful tasks will outperform the comparison group receiving normal foreign language instruction on vocabulary learning and reading comprehension measures; (b) The treatment group receiving mindful tasks would be more engaged, interested, and like English more than before. Increased interest will lead to improvements in language performance; and, (c) To what extent do mindful practices assist low-achieving proficiency high school students in enhancing their abilities? The participants were students attending a private high school in Japan. Both the treatment and comparison groups included 45 female and 34 male students, respectively, for a total of 79 participants. A Rasch analysis was utilized to confirm the validity and reliability of the mindfulness and interest questionnaires and to transform the raw scores into equal interval measures. MANOVA, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient data were analyzed to ascertain differences between groups and within groups for all tests and constructs measured. The results indicated that mindfulness was not a significant influence on improved outcomes in language performance for the treatment group, although the descriptive statistics did show small gains in the hypothesized direction. The dependent variables included the mindfulness and interest questionnaires, as well as vocabulary and reading comprehension questions. The independent variable was the mindfulness tasks. The dependent variables were vocabulary and reading comprehension measures. The results of the MANOVA were the treatment effect was not significant, F(2,81) = .397, p < .67, η2 = .01. The results of the ANOVA were the treatment effect was not significant, F(1,82) = .82, p < .77, η2 =. 001. There was also no significant correlation between increased mindfulness and increased interest. Out of the six factors, all except for sensitivity to new contexts, showed negative relationships. The only positive relationship was not significant. Lastly, a one-way repeated measures ANOVA showed no improvement for the low-proficiency treatment group, ∧= .30, F(2,18) = 1.30, p < .30, η2 = .13, over time. The effect of mindfulness on improved language performance outcomes might have been influenced by the following: shallow levels of processing, lack of clear goals for the participants, unclear task design protocols, working memory issues and environmental restraints. A lack of correlation between increases in mindfulness and interest gains might have been attributable by the compulsory nature of the course, time constraints and the lack of perceived utility of the tasks by the part pants. Lastly, the reason for the lack of improvement for the low-achieving proficiency participants might not be an issue of proficiency, because both the low- and high-achieving participants of the treatment condition did not improve. Overall, these findings suggest that mindfulness is more nuanced and more complex than originally expected. / Teaching & Learning

Cooperative Extension (CE) is a nationwide system that addresses leading concerns for United States residents from agricultural production to healthy youth development. As 80% of Americans are not meeting the Physical Activity Guidelines (PAG), promoting physical activity is a recent addition to CE priority areas. To build capacity of CE to offer physical activity, training on physical activity within the system is needed. Since yoga is a public health intervention growing in popularity due to its link to flourishing and mental well-being, this is a holistic practice that may target physical and mental health in the United States. Due to the variety of yoga practices one could engage with it is important to clarify the link between physical activity and yoga. This dissertation included four studies to promote physical activity and yoga within CE. Study one established the efficacy of a virtual micro-credentialing program for CE professionals (N = 64) that increased their knowledge about physical activity programming and increased their own physical activity levels. The second study was an iterative and pragmatic investigation of wellness initiatives for CE professionals to increase flourishing and physical activity within themselves. The third study explored the degree to which temperature and tempo of yoga classes impacted measured heart rate and rate of perceived exertion. Preliminary evidence suggests that ~30% of the yoga class contributed to moderate-vigorous physical activity, regardless of the temperature and speed. The fourth study was a systematic appraisal of urban and rural yoga studio offerings. The results included that most studios offer 60-minute classes, focused on asana (movement) rather than the other limbs (components) of yoga. This work also resulted in a studio audit form for CE professionals to assess yoga studios for appropriateness to recommend to their participants. Future work includes scaling out the micro-credentialing program and determining the degree to which knowledge of physical activity leads to physical activity program adoption (study 1); ensuring CE professionals have access to wellness initiatives to avoid burn out (study 2); ongoing investigation of the physiological benefits of yoga (study 3); and testing the utility of the studio audit form (study 4). / Doctor of Philosophy / Physical activity is an important part of living a healthy life and can look different for everyone. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend for people to get 2 days of full body strength training along with 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity each week. Aerobic activity is activity that gets your heart rate up. In the first manuscript of this dissertation, Cooperative Extension professionals were trained in how to promote physical activity and physical activity programming. Cooperative Extension is a nationwide program that helps get research knowledge from the universities to the public. The second manuscript looks at how Cooperative Extension professionals were able to incorporate more mindfulness, yoga, and self-care for themselves through employee wellness programs, and which programs worked best in a practical way. The third manuscript looks at if the physical practice of yoga can increase heart rate to moderate to vigorous intensity zones in order to determine if a typical community-based yoga flow could contribute to meeting the aerobic components of the Physical Activity Guidelines. Based on this study, yoga can help participants get into the moderate intensity aerobic activity zone. The fourth manuscript explores the research and development of a yoga studio audit tool. This tool helps assess yoga studios so that public health professionals can recommend the studio that is the right fit for their clients.

A sexual minority is someone who identifies as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB). According to the Minority Stress Model (Meyer, 2003), sexual minorities encounter significant levels of stress due to their minority group status, thus they are more likely to experience perceived stress. Our cross-sectional, correlational study aimed to explore the relationships between forgiveness, mindfulness and anger and how they are related to perceived stress in a convenience sample of ethnically diverse LGB adults. We hypothesized that: 1) anger is positively associated with perceived stress; 2) forgiveness is negatively associated with perceived stress; 3) mindfulness is negatively associated with perceived stress; and 4) anger, forgiveness and mindfulness account for a significant proportion of the variance in perceived stress. 5) The relationship between anger and perceived stress is moderated by forgiveness. 6) The relationship between anger and perceived stress is moderated by mindfulness. Among LGB adults, the extant literature does not address these four variables in conjunction and the relationships between anger, forgiveness, mindfulness and stress has yet to be explored. Various statistical analyses were conducted, including a hierarchical linear regression to test our model. We found that our overall model accounted for 36% of the total variance in perceived stress (F(5, 142) = 17.31, p <.01) with anger (β = .31, t = 3.55, p = .001) and forgiveness (β = -.21, t = -2.56, p < .05) as the significant predictors. Contrary to prediction, forgiveness and mindfulness did not moderate the relationship between anger and perceived stress in our LGB sample. Limitations, strengths, future research and implications are discussed.

Há evidências de que o programa nomeado de Mindfulness, que busca uma consciência plena, tem sido usado para melhorar a qualidade de vida de pessoas com ansiedade, depressão, estresse e dor crônica. A terapia tem elementos comportamentais, cognitivos e técnicas de relaxamento que não envolvem componentes religiosos ou espirituaiss. O objetivo deste estudo foi explorar, conhecer e analisar os efeitos de 4 sessões de Mindfulness (versão adaptada) em 3 grupos cujas estratégias de aplicação do programa foram diferentes. Um dos grupos recebeu intervenção clássica, enquanto para os outros houve inclusão de práticas da psicologia positiva com relação ao construto da felicidade. Para avaliar os possíveis efeitos usaram-se os seguintes instrumentos: SF-36 para avaliação da qualidade de vida; escala de ansiedade, depressão e estresse (EADS); escala de felicidade subjetiva; entrevista semiestruturada; registros semanais. As avaliações foram feitas no início e no final da intervenção. Usou-se um desenho de pesquisa complementar, que combinou métodos quantitativos e qualitativos, que permitiram evidenciar efeitos positivos na saúde mental e na qualidade de vida dos participantes. De modo geral, observou-se uma diminuição nos índices de estresse, ansiedade e depressão e uma melhora no componente mental da qualidade de vida dos participantes do grupo em que houve inclusão de práticas da psicologia positiva. Conclui-se, portanto, que a associação de estratégias da psicologia positiva às de Mindfulness potencializa os benefícios que resultam em melhora do estresse, da ansiedade da depressão e da qualidade de vida / There is evidence that the Mindfulness program, which seeks full consciousness, has been used to improve the quality of life on persons with anxiety, depression, stress, and chronic pain. The therapy has behavioral, cognitive, and relaxation elements and does not involve a religious or spirituals components. The objective of this study was to explore, to know and to analyze the effects of 4 sessions of Mindfulness (adapted version) in 3 groups whose application\'s strategies of the program were different. One of the groups received classic intervention, while for the others there was inclusion of practices related to the positive psychology in relation to the happiness construct. To evaluate the possible effects, the following instruments were used: SF-36 to evaluate the quality of life; anxiety, depression and stress (EADS); subjective happiness scale; semi structured interview; weekly records. Evaluations were made at the beginning and at the end of the intervention. A complementary research design was used, combining quantitative and qualitative methods, which allowed to show positive effects on the mental health and quality of life of the participants. Overall, there was a decrease in stress, anxiety and depression indexes and an improvement in the mental component of the participants\' quality of life. In conclusion, however, the association of positive psychology strategies to the Mindfulness potentializes the benefits which result in improve of stress, anxiety, depression and quality of life

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2018-04-12T15:56:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Antônio Augusto Alves_.pdf: 3906232 bytes, checksum: a3df4f42f4828f898dabdee4e931412d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-12T15:56:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Antônio Augusto Alves_.pdf: 3906232 bytes, checksum: a3df4f42f4828f898dabdee4e931412d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-01-18 / Nenhuma / Alunos que conseguem manter a atenção em uma atividade apresentam um melhor desempenho nas atividades escolares. A habilidade de manter o foco em uma atividade é essencial para que o estudante tenha um desempenho satisfatório na escola. Nas últimas duas décadas houve um aumento no interesse pelos estudos sobre mindfulness e seus efeitos positivos na saúde, bem-estar e na melhora das habilidades cognitivas. No âmbito escolar o mindfulness tem se mostrado uma técnica relevante para a melhora da atenção de alunos praticantes. Estudos recentes mostram que a realização de sessões de mindfulness proporciona ao aluno uma melhora na atenção, desempenho escolar, no controle das emoções e no relacionamento com os professores e colegas. Embora exista também um número crescente de pesquisas que fazem uso de recursos computacionais para incentivar a prática de mindfulness em contextos não escolares, são poucos os trabalhos que integram o uso de mindfulness em sistemas tutores inteligentes ou em outros tipos de ambientes de aprendizagem. Além disso, nenhum dos trabalhos propõe um treinamento personalizado às características do aprendiz. O presente trabalho propõe um agente que fornece exercícios de mindfulness guiado e adaptado ao estado de humor do aluno e à sua experiência em meditação. Através dos dados coletados pelo sistema, é possível a seleção dos exercícios mais adequados para o aluno, bem como o ajuste do tempo de duração dos exercícios. O agente visa encorajar o estudante a praticar técnicas de meditação para a melhora da atenção e do rendimento acadêmico e da promoção do bem-estar geral do aluno. Este agente foi integrado como estudo de caso ao sistema tutor PAT2Math para a realização de avaliação com 41 alunos durante 7 semanas. Para fins de avaliação foram utilizadas 3 versões do sistema tutor inteligente PAT2Math. A primeira versão utilizou áudios com narrações de técnicas de meditação sem adaptação à experiência ou ao estado de humor apresentado pelo aluno; a segunda versão utilizou 3 gravações de áudio que narravam a história da álgebra e das equações. A terceira e última versão utilizou 24 gravações de áudio com diferentes técnicas de meditação e diferentes durações para que as técnicas utilizadas pudessem ser adaptadas à experiência e ao humor do estudante. Os resultados da avaliação mostraram que a prática de mindfulness de forma guiada e personalizada melhora a atenção do aluno. No entanto, possivelmente devido à duração do experimento, não foram encontradas evidências estatisticamente significativas de um impacto positivo na aprendizagem do aluno. / Students who are able to maintain attention in an activity present a better performance in school activities. The ability to focus on an activity is essential for the student to perform satisfactorily at school. Over the last two decades there has been an increase interest in studies on mindfulness and its positive effects on health, well-being and improvement of cognitive abilities. In the school context, mindfulness has shown to be a relevant technique for the improvement of the students’ attention. Recent studies show that performing mindfulness sessions provides the student with improved attention, school performance, control of emotions, and relationships with teachers and peers. Although there are also a growing number of researches that uses computational resources to encourage the practice of mindfulness, there are few works that integrate the use of mindfulness in intelligent tutors systems or in other types of learning environments. In addition, none of the works proposes a personalized training to the characteristics of the learner. The present work proposes an agent that provides exercises of mindfulness that are guided and adapted to the students’ mood and their experience in meditation. Through the data collected by the system, it is possible to select the most appropriate exercises for the student, as well to adjust the duration of the exercises. The agent aims to encourage the student to practice meditation techniques to improve attention and academic achievement and promote the general well-being of the student. As a case study, this agent was integrated to PAT2Math, an algebra intelligent tutoring system, for the evaluation with 41 students for 7 weeks. For evaluation purposes, 3 versions of the PAT2Math intelligent tutoring system were used. The first version used audios with narratives of meditation techniques without adaptation to the experience or mood presented by the student; the second version used 3 audio recordings that told the story of algebra and equations. The third and final version used 24 audio recordings with different meditation techniques and different durations so that the techniques used could be adapted to the student's experience and mood. The results of the evaluation showed that the practice of mindfulness in a guided and personalized way improves the attention of the student. However, possibly due to the duration of the experiment, no statistically significant evidence of a positive impact on student learning was found.

Existing research has supported mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as an efficacious intervention for depressive relapse prevention, finding it comparable – if not even more effective at times – to antidepressant medication maintenance and other psychoeducational active control conditions. In light of bicultural populations being under-addressed in previous MBCT research, this study will attempt to examine whether bicultural-specific psychological mechanisms, specifically bicultural self-efficacy, will moderate mindfulness for depressive relapse. It will also examine mindfulness as a determining factor in preventing depressive relapse compared to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a treatment of comparable design without mindfulness implementation. Seven hundred and forty-seven Asian American participants previously diagnosed with clinical depression will be randomly assigned to undergo MBCT or CBT treatment. Results will indicate that participants undergoing mindfulness training through MBCT will have significantly lowered rates of depressive relapse, compared to participants undergoing CBT training as a control intervention. Bicultural self-efficacy will also act as a moderator for mindfulness, further promoting the effectiveness of mindfulness in MBCT.

La pleine-conscience (mindfulness) est un concept plurimillénaire fondamental dans les traditions méditatives. C’est aujourd’hui un construit psychologique faisant l’objet d’une littérature importante et une technique thérapeutique éprouvée, notamment dans la réduction du stress et la prévention de la rechute dépressive (Bishop et al., 2004 ; Brown, Ryan et Creswell, 2007 ; Grossman et al., 2004). La mindfulness et ses effets sur les pratiques de management font l’objet d’un nombre de recherches limité (Dane, 2010 ; Good et al., 2016). La thèse que nous défendons est que la mindfulness est un construit psychologique qui est doublement bénéfique aux managers : d’une part en soutenant un rapport plus équilibré au travail, d’autre part en favorisant l’adoption de comportements de leadership plus positifs et performants (leadership transformationnel, authentique ou servant). Notre recherche mobilise une méthode mixte. Une revue systématique de littérature permet de baliser ce champ émergent. Une quasi-expérimentation sur 7 managers d’une entreprise industrielle, menée pendant 2 ans selon un protocole qualitatif longitudinal, rend compte des évolutions observées en termes de rapport au travail et de style de management. Enfin, un modèle utilisant les formes positives de leadership comme médiateurs de la relation mindfulness / performance est proposé. Deux études quantitatives sont menées pour tester le modèle. Les données défendent la thèse selon laquelle la mindfulness est une ressource mobilisable pour induire des comportements organisationnels positifs. / Mindfulness is a fundamental concept which has existed since the dawn of time in meditative circles. These days it is a psychological construct that is the focus of much writing, and tested therapeutic technique, notably in stress reduction and in depressive relapse prevention (Bishop et al., 2004 ; Brown, Ryan et Creswell, 2007 ; Grossman et al., 2004). Mindfulness and its effects on management practice are the focus of a limited number of studies (Dane, 2010 ; Good et al., 2016). Our hypothesis is that mindfulness is a psychological construct that is doubly beneficial to managers: on the one hand, by supporting a more balanced approach to work, and on the other hand, by promoting the adoption of more positive and better performing leadership models (transformational, authentic, servant). Our research makes use of a mixed methodology. A systematic literature review enables us to define this emerging field. An informal study of 7 business managers carried out over 2 years and following a longitudinal qualitative protocol identified changes in terms of work relationships and management styles. Finally, a model using positive types of leadership as mediator variables in relationships between mindfulness and performance is recommended. Two quantitative studies were carried out to test the model. The data support the hypothesis that mindfulness is a resource that can be used to bring about positive organizational behaviour.

In its theoretical part, this thesis summarizes the current state of knowledge in the fields of mindfulness and female sexual function. It deals with the concept of mindfulness, its definition, history, position in current research and application in therapeutic practice. In the next chapter it addresses the female sexuality focusing on orgasm and orgasmic capacity. The last chapter deals with the link of both topics and possibilities of application of mindfulness in sexual therapy. The empirical part of this thesis consists of a quantitative research. The goal of the study is to specify a relation between the mindfulness level and orgasmic capacity of Czech women, using a short form of Five facet mindfulness questionnaire (FFMQ-15) and Female sexual function index (FSFI). Data were collected through an internet survey. There were 223 women aged 18-40 in the sample. Using Spearman correlation, a significant correlation was found between mindfulness and sexual function, mindfulness and orgasmic capacity, mindfulness and vaginal orgasmic capacity and mindfulness and satisfaction with orgasmic capacity. The results are discussed in comparison to other current research and they show both the complexity of the relation between mindfulness and orgasmic capacity and the potential of mindfulness in the...

Bakgrund: Sjuksköterskor är en utsatt grupp som riskerar utbrändhet då deras arbete ofta är krävande, stressigt och emotionellt påfrestande. Den påtagliga stressen leder till att vårdkvalitén och mötet med patienten försämras samt att sjuksköterskor sjukskrivs eller väljer att byta yrke. Mindfulness är ett förhållningssätt och en träning som används för att behandla stress, utbrändhetssymtom och öka medveten närvaro. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva upplevd effekt av mindfulnessträning på stress, utbrändhet och medveten närvaro bland sjuksköterskor. Metod: För att sammanställa forskning som svarar på syftet har en litteraturöversikt genomförts. Sökning i databaserna Cinahl och PsycInfo resulterade i tio vetenskapliga artiklar med kvantitativ och kvalitativ data. Granskning och analys har gjorts i enlighet med Friberg kvalitetsmall. Resultat: Resultatet presenteras i tre teman; mindfulness inverkan på stress, mindfulness inverkan på utbrändhet och effekter av att vara medvetet närvarande. Mindfulness visade signifikant minskning på stress och ökade deltagares välmående och känsla av medveten närvaro. Mindfulness hade varierande effekt på utbrändhet. Diskussion: Sammanställda artiklars resultat diskuteras utifrån Watsons vårdvetenskapliga teori. Mindfulness reducerar stress och ökar välmåendet bland sjuksköterskor. Variation i deltagande, motivation, tid och prioritering påverkade effekten av träningen. Longitudinella studier behövs för att mäta effekten på utbrändhet. / Background: Nurses are a vulnerable group that is at risk of burnout as their work is often demanding, stressful and emotionally hard. The tangible stress results not only in a deterioration of both the quality of care and the meeting with patients but on nurses having to take long-term sick leave or choosing to change their profession as well. Mindfulness is an approach and exercise that is used to treat stress, burnout symptoms and increase awareness. Aim: The purpose was to describe the perceived effect of mindfulness training on stress, burnout and awareness among nurses. Method: In order to compile research corresponding to the purpose of this study, a literature review has been carried out. Searching in Cinhal and PsycInfo databases produced ten scientific articles with both quantitative and qualitative data. Review and analysis have been carried out in accordance with Friberg’s quality model. Results: The results are presented in three subjects: mindfulness impact on stress, mindfulness impact on burnout and mindfulness impact on awareness. Mindfulness showed significant reduction in stress and increased participants’ wellbeing and sense of awareness. Mindfulness had varying effects on burnout. Discussion: Results of the compiled articles are discussed in accordance with Watson’s theory. Mindfulness reduces stress and increases the wellbeing of nurses. Variation in participation, motivation, time and priority influenced the effect of the training. Longitudinal studies are needed to measure the effects on burnout.