Keywords: attention-related problems; mindfulness; emotion regulation.
Mindfulness-based therapeutic interventions are used for a large area of physical and psychological problems in adult and elderly people, including anxiety disorders, personality disorders, chronic pain and anger. Recently, researchers have started to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based programs on children. The aim of this study is to test the effects of a Mindfulness-based Program (MBP) on the levels of internalization, externalization and attention-related problems of children (41 participants, average age of 8.5 years, SD = 0.4), as compared to the effects of a standard procedure, i.e., Rational Stories program for children. The results revealed that the Mindfulness-based Program had higher effects than the Rational Stories program on the decrease of the attention-related problems, while no statistically significant differences were found at levels of internalizing and externalizing problems (i.e., both programs were associated with a decrease of the two types of problems).
More...Keywords: pressures to be thin; thin ideal internalization; mindfulness; unconditional self-acceptance; eating disorders
More...Keywords: anxiety; mindfulness; acceptance; implicit measures; assessment;
Although mindfulness interventions are increasingly used for coping with excessive anxiety, the relationship between mindfulness and anxiety is not yet clear. The study focused on this relationship. On a sample drawn from the general population, three mindfulness questionnaires were utilized. Anxiety was assessed by means of two self-report instruments as well as by two implicit anxiety measures. The latter were included because of the possibility that mindfulness might correlate with measurement error in measuring anxiety by self-report, which would cause biased results. A robust, moderate to high negative association was established between mindfulness and anxiety. Mindfulness facets related to acceptance contributed strongly to this relationship, while the role of awareness-related facets of mindfulness appeared to be less clear, seemingly contradictory and possibly two-fold. The study also suggested that level of mindfulness might indeed represent a confounding variable in self-report assessment of anxiety and probably of other constructs as well.
More...Keywords: Mindfulness meditation; consciousness; svalakṣaṇa; sāmānyalakṣaṇa; emptiness; intentionality; essences; pure ego; presuppositionless approach; propositional consciousness; objectivity
Unlike most other philosophical systems of India, Buddhism, though it gives a central place to “consciousness” in its philosophical enquiry, does not raise its status to a transcendental metaphysical level. Buddhism, in this way, has a special affinity with the phenomenological approach. The present paper focuses on the points of a contact between phenomenology and mindfulness meditation, the Buddhist spiritual practice. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part gives an account of the four kinds of mindfulness meditation based on the Buddha’s sermons on mindfulness. Then it focuses on their core features, namely, “objectivity”, “impermanence and other essential features” and “dynamic, yet passive awareness”. These features bring the two approaches close to each other. The second part brings out similarities and differences between the two approaches. The phenomenological approach, like the approach of mindfulness meditation regards consciousness as being of the intentional and propositional nature. It also emphasizes immanent to consciousness and brackets transcendent to it. Both approaches exhibit a scientific temperament and both tend to be presupposition-less. In spite of these close similarities, there are glaring differences between these two approaches. The phenomenological inquiry is aimed at intellectuality, whereas that of the Buddhist approach is spiritual. Phenomenology attributes reality to essences, whereas there is a tendency to deny ontological status to essences in Buddhism. Husserl’s acceptance of transcendental or pure ego contrasts with the no-self theory of Buddhism. Intentionality attributed to consciousness is also alien to all forms of Buddhism. The third part of the paper asserts the similarities and differences between the two approaches open to various possible forms of phenomenological practice. Furthermore, the paper suggests that different models of phenomenology are possible within Buddhism.
More...Keywords: Health care professionals; mindfulness; compassion; burnout syndrome; prevention; coping strategies
This pre-post, single-centered study evaluates the effects of a compassion-oriented mindfulness-based intervention on health professionals’ quality of life. The intervention was conducted in an Italian general hospital in the province of Milan. Between 2014 and 2015, thirty-four health professionals operating in the territorial psychiatric services followed an 18-week Compassion-Oriented Mindfulness-based Program. The program involved the practice of mindfulness meditation combined with a psycho-educational training. This pilot study analysed the impact of the intervention on mood, quality of life, and burnout-related characteristics. Outcome measures included the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire, and the Professional Quality of Life Scale. After the intervention, participants showed significantly decreased levels of depression, state anxiety, and emotional exhaustion. We found that an overall beneficial effect of the Compassion-Oriented Mindfulness-based Program existed in preventing burnout symptomatology. Non-evaluative and mindful attention was shown to improve stress resilience and coping strategies while simultaneously reducing worry and rumination. These results suggest that a compassion-oriented mindfulness program could prevent the development of anxiety and depression traits.
More...Keywords: competencies of the future; attention management; mindfulness; MBSR; self-regulation; mental fortitude; mental training; effectiveness
Mindful leadership is a competency of the future which enables leaders to effectively function in a challengingand changing VUCA world by being able to focus their attention in three directions: at themselves, at othersand at what is happening around them.Mindfulness facilitates intra and interpersonal skills, increases mental fortitude and resistance to time andperformance pressure, as well as the ability to think rationally and creatively, which helps us make faster,more rational and innovative decisions to achieve a competitive advantage. Mindfulness also helps us lookafter co-workers and our own welfare, making it an important factor in preventing occupational burnout.The article assumes an evidence-based approach which, based on the state of the research, indicates that itis viable to conduct positive interventions using a robust theoretical framework and documented empiricalresearch results.
More...Keywords: Bipolar disorder; mindfulness-based cognitive therapy; cognitive behavioral therapy;
Although cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is commonly utilized as a psychotherapy approach for bipolar disorder, empirical findings do not always support the effectiveness of CBT on bipolar disorder. Therefore, the need for different psychotherapy approaches that can be applied to bipolar disorder has arisen. Recently, the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) on bipolar disorder has begun to be investigated. In the present review, studies investigating the effects of MBCT on bipolar disorder were gathered to investigate whether the MBCT, which was examined for many disorders recent years, is also effective or not in bipolar disorder. Therefore, 12 studies reached via databases were examined in terms of sample characteristics, methodological backgrounds, and results. In the reviewed studies, it has been found that MBCT provides a reduction in anxiety, depression or mania/hypomania symptoms and an increase in mindfulness levels of people with bipolar disorder. Moreover, participants were tended to indicate that they benefited from MBCT. It was also observed increase in the participants’ attention, information processing, memory, emotion regulation, and positive affect. However, it was seen that these findings were not supported in all studies. Because these studies were mostly conducted with people who were in remission period, whether MBCT leads reduction in manic and hypomanic symptoms was not totally clear.
More...Keywords: Mindfulness; female sexual dysfunction; treatment
Female sexual health has become a growing field of research and focus of clinical practice in the last 10-15 years. Mindfulness-based interventions, which emphasize the focus of attention on here and now experiences without being judgmental but with an accepting attitude, have emerged as a promising treatment option for women with sexual dysfunction. In this context, the purpose of this review is to evaluate the usability and effectiveness of mindfulness-based psychological interventions in women having difficulty at various stages of sexual functioning. In line with this purpose, several databases were searched with the keywords of “sexual dysfunction AND mindfulness”, “sexual desire AND mindfulness”, “sexual arousal AND mindfulness”, “sexual pain AND mindfulness”, and “orgasm disorder AND mindfulness”. Based on PRISMA decision criteria, 13 research article published between 2000 and 2017 have been identified. The findings indicated that both individual and group-oriented mindfulness-based therapies significantly improved sexual dysfunctions in various aspects of the sexual response cycle and these improvements were maintained in the long term. Besides the primary outcomes related to sexual functioning, it appears to cause positive changes in many areas such as depression, anxiety, couple harmony, and communication as well.
More...Keywords: mindful poetry; mindfulness; Julian Tuwim
In this article, the author discusses the subject of pro-peace education with the use of poetry, and its influence on the mental well-being of children. She indicates Julian Tuwim as one of the Polish trailblazers of the 20th-century trend of mindfulness, which instructs how to establish a harmonious relationship with oneself and the environment. She discusses studies which focus on the methods used when working during school lessons of the Polish language; methods which employ mindful poetry. The author argues that there exists a relationship between internal equanimity and global peace.
More...Keywords: Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention; MBRP; mindfulness; CSBD; porn addiction
Compulsive sexual behaviour disorder (CSBD) is a medical condition that can impair social and occupational functioning and lead to severe distress. To date, treatment effectiveness studies of CSBD are under-developed; typically, treatment for CSBD is based on guidelines for substance or other behavioural addictions. Mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) is an evidence-based treatment for substance addiction aimed at, among other things, reducing craving and negative affect—i.e. processes that are implicated in the maintenance of problematic sexual behaviours. However, to our knowledge no prior research has been published evaluating mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) in the treatment of CSBD, except two clinical case reports. Therefore, the aim of the current pilot study was to examine whether MBRP can lead to clinical improvement in CSBD. Methods: Participants were 13 adult males with a diagnosis of CSBD. Before and after the eight-week MBRP intervention, participants completed a booklet of questionnaires including measurements of porn viewing, masturbation and emotional distress. Results: As expected, we found that after MBRP participants spent significantly less time engaging in problematic pornography use and exhibited a decrease in anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. Discussion and Conclusions: The findings indicate that MBRP could be beneficial for CSBD individuals. Further clinical effectiveness studies with bigger sample sizes, delayed post-training measurements and randomised control trial design are warranted. In conclusion, MBRP leads to a decrease in time spent watching porn and a decrease in emotional distress in CSBD patients.
More...Keywords: needs; consciousness; mindfulness; emotional needs; meditation; relaxation;
Needs are at the heart of our lives. Whether we are aware of it or not, they direct our actions. It is essential to pay attention to our needs because, as M. Rosenberg writes, "if we do not value our needs, others will not value them." To meet our needs, we must first know them. Unfortunately, we are often unaware of them. We don't always know our physical needs, otherwise we shouldn't go to the nutritionist, watch health shows or tell our doctors to exercise. In this context, in this article we aim to explore how we can become aware of personal needs through „MINDFULNESS" practices.
More...Keywords: Mindfulness; BSW students; practices; social work; course;
This study sought to determine whether mindfulness increased or decreased for Year 4 Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) students. Twenty-four participants received a brief mindfulness practice each week at the start of class and completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in the first and last class. Results showed a decrease from pre-test to post-test on the non-reactivity to inner experience facet of the scale. In addition, in a post-test, those participants who came to the BSW programme from secondary school had an overall higher score than those participants who came to the programme from community college. Moreover, participants who had no prior practice in mindfulness and those who did not practice mindfulness during their practicum saw an increase in scores. These findings are discussed and recommendations for future research are offered.
More...Keywords: Mindfulness; Neuroticism; Extraversion; Agreeableness; Conscientiousness; Openness;
The goal of present study was to examine the relationship between mindfulness and Big five personality traits on Bosnian sample. We used the following instruments: Sociodemographic scale, Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and The Big Five Inventory. According to the results, there is a moderate and inverse correlation between mindfulness and Neuroticism, and small to moderate positive correlations with other Big five personality traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Extraversion). The results of multiple regression analysis showed that Big five personality traits explain the significant proportion of the variance for the criterion variable mindfulness and that the significant predictors for mindfulness were Neuroticism, Conscientiousness and Openness. More research is needed to explore this multi-faceted nature of both Big five personality traits and mindfulness.
More...Keywords: nursing; awareness; mindfulness; virtual reality;
Virtual reality (VR) has recently been used as a tool to support awareness. When the literature is examined, no national or international studies have been found to transfer awareness practices to nursing practices as virtual reality applications. VR technologies beneficially address the challenges of environmental distraction by providing an immersive, engaging and controlled visual and auditory virtual space where attention skills can be experienced. It has been reported that the mindfulness-based stress reduction program with VR applications is used to reduce stress and anxiety, regain attention, increase anxiety and fear, and treat post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorder and pain. VR technologies have made mental health interventions more accessible to the wider public. VR mindfulness is a new research area in the field of nursing. Therefore, it seems that more research is needed on this topic to understand the processes related to awareness in VR and other digital applications. The purpose of this review is to examine the relationship between VR of mindfulness stress reduction programs and nursing practices.
More...Keywords: social entrepreneurial intention; mindfulness; perceived social support; attitude; selfefficacy;
Objective: This study aims to demonstrate the positive relationships between mindfulness, perceived social support, and social entrepreneurship intention (SEI) using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Research Design & Methods: This study surveyed 525 students who have been taking social entrepreneurship courses of non-profit organizations in Vietnam. Data was collected through a pre-designed questionnaire at Google Form from August to October 2020 and analysed by structural equation modelling to verify the research model and hypotheses. Findings: The research confirmed the positive relationships between mindfulness, perceived social support, and social entrepreneurial intention (SEI). Among them, the role of mindfulness is the most important, because its impact on SEI is the strongest. This study has also shown that the components of the theory of planned behaviour have an intermediary role to strengthen the relationships in the research model. Implications & Recommendations: This study confirms the need to include mindfulness courses when training future social entrepreneurs to help them for acquiring the right attitudes and forming social entrepreneurial intentions. Contribution & Value Added: This study found that practicing mindfulness drastically changes entrepreneurs’ attitudes towards social entrepreneurship. In contrast, perceived social support makes these entrepreneurs display a higher level of self-efficacy in forming social entrepreneurial intentions.
More...Keywords: Trait Mindfulness; Emotional Intelligence; Conflict Management Styles;
Aim: Mindfulness means focusing on the moment with attention and a positive attitude. It is a Buddhist concept that was secularized by Kabat‐Zinn (2005) and brought to the world of science, and its effects in different areas such as psychology, business administration, health sciences, guidance, and psychological counseling were studied. Numerous studies have found that mindfulness has positive effects on an individual’s attitudes and behaviors. A less studied concept regarding the influence of mindfulness is conflict management styles. In this research, the mediating role of emotional intelligence on the relationship between trait mindfulness and cooperative conflict management styles was determined. Method: Data were collected from 193 white‐collar personnel who are employed in the public and private sectors using the convenience sampling method. Findings: Trait mindfulness was related to integrating and compromising conflict management styles. The mediation analysis was conducted with SPSS Process Macro and it was found that emotional intelligence didn’t act as a mediator. Results: The integrating and compromising styles predict trait mindfulness. The theoretical contributions of the research were discussed and suggestions were given to the practitioners.
More...Keywords: Mindfulness; state mindfulness; mindfulness scale; mindful awareness;
Mindfulness-based approaches, which have been used in many fields in recent years, have been widely accepted especially in practices in psychology and psychiatry, and have been integrated into traditional treatment methods. In parallel with the positive effects of the concept of mindfulness on mental, spiritual and physical well-being, researches have also steadily increased and various scales have been developed to measure mindfulness which can be summarized as the mindful awareness of the moment by accepting one’s experience without judgment. Some of these scales were adapted to Turkish in the last decade. Considering the extensive usage of the concept of mindfulness in healthrelated fields, this study aimed to introduce the State Mindfulness Scale into Turkish, as one of the important scales to be evaluated on a more solid theoretical and methodological basis. Accordingly, the source scale was translated into Turkish through the steps suggested by WHO. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed for the validity of the scale. Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient, Item Total Score Analysis, Guttman reliability coefficients, Spearman-Brown confidence coefficients were evaluated and the findings regarding the internal consistency of the scale were used in terms of the reliability analysis of the scale. For CFA and other analyses, 345 students at Akdeniz University were included in the study. As a result of CFA, it was found that the 21 item 2-factor structure in the source scale was compatible with the target culture (X2/Sd: 3,41; RMSEA: 0,088: CFI: 0,95). The correlation reliability coefficients of the scale ranged from 0.484 to 0.743. The Cronbach alpha value of the first factor of the scale was 0.899, the Cronbach alpha value of the second factor was 0.728, and the Cronbach alpha value for the total score was 0.921. The findings show that the validity and reliability of the State Mindfulness Scale has been ensured and the scale has been successfully adapted to Turkish.
More...Keywords: Mindfulness; mindful learning; mindless learning; mental focus; creative problem-solving; critical thinking;
This investigation explores the link between mindfulness factors (e.g., novelty-producing behaviour, novelty-seeking behaviour, and engagement with present activities) and critical thinking dispositions (e.g., mental focus and creative problem-solving). Data were gathered from one hundred forty-nine higher education students (N = 149). Participants aged 20 to 24 years (M = 21.85, SD = 0.86) were asked to fill out a questionnaire. This study employs hierarchical regression to investigate the link between mindfulness factors and critical thinking dispositions. The results emphasized the role of novelty-producing behaviour in mental focus as critical thinking disposition. Moreover, the results also show the importance of novelty-producing behaviour and engagement with present activities for creative problem-solving as critical thinking disposition. Further, the educational implications of mindful learning are discussed.
More...Keywords: mindfulness; box breathing; bodyscan; Name-it-to-tame-it; Inside Out movie; language classes;
Most often than not, when sitting for an exam a lot of emphasis is put on what the exam contains (structure, types of tasks, grading, etc.), and little or no emphasis at all on what students may feel before or on the day of the exam, overlooking the fact that that exams are governed by a great tension which translates into strong emotions. They constitute a real and undeniable enemy against making good decisions. Therefore, this paper advocates the use of mindfulness in language classes as a means of ensuring students’ mental comfort and developing their ability to focus (attention). It also puts forward a practical, applied and explained approach to mindfulness by showcasing such activities as box breathing, bodyscan, name it to tame strategy that will lead students towards a better management of their strong feelings and emotions. Last but not least, several activities around the Inside Out movie that will connect students with their inner self. All in all, this paper aims to show how mental and emotional balance can be regained through fairly simple tools.
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