Psychology Commons^™

The Development And Validation Of A Preliminary Meditation Intentions Questionnaire, Daniel Kharlas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Meditation programs and mindfulness interventions have become increasingly popular over the last 30 years in both clinical and non-clinical populations. However, challenges such as motivating participants in 8-week programs and adherence rates are issues in many mindfulness meditation interventions. The Meditation Intentions Questionnaire (MIQ) was developed as a measure intended to guide participants to set their own goals and intentions for meditation. The MIQ has six subscales with 8 items each. The subscales assess intentions for participating in meditation programs in the following domains: cognitive enhancement, increased emotional control, greater positive affect, stress relief, spiritual discovery and psychological discovery. Items …

Can Mindfulness Training Reduce Stress Reactivity In First-Year College Students?, Liat Zitron

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

ABSTRACT

Can Mindfulness Training Reduce Stress-Reactivity in First-Year College Students?

By

Liat Zitron

Advisor: Yu Gao, PhD

The positive effects of mindfulness-based practices on stress reactivity have been gaining steady attention in recent years. Yet, the effects of mindfulness training on stress responses via the autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning, and in particular, changes in cardiovascular activity, have rarely been researched. The polyvagal theory (Porges, 1995) offers a theoretical framework in which the roles of the subdivisions of the ANS in regulating emotion and behaviors are delineated, and closely connected to the concept of heart rate variability (HRV) and its …

Tantric Buddhist Art: Through An Integral Lens, Haven, Rien T.

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Tantric Buddhist art is a very diverse and unique form of art. Its main goals are to reveal the nature of reality by showing the perceiver that there is a more expansive and actualized being than the one currently experienced. In this way it shares many similarities with religious art, but puts its own special non-dual twist on religious art that will engage and surprise the reader.

Stop, Meditate, And Listen: A Treatment Modality For Iraqi Refugees With Depression, Katherine Goehring

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Purposes: To implement a mindfulness meditation program with Arabic speaking clients as an adjunctive treatment of depression

Background: Depression rates among Iraqi refugees are between 28.3 and 75% compared to 8.6% in the general population (Slewa-Younan, Guajardo, Heriseanu, & Hasan, 2015). Treatment options are limited at Neighborhood Healthcare in El Cajon due to budget limitations, cultural beliefs and language barriers, among other reasons. Individual therapy is intended to be a brief intervention due to limited staffing. Many middle eastern refugees decline group therapy due to stigma surrounding mental health treatment and concerns about privacy. Even though traditional treatment …

Meditation May Diminish The Symptoms Of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (Pots), Allyson Killen

Psychology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Various forms of meditation have been integrated into treatment options because of the derived benefits. Transcendental Meditation (TM) has been shown to decrease heartrate, blood pressure, and stress symptoms (Seaward, 2018). Additionally, Mindfulness Meditation (MM) has been shown to decrease anxiety and has been used in different treatments for chronic disorders (Buchholz, 2015). To my knowledge, no previous research has looked at the beneficial effects of meditation as a treatment option for POTS. POTS is a dysautonomic disorder characterized by an increase in HR by greater than 30 bpm and an intolerance of orthostatic fluctuations. Since this significantly affects physiological …

An Examination Of A Mindfulness-Based Intervention For Older Adults, Morgan Levy

Theses and Dissertations

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 …

The Impact Of Mindfulness On Student Success, Casey D. Nightingale

All Master's Theses

As schools are adopting the whole child approach, it is important to examine how the approach impacts academic success. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a school-based mindfulness curriculum on student reading scores and classroom engagement. Using a multiple baseline design, this study examined the rate of improvement in reading scores and academic engagement in elementary students receiving a mindfulness curriculum. The curriculum was introduced in addition to the regular curriculum in 15-minute lessons twice a week. Rate of improvement was examined utilizing curriculum-based measures, while student engagement was evaluated through classroom observation methods. This …

Women's Experiences Of Mindfulness In Romantic Relationships, Melissa Jay

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mindfulness has been found to enhance romantic relationships through the practice of remaining open, calm, and emotionally regulated during times of struggle. There was a gap in the literature, however, related to how the practice of mindfulness is subjectively experienced in women's romantic relationships. The purpose of this heuristic study was to understand how women's practice of mindfulness effects their romantic relationships. The conceptual framework for this study was mindfulness-to-meaning theory, which highlights that wellbeing is supported through 2 main mechanisms of mindfulness: savoring and reappraisal. The nature of this study was a qualitative approach using Moustakas's heuristic method. After …

Book: Venture Into A New Realm Of Cross-Cultural Psychology Meditation, Mantric Poetry, And Well-Being: A Qualitative, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Disciplinary Exploration With American Secondary And Japanese Post-Secondary Adolescents, Lunthita M. Duthely, Harashita Y. Sunaoshi, Olga M. Villar-Loubet

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

Higher well-being correlates positively with multiple psychological and social outcomes, including workplace success and better academic outcomes for students. Poetry and meditation, independently, have been demonstrated in prior studies to increase well-being in a variety of contexts, including physical and mental health challenges. To our knowledge, this is the only published cross-cultural study that merged contemplative practices and poetry within the well-being paradigm, particularly among general, non-clinical adolescent populations. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the use of meditation and mantric poetry in a cross-cultural, educational context. The materials included The Jewels of Happiness: Inspiration and Wisdom …

Exploring The Influence Of Meditation Experience On Stress Responses And Empathy: The Mediating Role Of Self-Expansion, Jennifer N. Baumgartner

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present research was to examine the influence of meditation experience on biopsychosocial responses to stress, empathy, and sense of self. An expanded sense of self was examined as a pathway through which meditation experience influences appraisals, affect, and empathy. It was expected that meditation experience would predict greater challenge stressor appraisals in response to an acute psychosocial stressor and associated affective, behavioral, and psychophysiological stress outcomes. In addition, it was expected that greater meditation experience would predict higher trait empathy and empathic accuracy. Participants (N = 110) included experienced meditators from a variety of practices and …