Mindfulness and positive affect: Cross-sectional,prospective intervention,and real-time relations

This study tested trait- and state-mindfulness and trait- and state-positive affect (PA) relations within a cross-sectional study (Study 1; N?=?174, 76% women, Mean (SD)_age?=?24 (2.7) years) and a randomized controlled 4-session mindfulness intervention study (Study 2; N?=?51, 65.4% women, Mean (SD)_age?=?25 (4.3) years). Study 1 : levels of trait-mindfulness and trait-like PA were related, as theorized, only among participants with meditation experience. Study 2 : Study 2 is a secondary analysis of a mindfulness intervention study [Tanay, Lotan, & Bernstein (2012). Salutary proximal processes and distal mood and anxiety vulnerability outcomes of mindfulness training: A Pilot preventive intervention. Behavior Therapy, 43, 492–505]. Unexpectedly, reduced levels of trait-like PA were observed pre- to post-intervention across conditions. No significant between-group mean differences were observed post-intervention. However, as expected, change in trait-mindfulness from pre- to post-intervention predicted change in trait-like PA among the intervention but not control condition. Second, levels of state-mindfulness during mindfulness meditation were positively related to levels of state-PA. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings for mindfulness and PA are discussed.     

Emotional-vulnerability and mindfulness: a preliminary test of associations among negative affectivity, anxiety sensitivity, and mindfulness skills

This study evaluated associations between general (negative affectivity) and specific (anxiety sensitivity) factors that may relate to the mindfulness skill domains assessed by the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills. Participants were 154 young adults (88 females; M(age) = 22.4 years, SD = 7.9) recruited from the community. Partially consistent with predictions, higher levels of negative affectivity were significantly associated with lower levels of Awareness, Acceptance, and Describe mindfulness skills, and higher levels of anxiety sensitivity were significantly associated with lower levels of Awareness and Acceptance mindfulness skills. Additionally, negative affectivity and anxiety sensitivity each demonstrated unique relations to participants' ability to experience the present state without evaluating or judging its content (Accept factor), after accounting for their shared variance, but only anxiety sensitivity demonstrated a unique association to the Act with Awareness factor independent of variance explained by negative affectivity. Findings are discussed in relation to theory and research on mindfulness processes.     

Isolating the Effects of Mindfulness Training Across Anxiety Disorder Diagnoses in the Unified Protocol

The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment (UP; Barlow et al., 2011) has recently demonstrated statistically equivalent therapeutic effects compared to leading cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) protocols for anxiety disorders designed to address disorder-specific symptoms (i.e., single-disorder protocols [SDP]); Barlow et al., 2017). Although all treatment protocols included similar evidence-based CBT elements, investigation of those related to symptom improvement in the UP is warranted. Because the UP is unique from the SDPs for its inclusion of mindfulness, the present study evaluated mindfulness as a primary treatment element. We explored whether UP participants, compared to SDP, demonstrated greater improvements in mindfulness from pre- to posttreatment, and whether these improvements predicted posttreatment severity across anxiety disorder diagnoses. Participants were individuals with a principle anxiety disorder (N = 179) randomized to receive either the UP or SDP. Results indicated significant improvements pre- to posttreatment in mindfulness for participants receiving either the UP or SDP. However, at posttreatment, mindfulness scores were significantly greater for the UP condition. At the diagnosis level, posttreatment scores in mindfulness were significantly greater in the UP condition than the respective SDP conditions for principal Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Social Anxiety Disorder (SOC). Moreover, results suggest that change in mindfulness is related to posttreatment severity, when moderated by treatment condition, but only for participants with principal GAD. Taken together, the UP is effective in improving mindfulness in a sample with heterogeneous anxiety disorders, but this change seems particularly relevant for reduction in symptom severity for individuals with principal GAD.     

Mindfulness and Acceptance-Based Group Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder: An Open Trial

Mindfulness and Acceptance-Based Group Therapy (MAGT) for Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is based largely on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes et al., 1999), with enhanced mindfulness mostly from Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT; Segal et al., 2002). The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and initial effectiveness of MAGT for the treatment of SAD. Forty-two SAD patients were invited to take part in an open trial of MAGT. Participants completed measures of social anxiety, mindfulness and acceptance, depression, and rumination at pretreatment, midtreatment (6 weeks), posttreatment (12 weeks), and at a 3-month follow-up session. Twenty-nine participants completed the treatment and these participants reported that the treatment was helpful. Effect sizes for treatment completers ranged from 1.00 to 1.17 for the social anxiety symptom measures at follow-up. Intent-to-treat analyses revealed significant reductions in social anxiety, depression, and rumination and significant increases in mindfulness and acceptance, with effect sizes ranging from .65 to .76 on the social anxiety measures. This study demonstrates that MAGT is feasible and acceptable to SAD patients and provides further support for the use of mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions for the treatment of SAD.     

Smoking motives in the prediction of affective vulnerability among young adult daily smokers

The primary aim of this study was to examine whether smoking to reduce negative affect was uniquely related to a range of affective vulnerability factors (e.g., anxiety sensitivity, anxious arousal, and negative affectivity) among daily smokers. Participants were 276 young adult daily smokers (124 females; M(age)=25.12, SD=10.37). Partially consistent with prediction, the motivation to smoke to reduce negative affect was significantly related to anxiety sensitivity and negative affectivity, but not anxious arousal; the observed significant effects were above and beyond other theoretically relevant factors (e.g., smoking rate, years smoked, age, gender). In contrast to prediction, habitual smoking motives demonstrated significant incremental associations with anxiety sensitivity and anxious arousal symptoms. These results suggest that there are important associations between certain smoking motives and negative affective states and that such relations are not attributable to other smoking factors (e.g., smoking rate).     

A Preliminary Study Investigating the Effectiveness of the Caring for Body and Mind in Pregnancy (CBMP) in Reducing Perinatal Depression,Anxiety and Stress

Prenatal mental illness is a significant public health issue with intergenerational consequences. Caring for Body and Mind in Pregnancy (CBMP) is an Australian, 8-week mindful parenting program. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of CBMP in reducing pregnant women’s levels of depression, anxiety, perinatal depression, perinatal anxiety and stress. The sample consisted of 109 pregnant women at-risk for perinatal depression and anxiety. The mean age of the sample was 33.52 years (SD?=?4.90), ranging from 21 to 45 years. A within group, pre-post research design was used to examine whether CBMP improves participants’ scores on outcome measures. Wilcoxon Signed Rank test results indicated that CBMP significantly reduced depression, anxiety, perinatal depression, perinatal anxiety and general stress scores, while significantly increasing self-compassion and mindfulness with moderate to strong effect sizes. The double mediation hypothesis was supported with self-compassion t (71)?=??2.23, p?<?03, b2?=??1.96, SE?=?88, 95% CI?=??3.71, ?.20, having a stronger influence in reducing perinatal depression than mindfulness t (71)?=??2.68, p?<?.01, b3?=??.07, SE?=?.03, 95% CI?=??.13, ?.02. Further research, using a randomized controlled design with appropriate control conditions, is needed to establish the effectiveness of CBMP in reducing psychological distress amongst pregnant women at risk of developing depression, anxiety or stress.     

Cognitive vulnerability to depressive symptoms in adolescents in urban and rural Hunan, China: a multiwave longitudinal study

The current multiwave longitudinal study examined the applicability of two cognitive vulnerability-stress models of depression-Beck's (1967, 1983) cognitive theory and the hopelessness theory (Abramson, Metalsky, & Alloy, 1989)-in two independent samples of adolescents from Hunan Province, China (one rural and one urban). During an initial assessment, participants completed measures assessing dysfunctional attitudes (Beck, 1967, 1983), negative cognitive style (Abramson et al., 1989), neuroticism (Costa & McCrae, 1992), depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. Once a month for the subsequent 6 months, participants completed measures assessing the occurrence of different types of negative events, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. Results provided support for cognitive vulnerability factors as predictors of increases in depressive symptoms following the occurrence of higher than average levels of negative events in Chinese adolescents. The results also supported the specificity of these two cognitive vulnerability factors as predictors of depressive versus anxiety symptoms following the occurrence of higher than average levels of negative events (i.e., symptom specificity), and the ability of cognitive vulnerability factors to predict prospective change in depressive symptoms above and beyond the effects of trait neuroticism (i.e., etiological specificity).     

Nature and role of change in anxiety sensitivity during NRT-aided cognitive-behavioral smoking cessation treatment

This study evaluated the associations between change in anxiety sensitivity (AS; fear of the negative consequences of anxiety and related sensations) and lapse and relapse during a 4-week group NRT-aided cognitive-behavioral Tobacco Intervention Program. Participants were 67 (44 women; M (age) = 46.2 years, SD = 10.4) adult daily smokers. Results indicated that participants who maintained high levels of AS from pretreatment to 1 month posttreatment, compared to those who demonstrated a significant reduction in AS levels during this time period, showed a significantly increased risk for lapse and relapse. Further inspection indicated that higher continuous levels of AS physical and psychological concerns, specifically among those participants who maintained elevated levels of AS from pre- to posttreatment, predicted significantly greater risk for relapse. Findings are discussed with respect to better understanding change in AS, grounded in an emergent taxonic-dimensional factor mixture model of the construct, with respect to lapse and relapse during smoking cessation.     

How does mindfulness-based cognitive therapy work?

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is an efficacious psychosocial intervention for recurrent depression ( [Kuyken et?al., 2008], [Ma and Teasdale, 2004] and [Teasdale et?al., 2000]). To date, no compelling research addresses MBCT’s mechanisms of change. This study determines whether MBCT’s treatment effects are mediated by enhancement of mindfulness and self-compassion across treatment, and/or by alterations in post-treatment cognitive reactivity. The study was embedded in a randomized controlled trial comparing MBCT with maintenance antidepressants (mADM) with 15-month follow-up (Kuyken et al., 2008). Mindfulness and self-compassion were assessed before and after MBCT treatment (or at equivalent time points in the mADM group). Post-treatment reactivity was assessed one month after the MBCT group sessions or at the equivalent time point in the mADM group. One hundred and twenty-three patients with ≥3 prior depressive episodes, and successfully treated with antidepressants, were randomized either to mADM or MBCT. The MBCT arm involved participation in MBCT, a group-based psychosocial intervention that teaches mindfulness skills, and discontinuation of ADM. The mADM arm involved maintenance on a therapeutic ADM dose for the duration of follow-up. Interviewer-administered outcome measures assessed depressive symptoms and relapse/recurrence across 15-month follow-up. Mindfulness and self-compassion were measured using self-report questionnaire. Cognitive reactivity was operationalized as change in depressive thinking during a laboratory mood induction.MBCT’s effects were mediated by enhancement of mindfulness and self-compassion across treatment. MBCT also changed the nature of the relationship between post-treatment cognitive reactivity and outcome. Greater reactivity predicted worse outcome for mADM participants but this relationship was not evident in the MBCT group.MBCT’s treatment effects are mediated by augmented self-compassion and mindfulness, along with a decoupling of the relationship between reactivity of depressive thinking and poor outcome. This decoupling is associated with the cultivation of self-compassion across treatment.     

Mapping Mindfulness Facets Onto Dimensions of Anxiety and Depression

Mindfulness has been associated with anxiety and depression, but the ways in which specific facets of mindfulness relate to symptoms of anxiety and depression remains unclear. The purpose of the current study was to investigate associations between specific facets of mindfulness (e.g., observing, describing, nonjudging, acting with awareness, and nonreactivity) and dimensions of anxiety and depression symptoms (e.g., anxious arousal, general distress-anxiety, general distress-depression, and anhedonic depression) while controlling for shared variance among variables. Participants were 187 treatment-seeking adults. Mindfulness was measured using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and symptoms of depression and anxiety were measured using the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire. Bivariate correlations showed that all facets of mindfulness were significantly related to all dimensions of anxiety and depression, with two exceptions: describing was unrelated to general distress-anxiety, and observing was unrelated to all symptom clusters. Path analysis was used to simultaneously examine associations between mindfulness facets and depression and anxiety symptoms. Significant and marginally significant pathways were retained to construct a more parsimonious model and model fit indices were examined. The parsimonious model indicated that nonreactivity was significantly inversely associated with general distress anxiety symptoms. Describing was significantly inversely associated with anxious arousal, while observing was significantly positively associated with it. Nonjudging and nonreactivity were significantly inversely related to general distress-depression and anhedonic depression symptomatology. Acting with awareness was not significantly associated with any dimensions of anxiety or depression. Findings support associations between specific facets of mindfulness and dimensions of anxiety and depression and highlight the potential utility of targeting these specific aspects of mindfulness in interventions for anxiety and mood disorders.     

Anxiety sensitivity and perceived control over anxiety-related events: evaluating the singular and interactive effects in the prediction of anxious and fearful responding to bodily sensations

The present investigation examined the singular and interactive effects of anxiety sensitivity and perceived control over anxiety-related events in the prediction of panic symptoms using a CO(2)-enriched air biological challenge. Two hundred and twenty-nine adult participants (M(age)=21.02, SD=7.55, 124 females) were recruited from the greater Burlington, Vermont community. Results indicated that pre-challenge anxiety sensitivity, but not perceived control over anxiety-related events, significantly predicted post-challenge panic attack symptoms, anxiety focused on bodily sensations, and, interest in returning for another challenge (behavioral avoidance). In regard to physiological findings, anxiety sensitivity was significantly related to skin conductance level whereas perceived control over anxiety-related events was related to respiration rate. Neither anxiety sensitivity nor perceived control over anxiety-related events was related to heart rate. There also were no interactive effects between anxiety sensitivity and perceived control over anxiety-related events for any of the studied dependent variables. Results are discussed in relation to multi-risk factor models of cognitive vulnerability for panic psychopathology.     

Anxiety and depression in Greek nursing and medical personnel

The relatively low number of nurses compared to physicians in Greece and the few available studies on the psychological problems of the health professionals led to comparison of anxiety and depression for 76 Greek nursing personnel (20 men, M age: 32.8 yr., SD: 3.8 yr., and 56 women, M age: 36.6 yr., SD: 7.7 yr.) and 66 doctors (35 men, M age: 35.9 yr., SD: 8.9 yr. and 31 women, M age: 32.7 yr., SD: 8.1 yr.) using validated translations of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory. Male nurses had the lowest scores on trait anxiety, while female doctors had the highest scores, followed by female nurses. Depression scores were not different between doctors and nurses, regardless of sex. Age and depression scores were positively correlated (Spearman rho = .31) only for the female nurses. The findings suggest that interventions for diagnosis and stress management in the health-care workplace should be equally targeted for nursing and medical personnel.     

An empirical study of medical termination of pregnancy

Several studies (Senturia and Rothman, 1967; Simon et al., 1969; Stewart et.al., 1973) have shown that therapeutic abortion may be accompanied by various psychological problems (e.g., psychiatric illness, confused sexual identity, sadomasochism). This study attempts to determine the personality characteristics, e.g., extraversion-introversion, neuroticism-stability and manifest anxiety of women who seek abortion and compare them with a control group. The Eysenk Personality Inventory and the Manifest Anxiety scale adapted by George (1965, 1974) were administered to 2 groups, the experimental group (n=50; mean age, 25.8) consisting of women seeking abortion, and the control group (n=30; mean age, 25.4 years; matched for age and socioeconomic status with the experimental). Mean values for extraversion-introversion, neuroticism-stability, and manifest anxiety for the experimental group were 11.08, 15.5 and 23.74 respectively. Corresponding figures for the control group were 11.00, 10.46, and 11.96 respectively. The results show that the experimental group differed significantly from the control group in the dimensions of neuroticism and manifest anxiety. No significant differences were found between the 2 groups in terms of extraversion. The stressful nature of pregnancy is briefly discussed.     

Test of a Factor Mixture-Based Taxonic-Dimensional Model of Anxiety Sensitivity and Panic Attack Vulnerability among University and Clinical Samples in Mexico City

The aim of the present study was to evaluate a factor mixture-based taxonic-dimensional model of anxiety sensitivity (AS) (Bernstein et al. Behavior Therapy 41:515-521, 2010), as measured by the ASI-3 (Taylor et al. Psychological Assessment 19:176-188, 2007), in regard to panic attacks, anxiety symptoms, and behavioral impairment among a university sample (N = 150, n _females  = 107, M _age = 21.3 years, SD = 4.3) and a clinical sample (N = 150, n _females  = 102, M _age = 39.0 years, SD = 12.0) from Mexico City, Mexico. Findings demonstrated cross-national support for the conceptual and operational utility of the AS taxonic-dimensional hypothesis (Bernstein et al. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 20:1-22, 2007b). Specifically, (1) the FMM-based AS taxon class base rate was significantly greater among the clinical relative to the university sample; (2) risk for panic attacks was significantly greater among the AS taxon class relative to the AS normative class; and (3) continuous individual differences in AS physical and psychological concerns, within the AS taxon class, were associated with level of risk for panic attacks, as well as panic attack severity and anxiety symptom levels. Similar AS taxonic-dimensional effects were observed in relation to degree of behavioral impairment across domains of functioning. The study results are discussed with respect to their implications for better understanding the nature of AS-related cognitive vulnerability for panic and related anxiety psychopathology.     

知识迁移对无意识思维效应的作用

为弥补Bos等人(2008)忽视内部因素对无意识思维作用的研究缺陷,本研究从知识迁移视角提出无意识思维受内部知识与外部任务目标双重导向的观点。结果发现：(1)无意识思维知识的迁移促进了无意识思维效应;(2)在无意识思维知识与任务目标双导向下,无意识思维效应更强。基于上述研究,我们更一般地认为,无意识思维效应是内部因素(如,知识、兴趣、动机等)与外部因素(如,任务目标)共同作用的结果。     

Expanding the Scope of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: Evidence for Effectiveness in a Heterogeneous Psychiatric Sample

Mindfulness-based interventions (e.g., MBSR; Kabat-Zinn, 1990; MBCT; Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002) have demonstrated effectiveness in a number of distinct clinical populations. However, few studies have evaluated MBCT within a heterogeneous group of psychiatric adult outpatients. This study examined whether a wider variety of patients referred from a large, tertiary mood and anxiety outpatient clinic could benefit from such a program. Twenty-three psychiatric outpatients with mood and/or anxiety disorders (mean age = 53.65 years, SD = 10.73; 18 women) were included in this study. Each participant completed the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnosis Axis I and measures of mood, life stress, and mindfulness skills, prior to the start of group and immediately following its completion. Paired t-test analyses were conducted and results revealed a significant improvement in mood and mindfulness skills in addition to a significant reduction in severity and total number of perceived life stressors. In summary, our results indicate that MBCT can effectively be administered to a group of patients whose diagnoses and difficulties may vary, who have significant comorbidity, and who are currently experiencing significant symptoms. This has important practical implications for offering this treatment within broader psychological and psychiatric service systems.     

Relationship between self-esteem and depressive mood in old age: Results from a six-year longitudinal study

The reciprocal nature of the relationship between depression and personality traits (e.g., self-esteem, neuroticism) is still elusive (e.g., vulnerability and scar models). The aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal reciprocal effects between self-esteem and depressive mood in older adults. 757 participants aged 64–97 years assessed 4 times over a six-year period. Cross-lagged models were estimated using SEM. Our findings showed a relative stability over a six-year period of both self-esteem and depressive mood. There were no cross-lagged reciprocal effects between self-esteem and depressive mood over time, thereby rejecting both vulnerability and scar models. It means that self-esteem and depressive mood do not predate each other in old age. These results suggest a developmental phenomenon in which self-esteem and depressive mood follow two parallel and stable developmental trajectories through old age.     

Men are more accurate than women in aiming at targets in both near space and extrapersonal space

Men excel at motor tasks requiring aiming accuracy whereas women excel at different tasks requiring fine motor skill. However, these tasks are confounded with proximity to the body, as fine motor tasks are performed proximally and aiming tasks are directed at distal targets. As such, it is not known whether the male advantage on tasks requiring aiming accuracy is because men have better aim or is better in the proximal domain in which the task is usually presented. 18 men (M age = 20.6 yr., SD = 3.0) and 20 women (M age = 18.7 yr., SD = 0.9) performed 2 tasks of extrapersonal aiming accuracy (>2 m away), 2 tasks of aiming accuracy performed in near space (< 1 m from them), and a task of fine motor skill. Men outperformed women on both the extrapersonal aiming tasks, and women outperformed men on the task of fine motor skill. However, a male advantage was observed for one of the aiming tasks performed in near space, suggesting that the male advantage for aiming accuracy does not result from proximity.     

Alteration of adults' subjective feeling of familiarity toward infants' sounds

Many adults may have lower subjective feelings of familiarity toward infants' vocalizations since infants' sounds are different from those of adults. However, mothers frequently exposed to infants' vocalizations may be more familiar and less averse. To test this hypothesis, 21 mothers (M age = 31.1 yr., SD = 4.3) of infants (M age = 8.2 mo., SD = 3.5), 18 mothers (M age = 34.4 yr., SD = 4.8) of children between two and five years of age (M age = 2.8 yr., SD = 1.0), and 17 women (M age = 29.2 yr., SD = ll.1) with no children were exposed to 20 types of sounds. Of these sounds, 14 were produced by infants. Although the mothers of infants did not recognize sounds as those of an infant's vocalization, they showed higher subjective feelings of familiarity toward the timbres of the vowel-like stimuli than did the other groups. By contrast, the subjective feelings of familiarity for nonspeech sounds did not differ among groups. Maternal experiences may change women's recognition of perceived sounds.     

Panic-relevant predictability preferences: a laboratory test

In the present investigation the authors evaluated the role of verbally instructed safety periods as they relate to predictability preference within a single-session challenge paradigm involving recurrent administrations of 20% carbon dioxide (CO-sub-2) enriched air. Participants included 160 nonclinical young adults (91 women, 69 men) between the ages of 18 and 59 (M=21.6 years; SD=7.23). Results indicated that equivalent levels of anxiety were experienced during predictable and unpredictable administrations of 20% CO-sub-2, yet participants preferred predictable compared with unpredictable trials, with women showing a stronger predictability preference than men. Lower anxiety was reported during known safety periods (predictable room air trials) but not during predictable compared with unpredictable administrations of 20% CO-sub-2. Findings are discussed in relation to theoretical and applied implications for the role of predictability in the nature of anxiety and its disorders.