The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between mindful eating and eating pathology. This was accomplished by using two measures, the Eating Disorder Inventory, Third Edition (EDI-3), and the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ). Participants included in this study were 134 students from a midsized mid-south university who were asked to complete a demographics measure, EDI-3, and MEQ. Only three scales from the EDI-3 were considered; Drive for Thinness, Bulimia, and Body Dissatisfaction. Combined they provide an Eating Disorder Risk Composite (EDRC) score. Results indicated that there was no significant relationship between the MEQ overall score and the EDRC score, which implies that there is no relationship between mindful eating and eating pathology, specifically eating disorder risk. Additional analyses revealed significant negative correlations between the Awareness, Disinhibition, and Emotional Response subscales of the MEQ and the EDRC score. This study contributes to the limited research on the relationship between mindful eating and eating pathology. Results from this study indicate that the specific aforementioned factors have a greater impact on eating pathology when compared to the overall concept of mindfulness.

No description available.

Mindfulness-based interventions use meditation and other learning exercises to help individuals become more aware of their current physiological and emotional experiences. Benefits of practicing mindfulness include an increase in positive psychological outcomes (e.g., psychological well-being, emotion regulation) and a decrease in negative psychological outcomes (e.g., anxiety, depression). The vast majority of studies focus on younger rather than older adults—setting the stage for the current study, which involved delivering a five-session mindfulness-based intervention to older adults (i.e., 60 and older). The smaller literature focused on older adults is promising but generally lacks methodological rigor (e.g., lack of no-treatment control groups). The current study added to the existing literature by conducting a longitudinal quasi-experimental delayed treatment trial in a sample of older adults. First, it was hypothesized that there would be an intervention effect on several variables. Specifically, it was hypothesized that participants would experience decreases in depression, anxiety, and stress, as well as increases in the five facets of mindfulness, psychological well-being, and emotional regulation. Second, it was hypothesized that the mindfulness-based intervention would be feasible and acceptable, as indicated by low levels of intervention noncompliance and participant attrition as well as high scores in satisfaction and practice log completion rates. Participants were 19 older adults from a local retirement community. Participants were assigned to either an immediate treatment (n = 11) or delayed treatment (n = 8) group. All participants were assessed at the universal baseline, week 5 (i.e. intervention completion of immediate treatment group), week 10 (i.e. intervention completion of delayed treatment group), and at week 15. The 5-week mindfulness-based intervention included psychoeducation (e.g., mindfulness, stress, aging, values), discussion of all concepts, and mindfulness practice. A series of two (group) by four (time of assessment) analysis of covariance models were estimated to evaluate primary outcomes. Results indicated that there was no significant treatment effect on primary outcomes. However, the mindfulness-based intervention was feasible and acceptable. Gaining additional knowledge of how mindfulness-based interventions influence coping strategies in older adults will allow clinicians and researchers to influence interventions for older adults and facilitate older adults receiving adequate psychological treatment while managing common stressors associated with aging.

No description available.

Stress is a global health issue and effective stress management techniques are much needed. Mindfulness meditation in the form of mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to be effective interventions for self-reported stress reduction. However, the effects of mindfulness meditation on the objective physiological markers of stress are less clear. Heart rate variability, the variation in time between each consecutive heartbeat has been shown to be such an objective physiological marker of stress. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate how mindfulness-based interventions affect heart rate variability to better understand the utility of mindfulness meditation as a stress management technique. A literature search was conducted on March 8th, 2022, with the databases Web of Science, Scopus, and MEDLINE EBSCO to identify randomized controlled trials that examined the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on heart rate variability. A total of 10 studies met the inclusion criteria with a total of 970 participants. The results from the systematic review were mixed and indicate inconsistencies across the literature. Thus, there are uncertainties on how mindfulness-based interventions affect heart rate variability. Although the systematic review was limited by a small sample of studies, it highlights that further research on how mindfulness-based interventions affect heart rate variability is needed to better understand the utility of mindfulness meditation as a stress management technique.

Anxiety is a high-prevalence disorder, and it is often treated by medication which can be costly, has side effects, and is not available for everyone in need. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) are great alternatives to treat anxiety. Both MBIs are not only more accessible but have no side effects as well. To establish whether MBIs can become a main treatment for anxiety, the associated neural correlates and changes should be investigated further. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate whether neural correlates of MBIs are mainly caused by emotional or attentional neural mechanisms, or if both are involved. There were five studies selected and included according to a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results suggest that MBIs are in fact effective in alleviating anxiety symptoms by enhancing both emotion and attention regulation. However, several of the included studies came with limitations such as having no significance in p-values, no control groups, and small samples. Thus, further research is needed to draw a conclusion on whether MBIs are the best alternative for the alleviation and treatment of anxiety.

No description available.

Nonostante il maltrattamento all’infanzia costituisca un’esperienza relazionale patogena, alcuni bambini maltrattati mostrano un itinerario di sviluppo resiliente. La tesi si focalizza sul possibile ruolo giocato da meaning-making e mindfulness skills nel funzionamento resiliente. Il primo obiettivo è stato esplorare la relazione tra meaning-making, mindfulness skills e benessere in bambini non maltrattati. Il secondo obiettivo è stato valutare meaning-making e mindfulness skills in minori maltrattati, per determinare se il funzionamento resiliente fosse in relazione con questi costrutti. Il terzo obiettivo è stato creare un intervento per minori maltrattati ospitati in comunità (MBYR), testandone la fattibilità. Lo studio 1 ha esplorato il meaning-making in bambini non maltrattati, non evidenziando alcuna relazione con le loro competenze e difficoltà. Lo studio 2 ha mostrato che le mindfulness skills correlavano negativamente con outcome avversi, ma positivamente con le competenze dei bambini. Lo studio 3 ha esplorato la relazione tra funzionamento resiliente, meaning-making e mindfulness skills in minori maltratti, evidenziando che il meaning-making era legato a livelli più bassi di qualità della vita, mentre le mindfulness skills erano in relazione con il funzionamento resiliente. Questi risultati hanno informato il razionale dell’MBYR, che ha significativamente ridotto i sintomi traumatici, aumentando mindfulness skills e competenze generali (studio 4). / Child maltreatment is a pathogenic relational experience representing one of the most difficult challenges to children’s healthy adaptation; nonetheless, some maltreated children develop resiliently. The thesis focuses on the possible role played by meaning-making and mindfulness skills in resilient functioning. The first aim was to investigate the relation between meaning-making, mindfulness skills, and wellbeing in nonmaltreated children. The second aim was to explore meaning-making and mindfulness skills in maltreated children and adolescents, to determine whether resilient functioning was related to these constructs. Finally, the third aim was to design an intervention for maltreated youths in residential care (MBYR) and to test its feasibility. Study 1 explored meaning-making in nonmaltreated children, showing that it was not related to their competencies and difficulties. Study 2 highlighted that mindfulness skills were negatively related to adverse outcomes and positively related to children’s competencies. Study 3 explored the relation between different domains of resilient functioning, meaning-making, and mindfulness skills in maltreated youths, showing that meaning-making was related to lower levels of quality of life, whereas mindfulness skills were related to resilient functioning. These results informed the rationale for the MBYR, which significantly reduced traumatic symptoms while enhancing mindfulness skills and general competencies (study 4).

Background: Given the incomplete benefits of the pharmacological therapy for ADHD and its over-prescription in children over the last decades, there is an explicit need for alternative treatments. Mindfulness-based Interventions (MBIs) are a family of emergent self-regulation practices including meditation, yoga and body-awareness exercises, found to be an effective therapy for ADHD. Due to poor methodological design and significant risk of bias across studies, mindfulness approach remains an investigational treatment. Aim: This systematic review sought to identify and critically appraise the evidence on the functioning outcomes of MBIs in children and youth with ADHD. Method: The literature search was conducted in 7 databases for psychology and social sciences to identify controlled trials – randomized- and non-randomized, evaluating MBIs published in peer-reviewed journal in English between 2000-2019. Only studies focusing on children and youth aged 7-18 years with documented ADHD symptoms were considered for inclusion. Results: Six controlled trials were included and analysed. Meditation, breathing techniques, self-awareness and yoga exercises were the most common activities implemented across the 6 studies. Significant reduction of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms; and improvements of sustained attention, working memory and emotional regulation were reported across studies, with small to large effect size. Conclusion: Despite the limitations, MBIs do prove to be an effective complementary treatment for reduction of the core ADHD symptoms and improvement of executive functioning (EF). Further research is needed to elucidate how these interventions improve social functioning and participation of children and youth with ADHD, which would enable a wider implementation of these practices at the community level.