Mindfulness Therapy for Maladaptive Interpersonal Dependency: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial

Mental and Physical Health Impacts of Mindfulness Training for College Undergraduates: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background

Universities increasingly offer mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) to improve student health and reduce their impact on overburdened psychological services. It is critical for evidence-based policy to determine for what health outcomes mindfulness programs are effective and under what conditions. Objectives were to: (a) perform a comprehensive analysis of the effects of mindfulness interventions on physical, mental, and behavioral health outcomes in college undergraduate students, and (b) examine moderators of intervention effects to identify factors that may help improve existing university mindfulness programs and guide the design of new programs.

Method

Systematic searches of five databases identified MBP randomized controlled trials for undergraduate students, measuring any health outcome. Analyses using robust variance estimation focused on standardized mean differences for outcomes between groups and modeled through coded study features.

Results

The 58 studies in the review primarily focused on mental health with fewer assessments of physical health or health behaviors. Overall, mindfulness interventions significantly outperformed both active and inactive controls (ps<.05), with the most marked effects on anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and mindfulness; greater success appeared for clinical populations. Online programs performed equivalent to in-person, and non-MBP programs were equivalent to MBP programs after controlling for other factors. Publication bias and other quality issues also emerged.

Conclusions

Mindfulness programs improve well-being in college students, with the strongest evidence for reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms. More studies utilizing stronger methods are needed to evaluate mindfulness programs' effects on additional health outcomes and online interventions in clinical populations.

The Many Roads to Mindfulness: A Review of Nonmindfulness-Based Interventions that Increase Mindfulness

Objectives: Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have become increasingly popular for treating various physical and mental disorders. An increase in mindfulness levels through the teaching of mindfulness meditation is the most well-studied mechanism of MBIs. Recent studies, however, suggest that an increase in mindfulness is also observed in physical or psychosocial interventions not explicitly labeled as MBIs, or what the authors call non-MBIs. The authors aimed to review what non-MBIs can increase mindfulness levels despite not explicitly teaching mindfulness meditation. Design: The authors conducted a literature search for studies that included a non-MBI study arm measuring pre- and postintervention mindfulness levels using one of the following eight validated self-reported mindfulness questionnaires: Five-Faceted Mindfulness Questionnaire, Mindful Awareness and Attention Scale, Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory, Toronto Mindfulness Scale, Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale, Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills, Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure, and Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised. The authors identified 69 non-MBI study arms from 51 independent studies of the non-MBI itself or as active controls of an MBI under investigation. The authors documented or calculated, if not provided, effect sizes (ES) for changes in mindfulness levels following these interventions. Results: Among the 69 non-MBI arms, 36 showed no effect for change in mindfulness (ES <0.20), 3 were indeterminate (no ES available or unable to calculate), 13 had small effects (0.20 < ES <0.5), 13 had medium effects (0.50 < ES <0.80), 3 had large effects (0.80 < ES <1.3), and 1 had a very large effect (ES >1.3) for change in mindfulness. Conclusions: Analysis of the characteristics of non-MBIs with significant increases in mindfulness levels suggested some commonalities between MBIs and non-MBIs, shedding light on a spectrum of mindfulness-related interventions and the possibility that there are many roads to developing mindfulness.

Lack of emotional clarity and diminished self-efficacy as core problems in functional dependency: A structural equation modeling analysis with a college student sample

BACKGROUND

High levels of functional dependency appear to be deleterious to psychological and physical health. The goal of this research was to identify factors responsible for the association between functional dependency and negative health outcomes.

METHODS

Self-report data were collected from 149 undergraduate students. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model in which functional dependency has indirect effects on three negative psychological outcomes (negative affect, functional impairment, and dissatisfaction with life) through two variables: lack of experiential awareness and diminished self-efficacy.

RESULTS

The model provided a good fit to the data and five of the six indirect effects were statistically significant.

LIMITATIONS

Limitations include self-report and cross-sectional nature of the data.

CONCLUSIONS

These results help to shed light on the core pathology in functional dependency and implicate specific interventions in treating problems associated with this personality trait.