The effects of a brief mindfulness exercise on state mindfulness and affective outcomes among adult daily smokers

Ultra-Brief Breath Counting (Mindfulness) Training Abolishes Negative Affect-Induced Alcohol Motivation in Hazardous Community Drinkers

Objectives

Mindfulness therapy improves drinking outcomes arguably by attenuating negative mood-induced drinking, but this mechanism has not been demonstrated in hazardous community drinkers. To address this, three studies tested whether a key ingredient of mindfulness, breath counting, would attenuate the increase in motivation for alcohol produced by experimentally induced negative mood, in hazardous community drinkers.

Method

In three studies, hazardous community drinkers were randomized to receive either a 6-min breath counting training or listen to a recited extract from a popular science book, before all participants received a negative mood induction. Motivation for alcohol was measured before and after listening to either the breath counting training or the control audio files, with a craving questionnaire in two online studies (n = 122 and n = 111), or an alcohol versus food picture choice task in a pub context in one in-person study (n = 62).

Results

In Study 1, breath counting reduced alcohol craving. However, since the mood induction protocol did not increase craving, the effect of breath counting in reversing such increase could not be demonstrated. Online breath counting eliminated the increase in alcohol craving induced by negative mood (Study 2) and eliminated the stress-induced increase in alcohol picture choice in the pub environment (Study 3).

Conclusions

Briefly trained breath counting attenuated negative mood-induced alcohol motivation in hazardous community drinkers. These results suggest that breath counting is a reliable and practical method for reducing the impact of negative emotional triggers on alcohol motivation.

Preregistration

These studies are not preregistered.

A randomized controlled pilot trial of brief online mindfulness training in young drivers

OBJECTIVE

Driver distraction contributes to fatal and injury crashes in young drivers. Mind wandering (MW) is a covert form of distraction involving task-unrelated thoughts. Brief online mindfulness training (MT) may reduce unsafe driving by enhancing recognition (meta-awareness) of MW and reducing its occurrence. This pilot trial tested these proposed mechanisms of MT and explored its specificity of action, effects on driving behaviour in simulation, as well as intervention adherence and acceptability in young drivers.

METHODS

A pre-post (T1, T2), randomized, active placebo-controlled, double-blinded design was used. Twenty-six drivers, aged 21-25, received either brief online MT (experimental) or progressive muscle relaxation (PMR, control) over 4-6 days. A custom website blindly conducted randomization, delivered interventions, administered questionnaires, and tracked adherence. At T1 and T2, a simulator measured driving behaviour while participants indicated MW whenever they recognized it, to assess meta-awareness, and when prompted by a thought-probe, to assess overall MW.

RESULTS

MT reduced MW while driving in simulation. The MT group reported higher state mindfulness following sessions. Motivation did not account for MW or mindfulness results. MT and meta-awareness were associated with more focus-related steering behaviour. Intervention groups did not significantly differ in adherence or attrition. No severe adverse effects were reported, but MT participants reported more difficulty following intervention instructions.

CONCLUSION

Results support a plausible mechanism of MT for reducing MW-related crash risk (i.e., reduction of MW) in young drivers. This preliminary evidence, alongside promising online adherence and acceptability results, warrants definitive efficacy and effectiveness trials of online MT.

Smartband-Based Automatic Smoking Detection and Real-time Mindfulness Intervention: Protocol for a Feasibility Trial

Background

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Smoking cessation interventions delivered by smartphone apps are a promising tool for helping smokers quit. However, currently available smartphone apps for smoking cessation have not exploited their unique potential advantages to aid quitting. Notably, few to no available apps use wearable technologies, most apps require users to self-report their smoking, and few to no apps deliver treatment automatically contingent upon smoking.

Objective

This pilot trial tests the feasibility of using a smartband and smartphone to monitor and detect smoking and deliver brief mindfulness interventions in real time to reduce smoking.

Methods

Daily smokers (N=100, ≥5 cigarettes per day) wear a smartband for 60 days to monitor and detect smoking, notify them about their smoking events in real time, and deliver real-time brief mindfulness exercises triggered by detected smoking events or targeted at predicted smoking events. Smokers set a quit date at 30 days. A three-step intervention to reduce smoking is tested. First, participants wear a smartband to monitor and detect smoking, and notify them of smoking events in real time to bring awareness to smoking and triggers for 21 days. Next, a “mindful smoking” exercise is triggered by detected smoking events to bring a clear recognition of the actual effects of smoking for 7 days. Finally, after their quit date, a “RAIN” (recognize, allow, investigate, nonidentification) exercise is delivered to predicted smoking events (based on the initial 3 weeks of tracking smoking data) to help smokers learn to work mindfully with cravings rather than smoke for 30 days. The primary outcomes are feasibility measures of treatment fidelity, adherence, and acceptability. The secondary outcomes are smoking rates at end of treatment.

Results

Recruitment for this trial started in May 2021 and will continue until November 2021 or until enrollment is completed. Data monitoring and management are ongoing for enrolled participants. The final 60-day end of treatment data is anticipated in January 2022. We expect that all trial results will be available in April 2022.

Conclusions

Findings will provide data and information on the feasibility of using a smartband and smartphone to monitor and detect smoking and deliver real-time brief mindfulness interventions, and whether the intervention warrants additional testing for smoking cessation.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03995225; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03995225

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/32521

Investigating mindfulness influences on cognitive function: On the promise and potential of converging research strategies

Research investigating the effects and underlying mechanisms of mindfulness on cognitive functioning has accelerated exponentially over the past two decades. Despite the rapid growth of the literature and its influential role in garnering public interest in mindfulness, inconsistent methods in defining and measuring mindfulness have yielded variable findings, which contribute to the overall dearth of clear generalizable conclusions. The focus of this article is to address the lack of cohesion in the collective methodologies used in this domain by providing a new perspective grounded in classic cognitive and experimental psychology principles. We leverage the concept of converging operations to demonstrate how seemingly disparate research strategies can be integrated towards a more unified and systematic approach. An organizing taxonomic framework is described to provide useful structure in how mindfulness can be operationalized, measured, and investigated. We illustrate the rationale and core organizing principles of the framework through a selective review of studies on mindfulness and cognitive control. We then demonstrate the utility of the approach by showing how it can be applied to synthesize extant methodologies and guide the development of future research. Specific suggestions and examples pertaining to experimental design and statistical analysis are provided.

Smokers with and without Epilepsy show Similar Smoking Rate, Dependence Level, Cessation Attempts, and Motives

BACKGROUND

Individuals with epilepsy are up to twice as likely to be current cigarette smokers compared to those without. Moreover, one study showed current smoking is associated with an increased likelihood of seizures. However, outside of this one study, there is limited data on the presentation of specific smoking-related behaviors and cognitions in people with epilepsy, inhibiting our understanding of the severity of this behavior and our ability to formulate effective treatments for this population.

PURPOSE

The current study examined smoking-related behaviors and cognitions among smokers with epilepsy compared to smokers without epilepsy.

METHODS

Participants were 43 smokers with (Mage = 43.4, SD = 11.6) and 43 smokers without (Mage = 45.5, SD = 8.8) epilepsy recruited from an urban, academic setting within the U.S. Separate Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVAs) were conducted to evaluate differences between smokers with and without epilepsy in terms of smoking behavior (i.e., daily smoking rate, nicotine dependence, number of quit attempts, smoking duration, age of smoking onset) and smoking-related cognitive processes (i.e., smoking motives, perceived barriers to smoking cessation, cessation motives) after controlling for race and problematic alcohol use.

RESULTS

Smokers with epilepsy did not differ from smokers without epilepsy in terms of smoking rate (p = .51, ηp2 = .01), nicotine dependence (p = .12, ηp2 = .03), age of smoking onset (p = .42, ηp2 = .01), number of quit attempts (p = .43, ηp2 = .01), barriers to cessation (p = .30 to .80, ηp2 = .00 to .01), or cessation motives (p = .28 to .60, ηp2 = .00 to .02). Smokers without epilepsy reported higher levels of smoking for sensorimotor manipulation reasons (p = .03, ηp2 = .06) and longer smoking duration (p = .03, ηp2 = .06) than smokers with epilepsy.

CONCLUSIONS

Smokers with epilepsy do not appear to differ significantly from smokers without epilepsy in terms of smoking-related behaviors and cognitions, and may therefore benefit from current evidence-based treatments for smoking cessation that are not contraindicated for epilepsy (i.e., bupropion, varenicline).

Biological mechanism study of meditation and its application in mental disorders

In recent years, research on meditation as an important alternative therapy has developed rapidly and been widely applied in clinical medicine. Mechanism studies of meditation have also developed progressively, showing that meditation has great impact on brain structure and function, and epigenetic and telomere regulation. In line with this, the application of meditation has gradually been expanded to mental illness, most often applied for major depressive disorders and substance-related and addictive disorders. The focus of this paper is to illustrate the biological mechanisms of meditation and its application in mental disorders.

Ultra-brief breath counting (mindfulness) training promotes recovery from stress-induced alcohol-seeking in student drinkers

The therapeutic effect of mindfulness interventions on problematic drinking is thought to be driven by increased resilience to the impact of stress on negative mood and alcohol-seeking behaviour, but this claim needs empirical support. To address this hypothesis, the current study tested whether brief training of one component of mindfulness - breath counting - would reduce drinkers' sensitivity to the effect of noise stress on subjective mood and alcohol-seeking behaviour. Baseline alcohol-seeking was measured by choice to view alcohol versus food thumbnail pictures in 192 student drinkers. Participants then received a 6-minute audio file which either trained breath counting or recited a popular science extract, in separate groups. All participants were then stressed by a loud industrial noise and alcohol-seeking was measured again simultaneously to quantify the change from baseline. Subjective mood was measured after all three stages (baseline, post intervention, post stress test). The breath counting group were instructed to deploy this technique during the stress test. Results showed that the breath counting versus control intervention improved subjective mood relative to baseline, attenuated the worsening of subjective mood produced by stress induction, and accelerated recovery from a stress induced increase in alcohol-seeking behaviour. Exploratory moderation analysis showed that this accelerated recovery from stress induced alcohol-seeking by breath counting was weaker in more alcohol dependent participants. Mindfulness therapies may improve problematic drinking by increasing resilience to stress induced negative mood and alcohol-seeking, as observed in this study. The weaker therapeutic effect of breath counting in more dependent drinkers may reveal limitations to this intervention strategy.

The effects of mindfulness-based yogic breathing on craving, affect, and smoking behavior

Breathing practices are often incorporated into treatments for tobacco dependence, but there is little direct research testing the efficacy of breathing practices. This study examined the effects of a mindfulness-based yogic breathing (MB) intervention versus active treatment (cognitive strategy [CS]) and no-treatment (NT) control groups on craving, affect, withdrawal, and smoking behavior. Smokers (N = 60; 50% female; 83% African American) were randomized to receive 20 min of MB, CS, or NT. Participants completed self-report measures before and after the manipulation and then took part in a 50-min smoking choice procedure. Afterward, participants were advised to use the techniques they learned and self-monitor smoking for 24 hr. They received 3 reminder text messages and returned to the lab the following day. MB and CS were more effective than NT in decreasing craving to smoke and perceived nicotine withdrawal. MB, but not CS, was more effective than NT in reducing negative affect. MB reduced the risk of smoking by more than twofold relative to both CS and NT during the smoking choice procedure. Participants in the MB condition smoked fewer cigarettes than those in the CS and NT conditions in the 24 hr following the manipulation. There were no differential effects of the manipulations on state mindfulness or positive affect. Mindful yogic breathing appears to be particularly effective in alleviating the acute negative effects of smoking abstinence and decreasing smoking behavior. Mindful breathing techniques are safe, simple, and cost-effective strategies that deserve additional research attention, especially among underserved populations of smokers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The Effect of a Brief Mindfulness Training on Distress Tolerance and Stress Reactivity

Poor distress tolerance (DT) is considered an underlying facet of anxiety, depression, and a number of other psychological disorders. Mindfulness may help to increase DT by fostering an attitude of acceptance or nonjudgment toward distressing experiences. Accordingly, the present study examined the effects of a brief mindfulness training on tolerance of different types of distress, and tested whether trait mindfulness moderates the effect of such training. Undergraduates (n = 107) naïve to mindfulness completed a measure of trait mindfulness and underwent a series of stress tasks (cold pressor, hyperventilation challenge, neutralization task) before and after completing a 15-minute mindfulness training or a no-instruction control in which participants listened to relaxing music. Participants in the mindfulness condition demonstrated greater task persistence on the hyperventilation task compared to the control group, as well as a decreased urge to neutralize the effects of writing an upsetting sentence. No effect on distress ratings during the tasks were found. Overall trait mindfulness did not significantly moderate task persistence, but those with lower scores on the act with awareness facet of mindfulness demonstrated greater relative benefit of mindfulness training on the hyperventilation challenge. Mediation analyses revealed significant indirect effects of mindfulness training on cold pressor task persistence and urges to neutralize through the use of the nonjudge and nonreact facets of mindfulness. These results suggest that a brief mindfulness training can increase DT without affecting the subjective experience of distress.