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Self-reported trait mindfulness and affective reactivity: a motivational approach using multiple psychophysiological measures.

PloS one
January 1, 2015
Danielle Cosme et al. (2 authors)
Clinical TrialJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tHuman StudyClinical
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to determine whether self-reported trait mindfulness reduces spontaneous emotional reactivity during passive viewing of emotional pictures.

Results Summary

The study found no significant moderating effect of trait mindfulness on emotional responses, with small effect sizes and narrow confidence intervals for most measures. Results did not support the hypothesis that mindfulness reduces spontaneous emotional reactivity.

Population

51 participants (specific demographics not detailed).

Effective Dosage

Not applicable (trait mindfulness, not an intervention).

Duration

Not applicable (single experimental session).

Interactions

None mentioned.

Extracted Claims (2)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
trait mindfulness
no change
effects of emotion on dependent measures
participants (N = 51)
-
did not moderate
#1
trait mindfulness
no change
spontaneous emotional responses during picture viewing
participants (N = 51)
-
did not support the hypothesis that individual differences are related to spontaneous emotional responses
#2
Abstract

As a form of attention, mindfulness is qualitatively receptive and non-reactive, and is thought to facilitate adaptive emotional responding. One suggested mechanism is that mindfulness facilitates disengagement from an affective stimulus and thereby decreases affective reactivity. However, mindfulness has been conceptualized as a state, intervention, and trait. Because evidence is mixed as to whether self-reported trait mindfulness decreases affective reactivity, we used a multi-method approach to study the relationship between individual differences in self-reported trait mindfulness and electrocortical, electrodermal, electromyographic, and self-reported responses to emotional pictures. Specifically, while participants (N = 51) passively viewed pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant IAPS pictures, we recorded high-density (128 channels) electrocortical, electrodermal, and electromyographic data to the pictures as well as to acoustic startle probes presented during the pictures. Afterwards, participants rated their subjective valence and arousal while viewing the pictures again. If trait mindfulness spontaneously reduces general emotional reactivity, then for individuals reporting high rather than low mindfulness, response differences between emotional and neutral pictures would show relatively decreased early posterior negativity (EPN) and late positive potential (LPP) amplitudes, decreased skin conductance responses, and decreased subjective ratings for valence and arousal. High mindfulness would also be associated with decreased emotional modulation of startle eyeblink and P3 amplitudes. Although results showed clear effects of emotion on the dependent measures, in general, mindfulness did not moderate these effects. For most measures, effect sizes were small with rather narrow confidence intervals. These data do not support the hypothesis that individual differences in self-reported trait mindfulness are related to spontaneous emotional responses during picture viewing.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
AdultElectroencephalographyEmotionsFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedMindfulnessSelf ReportVisual Perception
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy30/10
Quality75/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations11
Citations/Year1.1
Relative Citation Ratio0.61
NIH Percentile32.7%
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.25
Weight Score1.60
Normalized Score0.47
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