Brief online mindfulness training for medical students: a randomized control study

BACKGROUNDMedical students experience high levels of stress during their training. Literature suggests that mindfulness can reduce stress and increase self-compassion levels in medical students. However, most mindfulness training programs are delivered face-to-face and require significant time commitments, which can be challenging for rurally-based students with heavy academic workloads and limited support networks. PURPOSETo evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of a brief online Mindfulness training program for medical students based in rural areas, with regards to reducing stress, increasing self-compassion, mindfulness and study engagement. METHODSThis is a non-registered randomised control trial. Participants included both urban and rural medical students from UWA, University of Notre Dame and the RCSWA from 2018-2020. Participants were randomised to the intervention group, an 8-week online mindfulness training program, or the control group. Using quantitative-qualitative mixed-methods approach, we measured the frequency, duration and quality of the participants mindfulness meditation practice, and assessed changes in their perceived stress, self-compassion, mindfulness and study engagement levels. Further, the intervention group recorded a weekly reflective journal documenting their experience of the program. RESULTS114 participants were recruited to the study. 61 were randomised to the intervention, and 53 to the control. Quantitative analysis of the frequency, duration and quality of mindfulness meditation practice and changes in stress, self-compassion, mindfulness and study engagement is currently being conducted. Preliminary qualitative results reveal that participants experienced increased self-awareness, more mindfulness of their day-to-day activities, improved emotional regulation and increased productivity, while also facing difficulties with making time for their mindfulness practice. CONCLUSIONWe anticipate that this study will demonstrate that an online mindfulness training program tailored to reach rurally located medical students is feasible and effective in modifying their stress levels and psychological wellbeing.

Experiences of stressful situations and mindfulness training for persons with visual impairment

The aim of this study was to explore what persons with visual impairment (VI) experienced as stressful in their daily lives and their experiences with using mindfulness training (MT) to cope with stressful situations. In order to explore this we conducted semi-structured interviews with six persons with VI after finishing an 8-week MT course. Systematic text condensation was used to analyze the interviews. This qualitative study found that the participants described three main areas of stress: (1) lack of access to information, (2) social expectations, and (3) navigating the body through one’s surroundings. The participants’ experiences with using MT to cope with stressful situations resulted in emotion-based and problem-based strategies: (1) breathing anchor, (2) awareness of and reflection upon thoughts and feelings, (3) most things are doable, (4) tackling the situation in a new way, and (5) haste makes waste. Our respondents described using MT for coping with stressful situations in all the three main areas of stress. Based upon this study we propose that there is good reason to offer MT as stress management for persons with VI, but further study is required to confirm the health-promoting benefits of MT for this group.

Disrupting The Resting State: Meta-Analytic Evidence That Mindfulness Training Alters Default Mode Network Connectivity

This meta-analysis sought to expand upon neurobiological models of mindfulness through investigation of inherent brain network connectivity outcomes, indexed via resting state functional connectivity (rsFC). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of rsFC as an outcome of mindfulness training (MT) relative to structurally-equivalent programs, with the hypothesis that that MT would increase cross-network connectivity between nodes of the Default Mode Network (DMN), Salience Network (SN), and Frontoparietal Control Network (FPCN) as a mechanism of internally-oriented attentional control. Texts were identified from the databases: MEDLINE/PubMed, ERIC, PSYCINFO, ProQuest, Scopus, and Web of Sciences; and were screened for inclusion based on experimental/quasi-experimental trial design and use of standardized mindfulness-based interventions. RsFC effects were extracted from twelve studies (mindfulness n = 226; control n = 204). Voxel-based meta-analysis revealed significantly greater rsFC (MT > control) between the left middle cingulate (Hedge’s g = .234, p = 0288, I2 = 15.87), located within the SN, and the posterior cingulate cortex, a focal hub of the DMN. Egger’s test for publication bias was nonsignificant, bias = 2.17, p = .162. In support of our hypothesis, results suggest that MT targets internetwork (SN-DMN) connectivity implicated in the flexible control of internally-oriented attention.

Mindfulness and Sustainable Consumption: Evidence from Students in Istanbul

We are consuming more resources than ever, exceeding the planet’s capacity for coming generations. This shows the important role of sustainable consumption for the planet. To understand consumption patterns mindfulness may be regarded as an indicator that helps people gain insight into their true selves, which leads them to stay away from materialistic tendencies. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the effects of mindfulness training on the sustainable consumption perceptions of university students. In this qualitative study, a two-month mindfulness training is given and two focus group studies are conducted. Results suggest that mindfulness training has an impact on people’s perceptions related to consumption. The findings of this study can serve as proof for the transformational effect of mindfulness on people’s overall mood and subjective wellbeing. Received: 23 September 2021 / Accepted: 22 November 2021 / Published: 3 January 2022

Maximizing Learning to Meeting the Multicultural Learner

Mindfulness training might be the single easiest and cost-effective school effort to implement to support students. In a diverse environment like those found in schools on the island of Guam, combining multicultural education and mindfulness training could provide an effective and low-cost means to improve student outcomes. An agenda is proposed for a two-day professional development session incorporating mindfulness and multicultural offerings of community-centered literacy projects such as book clubs, virtual museums, library projects, and home-based literacy strategies using the sociolinguistic framework.

The Effectiveness of Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) Based Mindfulness Training in Mental-Health Improvement Amongst Adults: A Systematic Review (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The concepts of mindfulness and meditation have been present within psychology for decades, and mindfulness-based interventions have been effective in mental-health improvement. They have also been widely deployed internationally. Nonetheless, typical mindfulness-based interventions last at least eight weeks. They also require support from professional trainers, and these factors obstruct the generalisation of the paradigm. In recent years, digital techniques, such as virtual reality (VR) methodologies, have been employed in tandem with more traditional psychological interventions. Conversely, few systematic reviews have attempted to synthesise the evidence regarding the effectiveness of VR-based mindfulness training on the improvement of mindfulness levels, or indeed, other mental-health outcomes. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is thus to conduct a systematic review to provide synthesised evidence for the extent, if any, to which VR-based mindfulness training can improve mental health outcomes, and notably mindfulness levels, amongst adults. In addition, this review seeks to summarise the various designed VR scenarios, as well as those elements around VR that may assist people in practising mindfulness and meditation. METHODS The search for eligible studies for inclusion was conducted via the following databases: the Applied Social Science Index & Abstract (ASSIA), PsychINFO, Medline, EMBASE, and the Web-of-Science Core Collection. Only experimental studies were eligible for inclusion, and specifically, those that compared the effectiveness of mindfulness training using immersive VR (on the one hand) with a control condition. The latter necessarily included conventional mindfulness training without the involvement of either VR or two-dimensional VR. This search generated 2,523 articles published between 2016 and 2022, and of these, 106 were assessed for eligibility. This review ultimately included six studies, with a collective total of 757 participants. In fact, the findings confirmed the efficacy of VR-based mindfulness, although study limitations and implications for future research must also be considered. RESULTS This search generated 2,523 articles published between 2016 and 2022, and of these, 106 were assessed for eligibility. This review ultimately included six studies, with a collective total of 757 participants. In fact, the findings confirmed the efficacy of VR-based mindfulness, although study limitations and implications for future research must also be considered. CONCLUSIONS Empirically, VR-based mindfulness training has been shown to be more effective than conventional treatment. More specifically, VR-based mindfulness training not only improves levels of mindfulness as a state; it is also shown to reduce anxiety, improve sleep quality and generate mood improvement. VR-based mindfulness training frequently contains natural ‘environmentally relevant' elements, such as forest, grassland, caves, sea, etc. This review suggests that using VR to assist mindfulness training is an effective, time-efficient way to improve mental health conditions within the adult population. Further directions and limitations will be discussed below. CLINICALTRIAL Not applicable.

Brief Mindfulness Instruction Increases Prosocial Helping of an Ostracized Racial Outgroup Member

Two experiments tested whether brief instruction in mindfulness increased helping behavior toward an ostracized racial outgroup member by enhancing empathic concern. In Study 1, brief mindfulness instruction, relative to active and inactive control conditions, increased helping behavior toward an ostracized racial outgroup member in a private (but not in a public) context. In Study 2, which involved greater anonymity, mindfulness instruction increased both private and public helping behavior toward an ostracized racial outgroup member relative to the two control conditions. Importantly, measured empathic concern accounted for a portion of the variance in the causal relation between mindfulness and interracial helping behavior in Study 2. Together these studies suggest that brief mindfulness training increases interracial prosocial responsiveness in a digitally mediated context, particularly when personal anonymity was greater.