Editorial: Mindfulness in Sport and Exercise Psychology Kee, Ying Hwa; Roychowdhury, Dev
Asian journal of sport and exercise psychology,
September-December 2021, 2021-09-00, 2021-09-01, Volume:
1, Issue:
2-3
Journal Article
Objective
The purpose of this study was to review the existing quantitative and qualitative evidence regarding how mindfulness‐based interventions (MBIs) help cope with cancer‐related challenges and ...increase affected patients' perceived self‐efficacy.
Methods
A systematic literature search was conducted on PubMed, PsycInfo, PubPsych, and CINAHL. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies were included if they (1) evaluated MBIs (2) for patients with cancer or cancer survivors (3) regarding their impact on coping with cancer and perceived self‐efficacy. The reports were screened by two independent reviewers and conflicts were resolved by a third reviewer. The review was pre‐registered on PROSPERO (CRD42022368765).
Results
Findings from 28 reports of 19 quantitative studies, six qualitative studies, and three mixed‐methods studies (total N = 1722) were extracted and integrated. The synthesis of quantitative data showed considerable heterogeneity in outcomes and measurement instruments. Most often reported were significant positive impacts of mindfulness on general coping skills, self‐regulation, and perceived efficacy in coping with cancer. Qualitative interviews with patients supported those results. The three meta‐themes identified were that MBI (1) provided patients with tools to use in stressful situations, (2) promoted a general change of mindset and (3) created a feeling of social connectedness.
Conclusions
The reviewed studies suggest that MBI can promote coping and enhance the perceived self‐efficacy of patients with cancer. In the future, more research investigating the different aspects of coping and the potentially moderating role of self‐efficacy could provide further insights with respect to how coping and self‐efficacy related to MBI.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) emphasize the importance of mindfulness practice at home as an integral part of the program. However, the ...extent to which participants complete their assigned practice is not yet clear, nor is it clear whether this practice is associated with positive outcomes.
For this systematic review and meta-analysis, searches were performed using Scopus and PubMed for studies published through to the end of 2015, reporting on formal home practice of mindfulness by MBSR or MBCT participants.
Across 43 studies (N = 1427), the pooled estimate for participants' home practice was 64% of the assigned amount, equating to about 30 minutes per day, six days per week 95% CI 60–69%. There was substantial heterogeneity associated with this estimate. Across 28 studies (N = 898), there was a small but significant association between participants’ self-reported home practice and intervention outcomes (r = 0·26, 95% CI 0·19,–0·34).
MBSR and MBCT participants report completing substantial formal mindfulness practice at home over the eight-week intervention, albeit less than assigned amounts. There is a small but significant association between the extent of formal practice and positive intervention outcomes for a wide range of participants.
•Standard mindfulness interventions assign significant home practice.•This meta-analysis estimated participants' typical practice completion.•Average mindfulness home practice time equated to 30 min per day, 6 days per week.•The extent of practice positively correlated with intervention outcomes.
El objetivo del presente estudio fue examinar el efecto de un programa de intervención con componente mindfulness para la reducción de la ansiedad precompetitiva, el cual fue adaptado de programas ...que han demostrado su eficacia. La intervención estuvo compuesta por 12 sesiones de 1 hora de duración. Participaron en el estudio 33 deportistas de artes marciales (M = 18.97 años, DE = 1.64; 69.7% hombres). La ansiedad precompetitiva fue evaluada con la versión revisada del Inventario de Ansiedad Estado Competitiva -2 (CSAI-2R; Cox, Martens y Rusell, 2003), antes y después del periodo de la intervención. De acuerdo al grado de participación en la intervención, la muestra fue dividida en 2 grupos: Grupo Control (GC, n = 16) y Grupo Experimental (GE, n = 17). Los resultados evidenciaron diferencias significativas con tamaños del efecto grandes en la medida post test del GE, revelando una disminución en los niveles de ansiedad somática y cognitiva, y un aumento en los niveles de autoconfianza. Mientras, en el GC, no se obtuvo diferencias significativas y los tamaños del efecto fueron irrelevantes
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are at a pivotal point in their future development. Spurred on by an ever-increasing number of studies and breadth of clinical application, the value of such ...approaches may appear self-evident. We contend, however, that the public health impact of MBIs can be enhanced significantly by situating this work in a broader framework of clinical psychological science. Utilizing the National Institutes of Health stage model (Onken, Carroll, Shoham, Cuthbert, & Riddle, 2014), we map the evidence base for mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction as exemplars of MBIs. From this perspective, we suggest that important gaps in the current evidence base become apparent and, furthermore, that generating more of the same types of studies without addressing such gaps will limit the relevance and reach of these interventions. We offer a set of 7 recommendations that promote an integrated approach to core research questions, enhanced methodological quality of individual studies, and increased logical links among stages of clinical translation in order to increase the potential of MBIs to impact positively the mental health needs of individuals and communities.
Training attention and awareness in mindfulness meditation is theorized to be essential for the cultivation of mindfulness and its salutary outcomes. Yet, the empirical foundation for this central ...premise in mindfulness science is surprisingly small due to a limited methodological capacity to measure attention and awareness during mindfulness meditation. Accordingly, we set out to measure and study these processes in a laboratory study (N = 143, 76.92% female) using a novel behavioral measurement paradigm-the mindful awareness task (MAT). We empirically characterized attention and awareness during mindfulness meditation and found novel behavioral evidence indicating that, as long-theorized, these processes were related to previous mindfulness meditation practice, attitudinal qualities of mindfulness, attention regulation, and mental health. Furthermore, we found that the accuracy of self-reported mindfulness was, paradoxically, dependent on behavioral capacities for mindful awareness; and that sustained visual attention and executive functions, measured via cognitive-experimental tasks, were not meaningfully related to attention and awareness during mindfulness meditation. In contrast, the MAT demonstrated sound psychometric performance as a measure of mindful awareness, and may overcome significant limitations of extant mindfulness measurement methods. Collectively, findings challenge conceptual and methodological assumptions in mindfulness science, provide a novel paradigmatic direction for research on mindfulness, and present long-awaited evidence that attention and awareness during mindfulness meditation may indeed be fundamental to its practice, cultivation, and salutary functions.
Public Significance Statement
Mindfulness meditation is implemented in a variety of settings and applications. Yet we lack empirical evidence, and methods to study, a central premise of this intervention approach-that training attention and awareness through mindfulness meditation is essential to its practice and salutary functions. Using a novel behavioral measurement paradigm, we provide long-awaited support for this central premise and show that this paradigm may help advance empirical understanding of mindfulness.
Objective
Mindfulness‐based interventions (MBIs) are increasingly used within psycho‐oncology. Since the publication of the most recent comprehensive meta‐analysis on MBIs in cancer in 2012, the ...number of published trials has more than doubled. We therefore conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), testing the efficacy of MBIs on measures of psychological distress (primary outcome) and other health outcomes in cancer patients and survivors.
Methods
Two authors conducted independent literature searches in electronic databases from first available date to 10 October 2018, selected eligible studies, extracted data for meta‐analysis, and evaluated risk of bias.
Results
Twenty‐nine independent RCTs (reported in 38 papers) with 3274 participants were included. Small and statistically significant pooled effects of MBIs on combined measures of psychological distress were found at post‐intervention (Hedges's g = 0.32; 95%CI: 0.22‐0.41; P < .001) and follow‐up (g = 0.19; 95%CI: 0.07‐0.30; P < .002). Statistically significant effects were also found at either post‐intervention or follow‐up for a range of self‐reported secondary outcomes, including anxiety, depression, fear of cancer recurrence, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and pain (g: 0.20 to 0.51; p: <.001 to.047). Larger effects of MBIs on psychological distress were found in studies (a) adhering to the original MBI manuals, (b) with younger patients, (c) with passive control conditions, and (d) shorter time to follow‐up. Improvements in mindfulness skills were associated with greater reductions in psychological distress at post‐intervention.
Conclusions
MBIs appear efficacious in reducing psychological distress and other symptoms in cancer patients and survivors. However, many of the effects were of small magnitude, suggesting a need for intervention optimization research.
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