‘Things said or done long ago are recalled and remembered’: The ethics of mindfulness in early Buddhism,psychotherapy and clinical psychology

I argue that current theoretical understandings of mindfulness as an attention regulation strategy for psychological stress reduction and enhanced adaptation to society may produce de-ethicised therapeutic applications. I show how understandings of mindfulness in early Buddhism, psychotherapy and clinical psychology have changed over time. Current understandings of mindfulness as a skill or technique of bringing non-judgmental awareness (or bare attention) to present moment experience are historically recent and differ from early Buddhist understandings in at least one crucial respect: definitions of mindfulness as attentional control or metacognitive awareness lack an emphasis on deep ethical reflection. As such, we need to re-ethicise our conceptual understanding of mindfulness by remembering early Buddhist texts, where mindfulness involves the cultivation of an ethically sensitive style of remembering, which has largely been lost in contemporary definitions.     

On the home front: stress for recently deployed Army couples

Military couples who have experienced deployment and reintegration in current U.S. military operations frequently experience stress regarding the dangers and effects of such experiences. The current study evaluated a sample of 300 couples with an active duty Army husband and civilian spouse who experienced a deployment within the year before the survey (conducted in 2007). Wives generally reported greater levels of emotional stress compared with husbands. Overall, higher levels of stress were found for couples who reported lower income and greater economic strain, perceive the need for more support and are unsure about how to get support, have more marital conflict, and are generally less satisfied with the Army and the current mission. Husband combat exposure was also associated with more stress for husbands and wives. Additionally, for wives, stress was related to greater child behavior problems and a sense of less Army concern for families. The results suggest areas of intervention with military couples to help them cope with the challenges of military life and deployment.     

Age-related differences in profiles of mood-change trajectories

As a group, older adults report positive affective lives. The extent to which there are subgroups of older adults whose moods are less positive, however, is unclear. Our aim in the present study was to identify and characterize different subgroups of adults who exhibit distinct trajectories of mood change across a relatively short time period. Seventy-nine young and 103 older adults continuously reported their moods while viewing emotional and neutral faces. Cluster analysis revealed four subgroups of mood-change trajectories. Both the most positive and the most negative subgroups included more older than young adults (ps < .05), suggesting that not all older adults exhibit higher positive affect than young adults. Analyses of variance revealed that the most negative group exhibited slower processing speed, more state anxiety and neuroticism, and looked less at happy faces than the other groups (ps < .05). The results are discussed from an adult developmental perspective, focusing on the increased variability of mood trajectories in the older adults and whether this is a reflection of adaptive functioning or a potential harbinger of dysfunction.     

Disaffected Pollyannas: The influence of positive affect on salary expectations,turnover, and long‐term satisfaction

Using a longitudinal sample of MBA graduates, the present study investigates why employees who are high in positive affect (PA) sometimes display higher rates of turnover, as well as the consequences of frequent turnover for long‐term satisfaction. Results show that high PA employees had higher salary expectations than other employees, and that the relationship between low salary and frequent turnover in the 4 years following graduation was stronger among employees higher in PA. High PA employees who changed organizations more frequently in the first 4 years following graduation reported lower job satisfaction and lower life satisfaction 8 years into their careers, a trend that was reversed for low PA employees.     

Employee commitment in context: The nature and implication of commitment profiles

It is well established that employee commitment can take different forms (e.g., affective, normative, and continuance), yet it is only recently that theory has been advanced to explain how these different forms combine to influence behavior (Meyer & Herscovitch, 2001). We tested this theory with data from employees in three human services organizations (N = 403). Using latent profile analyses, we identified six distinct profile groups and found that they differed on measures of need satisfaction, regulation, affect, engagement, organizational citizenship behavior, and well-being. The observed differences are consistent with the notion that a commitment profile provides a context that determines how the individual components are experienced (Gellatly, Meyer, & Luchak, 2006). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this context effect.     

Positive affect, negative affect, stress, and social support as mediators of the forgiveness-health relationship

Structural equation modeling was used to test a model in which positive affect, negative affect, perceived stress, and social support were hypothesized to mediate the relationship between forgiveness and mental and physical health. Six hundred and twenty-three undergraduates completed a battery of self-report measures. Results of the analyses indicated that the forgiveness-health relation was mediated by positive affect, negative affect, stress, and the interrelationship between negative affect and stress. There was limited support for social support and the interrelationship between positive affect and social support as mediators. The results suggested that the relationship between forgiveness and health is mediated rather than direct. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Mindfulness: Towards A Critical Relational Perspective

Significant attention has been given to mindfulness and mindfulness meditation in Western culture – often allied with a concern to enhance ‘subjective wellbeing’ through interventions aiming to ameliorate stress, depression and anxiety. While much professional and scientific research has been conducted which studies the nature and effectiveness of mindfulness‐based interventions, few critical accounts exist. I seek to produce a social critique of current understandings of mindfulness in relation to contemporary psychology. I illustrate how mindfulness has become individualised as an object of contemporary psychological investigation. I then propose a relational approach which instead sees mindfulness as socially contingent and as a potential resource for individuals and communities to cultivate a critically distant stance towards society. This involves revisioning our basic understanding of mindfulness as not only an inner state of mind, but also as a public social practice.     

StopPulling.com: An Interactive, Self-Help Program for Trichotillomania

Despite the widespread nature and significant impact of trichotillomania (TTM), relatively few controlled studies have evaluated treatment options for people with this disorder. Pharmacological treatment and behavior therapy are the two most widely accepted approaches to treating TTM, but few mental health professionals with appropriate expertise are available to provide care. The cost of treatment also is prohibitive in some cases. A number of self-help books are available for people with TTM, but no empirical data have documented associated outcomes. This paper describes the development and two phases of program evaluation for an alternative, Internet-based self-help treatment strategy for repetitive hair pulling. StopPulling.com is an on-line, interactive self-help approach derived from evidence-based cognitive behavioral models of treatment for TTM. Following program development, an initial test phase elicited feedback from individuals with repetitive hair pulling and professionals with expertise in the treatment of TTM or Web site development. StopPulling.com was modified in accordance with feedback from this initial test phase, and a revised version was made available to the public in January 2003. Preliminary data from 265 users of the program during the first year of public availability suggested significant improvement in symptoms, with some evidence that duration of program use accounted for reductions in symptom severity. Response rates were comparable to long-term follow-up after more intense cognitive behavioral treatment. StopPulling.com may provide a potentially useful self-help alternative or adjunctive strategy for repetitive hair pulling.