Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Multiple Effects Of A Brief Mindfulness Training, Stephanie Aholt

MSU Graduate Theses

Mindfulness-based interventions have been related to emotional regulation, reduced stress, and increased psychological flexibility. The current investigation extended previous findings by examining the short-term effects of a brief mindfulness training in undergraduate psychology students. The non-concurrent multiple baseline design evaluated heart rate and cortisol changes in response to a brief mindfulness-based intervention. The results found for some individuals, participation in the mindfulness intervention helped regulate their emotions and heart rate, as evidenced by the decrease in heart rate and cortisol and increase in psychological flexibility by changes in Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-2 and Perceived Stress Scale-14 scores. Findings suggest more …

Intra-Individual And Cross-Partner Associations Between The Five Facets Of Mindfulness And Relationship Satisfaction, Katherine Allison Lenger

Masters Theses

Research has established that mindfulness may be useful to individual and dyadic wellbeing among both early-stage and long-term relationships. Nonetheless, it remains unclear which mechanisms of mindfulness are most relevant to relationship satisfaction among long-term married couples. Furthermore, although previous research suggests that an individual’s total mindfulness is not related to his or her partner’s relationship satisfaction, we have yet to determine whether any specific facets of mindfulness may evidence a significant cross-partner association with relationship satisfaction. The present study seeks to address these gaps in the literature using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Data were collected from 164 …

Mindfulness And Mothering: Reclaiming Feminine Voice, Lisa L. Mccorquodale

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Little is known about working mothers who practice mindfulness. This dissertation is a phenomenological investigation using body mapping as a way to understand how mindfulness works in the lives of six women who work in health and social care while parenting young children.

This dissertation is comprised of five integrated articles. Chapter 1 and 7 are included as an Introduction and Discussion/Conclusion to the five separate though related manuscript chapters. The main research questions that framed this research include, ‘What is the work of mindfulness in the lives of working professional mothers?’ and ‘In what ways might a mindfulness practice …

Encoding Style Of Positive Autobiographical Memories: Relationship To Mood Repair, Memory Functioning, And Depression, Ena Begovic

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The recall of positive autobiographical memories is an effective strategy for improving negative mood among healthy persons, yet individuals with a history of depression often fail to derive emotional benefits. Depressed and depression-vulnerable individuals also exhibit deficits in their autobiographical memory characteristics. Scholars have implicated deficits during autobiographical memory retrieval as a cause of mood repair and memory impairments, however the role of memory encoding has largely been overlooked. The current study manipulated encoding style to examine subsequent effects on mood repair efficacy, memory characteristics, and memory accuracy. Fifty-five formerly depressed and 68 never-depressed participants were assigned to employ either …

Exploring Masculinity For A Healthy Campus Culture, Jason M. Gant

Master's Projects and Capstones

1 in 5 female students is and will be sexually assaulted in college. This is a public health issue as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sexual violence (SV) is a significant problem in the United States. SV refers to sexual activity when consent is not obtained or not given freely. Anyone can experience SV, but most victims are female. The person responsible for the violence is typically male and usually someone the victim is familiar with. The person can be, but is not limited to, a friend, coworker, neighbor, family member and even classmate. Boys …

Yoga As An Ancillary Treatment To Acceptance And Commitment Therapy For Depression, Jeralee M. Briggs

Dissertations

It is estimated that up to 30% of college students feel clinically depressed, and these feelings can lead to poor grades, substance abuse, unsafe sex, and suicide (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has shown to be an effective form of psychotherapy for depression and was listed in 2014 as an evidence-based treatment for depressive disorders according to the APA Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice (2006). In addition to psychological treatment, various exercise interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing depressive symptoms (e.g., Rehorst, Wipfli, & Landers, 2009). Yoga is one such …

Mindfully Discovering One's Authentic Self, Lisa S. Sosin

Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is a compelling link between counselee symptoms and the developmentally based capacity to put authentic thoughts, feelings, and choices into words (Greenspan, 1997). When emotional safety and secure attachment are not available and “scaffolding” was not provided to support the development of these capacities, truth is still spoken, but at an undifferentiated, behavioral level, instead of clearly represented with words. Often the symptoms people come to counseling with are related to these undeveloped or constricted aspects of the self (Siegel, 2010). The ability to tolerate and regulate painful emotions is a highly complex skill that requires practice and discipline …

Buffering The Associations Between Negative Mood States And The Incentive Salience Of Alcohol: A Brief Mindfulness Induction, Adrian J. Bravo

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined drinking to cope (DTC) motives and state mindfulness (via a brief mindfulness induction) as two distinct factors that may enhance (DTC) and reduce (state mindfulness) the association between negative mood states (i.e., sadness and anxiety) and the incentive salience of alcohol (i.e., subjective alcohol craving and attentional bias for alcohol-related cues) among college student drinkers. Participants were 207 undergraduate students from a large, southeastern university in the United States that consumed at least one drink per typical week in the previous month. The majority of participants identified as being either White, non-Hispanic (n = 81; 39.1%), …

Modes Of Mindfulness: Prophetic Critique And Integral Emergence, David Forbes

Publications and Research

As mindfulness becomes more secular and popular, there are more arguments about its purpose and use value. Because of its disparate uses, many proponents of any one side often talk past each other and miss their mark. This paper employs an integral meta-theory that accounts for subjective, inter-subjective, objective, interobjective, and developmental perspectives on mindfulness. This helps categorize modes of mindfulness in order to clarify their purposes and functions within a society characterized by neoliberal principles and structures. It adopts the standpoint of a prophetic critique similar to those critiques of McMindfulness and insists on the inseparability of both universal …

The Relationship Between Fragile Self-Esteem, Mindfulness, And Hostile Attribution Style, Robyn L. Haertel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study aimed to expand upon existing literature pertaining to self-perception, awareness towards the environment, and related attributions. Specifically, mindfulness and self-esteem, as well as the subset of fragile self-esteem, were examined as predictors of a hostile attribution style (HAS). Additionally, self-esteem and fragile self-esteem were investigated as correlates of mindfulness. Undergraduate students from across the country were invited via social media to participate in this online study. A total of 190 students completed four surveys used for data analyses: the Mindful-Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RES; Rosenberg 1965), Contingencies of Self-Worth Scale (CSWS; …

Effects Of Music On Stress And Mindfulness, Brittany Mckenzie

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

The possible differential effects that Zen and electronic dance music (EDM) have on stress and mindfulness were analyzed. The purpose of this study is to understand if certain factors of music are more influential on stress levels and mindfulness scores. Factors of music that were analyzed include different genres and the tempo or pace of these music genres. Fifty-six adult participants ages 17-79 completed an online survey. The online survey had participants complete a mental rotation task then rate their perceived state stress levels and mindfulness scores for baseline measures. Participants listened to either a 3 min. audio file of …

Healing Body, Healing Mind, Hayley O'Brien

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Relapse is a common phenomenon amongst clients in eating disorder recovery. Although we expect the road to recovery to be challenging, the high rates of relapse are a cause to reevaluate traditional eating disorder treatment. Teaching clients to ignore levels of hunger and satiation during treatment leaves individuals with a disconnect between mind and body. Healing this disconnect is a critical element in long-term recovery. My purpose is to review the literature and link the therapeutic benefit of yoga to eating disorder treatment and recovery. To help develop my Ed.S project, I completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training in the …

An Examination Of The Feasibility And Impact Of A Mindfulness And Nature Based Intervention For At-Risk Middle School Students, Nahal L. Khalatbari

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Public schools are faced with the daunting task of both educating students and managing their behaviors exhibited at school. Unfortunately, many schools do not have prevention measures in order to decrease the amount of behavior problems and office referrals. Instead, they handle behavioral issues as they arise in a reactive manner and many times use detention and suspension as consequences. Thus, students miss academic and instructional time and often do not decrease the behaviors. A majority of students who are suspended will be suspended again in the future (Losen & Martinez, 2013). Another issue facing students is a dismal lack …

The Effects Of Mindfulness Meditation On Electroencephalogram (Eeg) Asymmetry, Alexandria Hudeck

Honors Projects

This study examines the effects of a brief 20-minute single-session mindfulness meditation session on electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry, as well as the positive and negative affect scale (PANAS). It was hypothesized that mindfulness meditation would significantly decrease negative emotions through an increase of alpha band wavelengths to the right hemisphere and thereby resulting in greater left hemispheric activity. The results from the experiment using 10 Bowling Green State participants demonstrated that there was no significant difference between the mindfulness condition and the comparison condition in any of the dependent variables. Strengths and limitations of this study were discussed.

Generating Therapeutic Attunement Through Mindfulness Practice, Kestrel Feiner-Homer

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Therapeutic attunement refers to the non-linear process in which therapists track the moment-to-moment changes in the somatic, emotional and energetic rhythms of the client, themselves and the intersubjective relationship that exists between them. Literature on this topic suggests that therapeutic attunement is imperative for creating empathic alliances that foster reparative neural growth and result in positive treatment outcomes. This study uses Scholarly Personal Narrative and single system design to explore the impact that integrating forty minutes of mindfulness meditation into my daily routine had on my ability to cultivate therapeutic attunement in my work with clients. Over the course of …

Mindfulness And The Oncology Patient: A Systematic Review, Kristina Babcock

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

This systematic review was designed to gather and analyze data available regarding the effectiveness of mindfulness practice in decreasing depression or anxiety for oncology/hematology patients. The electronic databases used to identify studies for this review included the University of St. Thomas’ Summon Data Base, Psychinfo, Social Work Abstracts, SocINDEX and St. Catherine University’s Academic Search Premier. Sixteen quantitative studies met criteria and were reviewed and analyzed. All sixteen studies were divided between the categories of post cancer treatment/cancer survivors or active cancer diagnosis. The three major themes that surfaced within these two categories were depression, anxiety and stress. The studies …

Effects Of Mind And Body Interventions On Family Dementia Caregivers: A Systematic Review, Katherine C. Johnson

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Family members caring for a loved one with dementia encounter a multitude of physical and psychological stressors. Current interventions address some of these concerns, but are not adequate to address the daily psychological stress that leads so many dementia caregivers to anxiety and depression. The current review selects empirical research from the past twelve years on the effects of mind and body interventions on family dementia caregivers and finds that, while intervention type varies widely, overall results suggest that MBSR and yoga-based methods implemented for eight weeks can have a beneficial impact on caregiver anxiety, depression, mood, stress, and quality …

The Relationships Between Perceived Stress, The Big Five Inventory, The Five- Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, And Yoga, Erin Meyer Stamp

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Much research exists on the relationships between personality and stress, and other research examines the relationships between stress and coping. However, few studies have examined the relationships between how personality, stress, and coping. This study investigated the relationships between stress, personality, mindfulness, and yoga practice. A survey including an abbreviated version of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-10), a short version of the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-SV), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and qualitative questions on yoga practice was created. Fifty-eight people participated. Results indicate that personality not only impacts how people perceive stress, but it may also impact how people …

An Integrated Theoretical Approach For Applying Evidence-Based Practices To Art Therapy, Ashley Walter

Senior Capstone Theses

Evidence-based practice is a scientific approach to therapy that uses research to determine whether or not interventions are efficacious. In the field of art therapy, patients may not be receiving the best possible treatment due to the lack of well-researched evidence-based practices. This deficiency means that clinicians cannot be certain of the efficacy of their interventions, thus running the risk of wasting patients’ time and money on treatment that is not healing them, or worse, is actually causing them harm. This ethical dilemma can be somewhat remedied by employing an integrated theoretical approach. So, how then, can an integrated theoretical …

The Relationship Between Dispositional Mindfulness Characteristics And Anxiety In High Functioning Adults Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Max Emanuel Maisel

Theses and Dissertations

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 …

Effects Of A Brief Mindfulness Induction On Death-Related Anxiety, David Matthew Schultz

Master's Theses

Terror management theory postulates that the behavior and beliefs of individuals are influenced on some level by an underlying aversion to death. Mortality salience, the conscious awareness of one’s own impending death, creates behavioral changes in individuals compared to non-mortality salient individuals. These changes in behavior are referred to as distal and proximal defense mechanisms. Relatively little research has investigated mechanisms to buffer effects of mortality salience. Mindfulness refers to a conscious awareness and acceptance of moment-to-moment experiences. By allowing individuals to take a regulated view of difficult situations, mindfulness may attenuate the negative effects of mortality salience. The present …

The Impact Of A Christian Adaptation To Mindfulness Training On Stress, Religious Coping, And God Attachment: A Randomized Trial, Kristy Ford

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Multicultural sensitivity requires consideration of a client’s personal belief system in the administration of ethical and effective mental health treatments. Religiously accommodative treatments seek to increase therapeutic effectiveness, enhancing empirically supported treatments by adapting interventions as needed to respectfully incorporate the worldview of the client. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a religiously accommodative treatment in a Christian sample. Volunteer participants (n=78) were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions. The Christian mindfulness training (CMT) group protocol was explicitly adapted to a Christian worldview, while the conventional mindfulness training (MT) group protocol lacked explicit …

Don't Let Clutter Of Extraneous Thoughts Get In Your Way, Traci Evison

UCF Forum

I have the best conversations when I am alone.

Assessing The Psychoeducational Approach To Transcendence And Health (Path) Program : An Intervention To Foster Self-Transcendence And Well-Being In Community-Dwelling Older Adults., Valerie Lander Mccarthy, Sharon Bowland, Lynne A. Hall, Jennifer Connelly

Valerie L. McCarthy

The late-life developmental process of self-transcendence shapes elders’ perspectives on self, others, the nature of this world, and of a dimension beyond the here and now. This qualitative pilot study evaluated the Psychoeducational Approach to Transcendence and Health (PATH) Program, a psychoeducational intervention to promote self-transcendence and well-being in community-dwelling women at a senior center. The intervention involved eight weekly group sessions using group processes, mindfulness practices, creative experiences, and independent at-home practice. The findings supported the underlying theory-based structure and content of the intervention and indicated the intervention may empower elders to attend to self-care, develop acceptance, and learn …

Knowledge And Perception Of The Present Moment And Emotions, Camila I. Polanco, Leeann Cardaciotto

Undergraduate Research

Because emotional intelligence (EI) relies on one’s own awareness of emotions, it may be helpful to see if there is a relationship with mindfulness. Previous research has measured both constructs using self-report measures and suggests that there is a positive relationship between them. However, a drawback of self-report measures of EI is that individuals may not be able to accurately report on their abilities. In contrast to self-report measures, other researchers have argued that behavioral measures better capture ability of EI. Therefore, this study will replicate previous research that examined the relationship between mindfulness and EI by administering a self-report …

Dispositional Mindfulness Uncouples Physiological And Emotional Reactivity To A Laboratory Stressor And Emotional Reactivity To Executive Functioning Lapses In Daily Life, Greg Feldman, Jayne Lavalle, Kelsea Gildawie, Jeffrey M. Greeson

Faculty Scholarship for the College of Science & Mathematics

Both dispositional mindfulness and mindfulness training may help to uncouple the degree to which distress is experienced in response to aversive internal experience and external events. Because emotional reactivity is a transdiagnostic process implicated in numerous psychological disorders, dispositional mindfulness and mindfulness training could exert mental health benefits, in part, by buffering emotional reactivity. The present studies examine whether dispositional mindfulness moderates two understudied processes in stress reactivity research: the degree of concordance between subjective and physiological reactivity to a laboratory stressor (Study 1); and the degree of dysphoric mood reactivity to lapses in executive functioning in daily life (Study …

Presence And The Paradox Of Love, Joanne Burtch

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

Spiritual experiences often seem unrelated to the intellectual orientation of science. However, some discussion of the laboratory study of spiritual practice does attempt to include the mystery and the human experience in its dialogue. An exploration of the paradox of love demonstrates how it might be possible to find a relationship between the scientific understanding of spirituality and the profundity of spiritual experience.

Mindfully In Love: A Meta-Analysis Of The Association Between Mindfulness And Relationship Satisfaction, Julianne Mcgill, Francesca Adler-Baeder, Priscilla Rodriguez

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Mindfulness is an individual practice, where one has a heightened awareness of the present moment. An extensive research literature finds links between trait mindfulness and individual-level physical and mental health benefits. A limited but growing amount of research focuses on the association between mindfulness and romantic relationship satisfaction. Though there have been comprehensive reviews, no study has statistically tested the magnitude of the association between mindfulness and relationship satisfaction. Better understanding the value of this practice for relationships can serve to inform community educators and practitioners focused on promoting healthy family relationships. This study used a meta-analytic technique focused on …

The Effects Of Self-Care Meditation Behaviour On Undergraduate Students’ Reported Stress, Anna Smallwood

Undergraduate Honours Theses

The goal of this research study was to provide undergraduate post-secondary students with a self-care behaviour that: a) was self-help based; b) could become a routine part of their schedules; and c) was effective in lowering their stress responses. One group of participants was asked to rate their stress on a 7-point scale, twice a day, for 10 business days. A second group of participants was also asked to rate their stress following the same instructions however they were also asked to perform a 5-minute mindfulness-based meditation twice a day, immediately following the stress ratings. A 2 (Week 1 vs. …

The Impact Of Cyberloafing And Mindfulness On Employee Burnout, Sarah Renee Stoddart

Wayne State University Dissertations

The current study examined two behaviors that are becoming increasing more popular: cyberloafing and mindfulness meditation through a coping lens. Cyberloafing, or personal internet usage, is a type of disengagement coping whereas mindfulness is proposed to be a type of engagement coping. Using a longitudinal data collection method, data was collected at three time points to investigate the mediational role of both cyberloafing and mindfulness on the role overload-work burnout relationship. A cross-lagged model, a supplemental path analysis model, and additional analyses were conducted to analyze the relationship between role overload, coping behaviors, and work burnout. The overall hypotheses were …