Psychedelics and Mindfulness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Rationale: The benefits of mindfulness are well documented and it has become widely used in both clinical and general populations. The benefits of classic serotonergic psychedelics (e.g. psilocybin, LSD, DMT, ayahuasca) are becoming more widely known with the resurgence in research in the past decade. Research has suggested a link between psychedelics and an increase in mindfulness with lasting effect, but no systematic review has examined specifics aspects of this increase in mindfulness. Objective: Explore the link between psychedelics and characteristics of mindfulness. Methods: We conducted a systematic search across multiple databases, inclusive of grey literature and backwards/forward-citation tracking, on the 18 January 2021. The search strategy included terms relating to mindfulness and psychedelics, with no restriction on clinical or non-clinical conditions. Study quality was assessed. An exploratory random-effects meta-analysis was conducted on pre-post mindfulness data relative to psychedelic ingestion. Results: Of 1805 studies screened, 13 were included in the systematic review. There was substantial variability in participant characteristics, psychedelic administration method and measurement of mindfulness. The ingestion of psychedelics is associated with an increase in mindfulness, specifically relating to domains of acceptance, which encompasses non-judgement of inner experience and non-reactivity. The meta-analysis of a subset of studies (N=6) showed small effects overall relative to ayahuasca ingestion, increasing mindfulness facets of non-judgement of inner experience and non-reactivity, as well as acting with awareness. Conclusions: Further methodologically robust research is needed to elucidate the relationship between psychedelics and mindfulness. However, mindfulness and specific facets relating to acceptance have been shown to increase following ingestion of psychedelics in a number of studies.

Exploring the optimal factor structure of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire: Associations between mindfulness facets and dimensions of psychopathology

Recent studies of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and its condensed version (FFMQ-SF) fail to replicate the initially proposed 5-factor structure in clinical samples. Failure to adequately understand the dimensionality of common mindfulness measures within clinical samples, therefore, represents an important gap in the current literature. The increasing popularity of mindfulness-based interventions warrants further investigation of differential associations between facets of mindfulness and different forms of psychopathology. We examined (1) the underlying structure of the FFMQ and FFMQ-SF and (2) associations between FFMQ and FFMQ-SF facets and dimensions of psychopathology (i.e. internalizing and substance use disorders) in two large clinical samples (N = 2,779). Results from bass-ackwards analyses suggested similarly defensible 5- and 6-factor models solutions in terms of fit. The 5-factor model was optimal when factoring in parsimony. Exploratory structural equation modeling revealed that all FFMQ facets with the exception of observe were negatively associated with the internalizing factor. Associations with substance use disorders were more complex. In both samples, 5-factor FFMQ and FFMQ-SF models were determined to best represent these data. While deficits in all FFMQ facets with the exception of observe correspond with lower internalizing psychopathology, a more nuanced association was observed with substance use disorders.

Relationships Between Mindfulness Facets and Mental and Physical Health in Meditating and Nonmeditating University Students

Background: Little is known about the relations of the mindfulness facets to mental and physical health among meditators and nonmeditators. Aim: The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the mindfulness facets and mental as well as physical health of university students with and without meditation experience using attentional control, body awareness, nonattachment, and emotion regulation as mediators. Method: Data were collected from a sample of 508 university students (meditators: n = 195, nonmeditators n = 313). Path analysis models were used to examine the associations between the mindfulness facets, all candidate mediators and the outcome variables mental and physical health complaints. Additionally, a bootstrapping procedure was used to test the significance of the indirect effects. Results: Results showed that the associations between the mindfulness facets, the proposed mediators, and mental and physical health complaints were similar between students with and without meditation experience. Nonattachment and body awareness were the most important mediators. Limitations: Only self-report questionnaires were used in the study, and the majority of the sample was women and enrolled in health and social science studies. Conclusion: The results indicated that the investigation of mindfulness at the facet level is worthwhile. The study helps to clarify the associations between the mindfulness facets and mental as well as physical health among students with and without meditation experience. Further, mindfulness mediators should be examined in intervention studies.

The Relative Importance of Mindfulness Facets in Chronic Pain: Relations to the General Negative Affect, Depression, Anxiety, and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms

Objectives: This study had three objectives: first, to investigate the relative importance of the five mindfulness facets to negative affect (NA) among patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain; second, to test the hypothesis that observing is associated with lower NA only if occurs in an accepting manner; and third, to investigate the relation between mindfulness and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS). Methods: One hundred and nineteen patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain filled the Five-Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS), and the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R). A latent variable was constructed to represent NA. Multiple regression analysis was conducted, and several indices of relative importance were calculated. Results: Except for Observing, all mindfulness facets had significant bivariate and unique relation with NA. Acting with Awareness was the most important predictor, followed by Nonjudging and Describing. The contribution of Nonreactivity was small. Regarding the second objective, the Observing x Nonjudging and Observing x Nonreactivity interactions were not significant. Finally, the five facets of mindfulness explained about one-half of the variance in obsession and one-fifth of the variance in compulsion. After excluding the shared variance between obsession and compulsion, mindfulness was only related to obsession. Conclusion: Except for Observing, all mindfulness facets seem to have unique contributions to psychological symptoms; among them, Acting with Awareness seems most important. Current evidence is inconsistent in supporting the dependency of the effect of observing on acceptance. Finally, regarding the relation between mindfulness and OCS, it seems that mindfulness is more related to obsession than compulsion.

Mindfulness Is Linked with Affectivity in Daily Life: An Experience-Sampling Study with Meditators

Objectives An increasing number of findings indicate associations between mindfulness and affect as well as mindfulness and stress. Most studies have conceptualized and measured these variables on a trait level, often in student samples or clinical contexts. Methods We adopted an experience-sampling approach to measure mindfulness, affect, and stress repeatedly as states in naturalistic environments. In assessing mindfulness, we factorized items from the trait questionnaire CHIME to conceptualize state mindfulness, finding two mindfulness facets labeled Awareness and Acceptance. Affect was measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and perceived stress was rated by a single item. Data was gathered by a smartphone app that prompted participants six times a day for 10 consecutive days. Using hierarchical regression, we examined associations at the same time-point as well as with time lags, in order to also elucidate Granger causal relationships. Fifty-six practicing meditators participated in this study. Results Concerning the associations of state mindfulness facets with affectivity at the same time, both Awareness and Acceptance were linked with positive affect and negatively with stress. Negative affect was associated negatively with Acceptance. The lagged analyses suggested the Granger causal interpretation that Acceptance reduced negative affect. We also found reversed lagged effects, in that positive affect attenuated subsequent Awareness and negative affect subsequent Acceptance. Conclusions The bidirectional Granger causal effects between mindfulness and affect challenged a one-sided interpretation of mindfulness-affect associations. One implication for psychotherapy may be to clarify why mindfulness and resilience (i.e., therapists’ hardiness with respect to adversity) are properties of efficient therapists.