Browsing by Subject "mindfulness"

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The Effectiveness of the ACHIEVER Adult Resilience Curriculum in Promoting Teacher Wellbeing
(2017-06) Christian, Elizabeth
Teaching is a multifaceted profession, capturing a range of experiences that are exciting, rewarding, challenging, frustrating, and exhausting. Research has shown that teachers are at high risk of chronic stress and burnout which impacts teacher health, wellbeing, and effectiveness in the classroom. In the present study, the effectiveness of a theoretically based professional development program—the ACHIEVER Resilience Curriculum (ARC)—to increase teacher wellbeing and decrease symptoms of burnout was examined. The ARC training integrates several wellness promotion practices into one comprehensive program. To evaluate the effectiveness of the ARC, a randomized block controlled study with pre-post data collection was performed. The sample included 67 teachers from six schools in one large urban school district. Analyses showed that teachers who received ARC training experienced increased feelings of efficacy, overall subjective wellbeing, and reduced emotional exhaustion compared to an attention control group. In addition, increased feelings of wellbeing and reduced emotional exhaustion were correlated with higher quality teacher-student interactions. Evidence from this study also suggests that demographic variables such as grade level taught or number of years of teaching experience may moderate the effects of the ARC, indicating a need for continued research on the function and effectiveness of this program. Finally, teachers who received the ARC training indicated they found it to be feasible and acceptable for use in schools to promote teachers’ wellbeing. The implications of these findings for teacher training and practice, suggestions for future research, and the limitations of this study are discussed.
How To Learn To Stop Worrying And Love Mindfulness: Wellness in the Workplace
(2016-09) Chew, Katherine; Rashid, Julie
According to the American Psychological Association’s 2015 Work and Well-Being Survey, 29% of employed adults indicated that they felt tense or stressed out during the workday, although 62% of employed adults reported that they had the resources to manage the stress in their daily work life (APA 2015). We all know the technological advancements in libraries are changing the way we do our work and that change causes stress. How well individuals are able to cope with these stressors can affect not only their own engagement and job effectiveness, but their interactions with others. What is the role of the organization in supporting wellness in the workplace? How can staff incorporate mindfulness in simple ways into their day-to-day work? Join these presenters as they discuss hands-on exercises and grassroots efforts to support wellness and mindfulness in their departments without spending a lot of time and money on the effort.
Investigating Novel Virtual Reality and Telehealth Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Training Interoceptive Awareness
(2023-10) Haley, Alexander
Interoception – the ability to sense and integrate internal body signals – plays a critical role in how complex organisms survive and function. It is essential for maintaining stable conditions within the body (e.g., keeping warm), for meeting daily needs within a changing world (e.g., quenching thirst), and for adapting to future needs (e.g., remembering seasonal changes in foraging spots). While research into interoception started more than a hundred years ago, it is not well understood today. Researchers are still mapping out all of the brain and body pathways through which interoception operates. Additionally, research into the most optimal methods for manipulating and measuring interoception is at an early stage. Despite these uncertainties, prior research suggests that a person’s conscious awareness of internal body signals, known as interoceptive awareness, is not a fixed capacity, rather it can be altered through training. This dissertation investigates how mindfulness practices can be combined with emerging technology to train interoceptive awareness. First, we introduce a novel virtual reality (VR) mindfulness-based intervention that is designed for cultivating greater interoceptive awareness. As part of this work, we also introduce a new qualitative methodology to understand users’ experiences of interoceptive awareness in VR. We found that the methodology elicited valuable responses from participants regarding their interoceptive awareness experiences within the novel VR mindfulness-based intervention. Most significantly, our work represents the first attempts to qualitatively investigate a multi-dimensional model of interoceptive awareness in VR. It also establishes a critical foundation for conducting future follow-on comparative studies that can provide more complete design guidelines for how best to train interoceptive awareness in VR. Next, we assessed the efficacy of a novel group telehealth mindfulness intervention, compared to an active control, for enhancing interoceptive awareness. While this second intervention is distinct from the prior VR mindfulness-based intervention, it answers the critical question of whether interoceptive awareness can be trained via a group intervention delivered remotely versus alone in a lab. We found that the remote, group mindfulness intervention can improve interoceptive awareness and that these gains are relatively stable at six and twelve month follow-up time points. Lastly, we confirmed that the telehealth intervention can be delivered by non-mindfulness experts, which points to the promise of scalable, group telehealth mindfulness interventions. Finally, we examine potential predictive factors related to interoceptive awareness outcomes by conducting a hierarchical regression analysis. Knowledge of potential predictive factors is useful for optimizing interventions to enhance interoceptive awareness outcomes for various populations. We found that several factors influence post-intervention interoceptive awareness outcomes. Specifically, the factors of age, baseline mindfulness, and change in mindfulness from baseline to intervention completion significantly influence interoceptive awareness. In terms of baseline mindfulness, current literature has under-investigated this factor even though there is evidence that prior experience with mindfulness is very widespread in the United States. In summary, our work is a first step in the longer journey of weaving together emerging technologies with evidence-based interventions to positively impact public health. By studying two novel interventions individually before pursuing their combination, we hope to establish a solid foundation from which to pursue our larger, long-term vision. This larger vision includes the potential of VR as a powerful computing medium for embodied simulations to leverage telehealth as a critical mode of healthcare delivery to bring evidence-based health interventions outside the confines of traditional healthcare settings. We envision a future where clinicians, computer scientists, artists, and community members co-create immersive, social VR applications that connect geographically distant users to cultivate greater health and wellbeing around the world.
The Millennial Student: A Strategy for Improved Wellness
(2013-01-14) Layer, Rhonda
This thesis explores the idea that a significant number of globally connected Millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000), more than previous generations, engage in compulsive behaviors around the use of social media Internet websites and mobile phones and in greater numbers suffer from inattentiveness, social disconnection, depression and anxiety. Meditation can mitigate the effects of addictive use of technology by bringing Millennials back to present moment awareness and attentiveness, decrease the need for their compulsive use of social media via the Internet, as well as alleviate the physiological effects of depression and anxiety. Mindfulness and meditation may encourage Millennials to develop the face-to-face social skills necessary for meaningful social, educational and professional connections.
Mindfulness and Parenting in Military Families
(2014-08) Nerenberg, Laura
With the growth of literature on mindfulness and more recently, mindful parenting, there is ample cause to suggest the importance of mindfulness in the context of parenting, along with an emerging body of evidence suggesting that mindfulness/mindful parenting may be related to parenting practices and children's functioning. However, a basic association between parent mindfulness and parenting practices has not yet been solidly established. The goal of this study was to examine the association between mindfulness and parenting practices, using a comprehensive measure of parents' mindfulness and observational measurement of parenting practices. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis techniques were employed to address ambiguities related to conceptualization and measurement of mindfulness apparent in the field of mindfulness research, and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques were used to assess the associations between parent mindfulness, parent internalizing psychopathology, parenting practices, and children's behavior problems. Results of this study support the hypothesis that mindfulness in parents is multidimensional and relates to certain parent and family characteristics. However, results did not support the expected associations of mindfulness in parents with parenting practices or child functioning. Nevertheless, though the current study did not reveal clear links between parents' mindfulness and parenting practices, it may serve as a useful step in refining methods for studying mindfulness in parents for future research.
Neural Correlates of Mindfulness and Executive Function Training in Internationally Adopted Children: A Randomized, Controlled Trial
(2015-06) Esposito, Elisa
Self-regulation, particularly attention regulation, is related to anxiety. Children who have been internationally adopted (IA) are at risk for deficits in both attention and emotion regulation. Promising evidence for focal executive function (EF) training and mindfulness training suggest that these skills can be readily improved in adults and children, and training EF independently may transfer to emotion regulation skills. This study examined the effects of mindfulness and executive function training programs on neural correlates of self-regulation in a sample of 96 IA children. Children were randomized to receive either 12 total hours of training (mindfulness vs. executive function) or a no-intervention control. Children completed a battery of executive function measures at laboratory testing sessions before and after the 6-week training period. Four months after training, parents and teachers provided additional ratings of children’s self-regulation skills. Executive function training led to improvement on measures of executive attention and inhibitory control, whereas mindfulness training was related to improvements in emotion regulation. Changes in the error-related negativity (ERN) were divergent between the two groups, supporting the differential impact of training on behavior. There was no evidence of transfer of EF training to observer reports of emotion regulation.
An Online Mindfulness Intervention to Reduce Stress and Anxiety Among College Students
(2015-08) Greer, Christiaan
This study evaluated the efficacy of two different web-based stress management programs among college students at a large Midwestern university. After completing the pretest, students (N = 401) were randomly assigned to a Mindfulness plus Present Control intervention, a Mindfulness only intervention, or a Stress-information only comparison group. Primary outcomes were stress, anxiety, depression, perceived stress and worry; hypothesized mediators of intervention efficacy were rumination, mindfulness and present control. Self-report measures were completed online at pre-intervention, post-intervention, first follow-up (2-3 weeks postintervention) and second follow-up (4-5 weeks postintervention). Ninety percent of the sample (n = 365) completed the pretest and comprised the intent-to-treat sample. Linear mixed modeling was used to assess significant change over time and hierarchical regression was used to test for mediation. Participants in all three groups reported significant decreases in all five primary outcomes across all time points (within group d's = -.15 to -.56). All time by intervention group interaction effects were non-significant suggesting that the three conditions were equally effective. With regard to the mediators, participants reported significant increases in present control and mindfulness and significant decreases in rumination from baseline to post-intervention and both follow-ups (within group d's = .01 to .71). There was one significant time by intervention group interaction effect in the analyses assessing change over time in the mediators specifically indicating a between-group difference in changes in rumination, F(8, 973) = 3.73, p = .0003. In this case, the Mindfulness plus Present Control group reduced rumination significantly more than the comparison group. Because there were few differences across conditions, mediation analyses were performed collapsing across conditions. In general, changes in present control were associated with changes in depression and changes in rumination were associated with changes in worry and perceived stress at the second follow-up controlling for baseline scores. Limitations and future direction are discussed.
Randomized Controlled Trial of Pacifica, a CBT and Mindfulness-based App for Stress, Depression, and Anxiety Management with Health Monitoring
(2018-08) Vu, AnnaMarie
mHealth smartphone apps have inundated the market. The promise of mHealth apps is that they increase access to psychotherapeutic content while also expanding options beyond face-to-face care. However, information on the quality and efficacy of commercial mHealth apps is sparse. Pacifica, a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness-based mHealth app, is one of the most popular and publicly endorsed apps on the market. An initial week long pilot study was performed to assess feasibility and acceptability of the Pacifica app and Pacifica Lite, an active control version of the app, in a group of college students (N = 41). Participants generally used the app as intended and rated the aesthetics and functionality positively. The subsequent efficacy study extended the intervention period, added a waitlist control group, and enrolled a greater number of participants. To the best of our knowledge, this study was the first randomized controlled trial designed to examine the feasibility and efficacy of a commercial mHealth app using a smartphone active control app as a comparison. Participants (N=420) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1) The Pacifica app that includes the psychotherapy-based components, 2) the active control app “Pacifica Lite” without psychotherapy-based components, and 3) waitlist control. The intervention period was 14 days over the final weeks of a college semester. Participants completed pretest and posttest measures of mental health symptoms and general well-being, state-based affect, perceived stress, and mindfulness prior to and following the intervention period. Regression models with baseline scores as moderators indicated there was an effect of the Pacifica intervention compared to the Waitlist control on negative affect and global mental health. The effect of intervention group on negative affect, global mental health, and perceived stress were all moderated by baseline scores, whereby participants who had higher baseline distress levels reported greater responses to the Pacifica intervention compared to being on the Waitlist. A measure of trait mindfulness showed significant between-group differences, with significantly higher scores in the Pacifica group compared to the waitlist control. There were no effects related to group at posttest for total or subscale scores for symptoms of depression, anxiety, positive state-affect, and mindfulness practice. Overall, the Pacifica app appeared feasible and usable over a high demand final exam period, was significantly more effective than Waitlist on some measures, but it was not significantly more effective than the active control on any measures. Pacifica and the majority of mHealth apps available are not designed as alternatives to face-to-face care but college counseling centers and healthcare systems may choose to include apps like Pacifica as additional resources.
A Randomized-Controlled Trial of Mindfulness and Executive Function Trainings to Promote Self-Regulation in Internationally Adopted Children
(2015-08) Lawler, Jamie
While children adopted internationally show remarkable recovery once placed in families, as a group these children continue to show delays in certain aspects of development years after adoption. In particular, the area that seems to show the most lasting, and sometimes profound deficits is children’s self-regulation. The current study uses a randomized, controlled trial to evaluate the effects of mindfulness-based and executive function trainings on internationally adopted (IA) children’s self-regulation, including inhibitory control, attention, and emotion regulation. Seventy-two IA children ages 6-10 were randomized into Mindfulness training (MT), Executive Function training (EF), or no intervention (NI) groups. The MT and EF groups attended 12 one-hour group sessions. Children in both intervention groups showed fewer hyperactivity and attention problems and showed better emotion regulation in the classroom, as rated by teachers blind to group status. The EF training was more successful in improving inhibitory control, while the MT group may have improved in delay of gratification. Both interventions improved selective attention in children with poor baseline regulatory functioning. Parent-reported behavior did not significantly change in any domain. Contrary to expectations, the mindfulness intervention did not improve perspective taking skills or prosocial behavior. Implications and future directions are discussed.
The Role of Social Media and Mindfulness in Adolescents’ Divided Attention
(2024-04-30) Haig, Michaela; Martin, Timothy; Zelazo, Philip
In this study, we examine the potential effects of a short mindfulness intervention on divided attention in adolescents. Recently, social media has been demanding increasing amounts of divided attention among its users. Understanding how to mediate these impacts is vital to helping today’s adolescents successfully retain attentive capabilities. We recruited middle and high school students at a local charter school to participate. Students were given a 5-minute open monitoring, focused attention, or control listening exercise. Then, we administered a measure of divided attention created for this study. In this, participants watched a 2-minute dual-stream video and were instructed to either pay attention to the video on the left only (and not get distracted by the other video) or to watch both videos simultaneously (divide their attention). Then, participants answered a series of questions about both videos to measure their information retention. We found no significant effects of mindfulness on divided attention, nor support for the efficacy of the divided attention measure. Future directions are discussed.
Teaching as a Spiritual Practice: Cultivating Teacher Presence through Mindfulness, A Post-Intentional Phenomenological Exploration
(2018-07) Niedzielski, Jennifer
Mounting evidence suggests the pervasiveness of stress and insidiousness of burnout in the teaching profession (Blasé, 1986; Chubbuck & Zembylas, 2008; Eskridge & Coker, 1985; Larrivee, 2012; Spilt, Koomen, & Thijs, 2011; Vandenberghe & Huberman, 1999). Exposure to chronic stressors can have a negative cascading effect on a teacher’s mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. While the inherent stressors of the profession cannot be avoided, this body of work explores how a mindfulness-based training program designed for teachers (Present Teacher Training) allows them to transform stress into opportunities for cultivating a healthy, authentic, and purpose-driven teacher Presence. A phenomenological exploration of what it means to be and become a mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually healthy teacher through the stress inherent in the profession holds great potential for learning how to support a teacher’s holistic well-being-ness. This study utilized a post-intentional phenomenological research design (Vagle, 2018) to explore the cultivation of the phenomenon of teacher Presence through the integration of different phenomenological material. Vagle’s (2018) whole-part-whole analysis of the phenomenological material was used to capture provocations and pathic productions of the phenomenon. The primary research question in this post-intentional phenomenological exploration was: How might cultivating teacher Presence take shape in mindfulness work for teachers? The three primary “pathic productions” that were produced and explored in depth through this three paper dissertation are: (1) creating the micro-miracle moment: slowing down fast-paced teacher time to be present; (2) cultivating teacher self-trust and intuition in moments of uncertainty and risk; and (3) “burning in” to human service oriented work through the Infinite Well-Being Integration Model. This study illuminates the myriad ways a teacher’s being-ness in the present moment entangles with one’s trajectory of becoming one’s most authentic and healthy self through the professional practice of teaching. It is suggested that an integrated approach to teacher preparation and in-service professional development that supports the mind (i.e., mental agility), body (i.e., emotional agility), and spirit (i.e., awareness of self) to be beneficial in preparing teachers for the courageous and commendable inner and outer work they are called to engage.
Training Educators to Implement Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Evaluating the Effects of In-Service and Coaching on Intervention Fidelity
(2018-07) Potter, Laura
School-based interventions that utilize mindfulness and yoga exercises to build students’ self-regulation skills have become increasingly popular, both in practice and in published literature. Yet little information has been gathered about how to effectively train educators to deliver these interventions with fidelity. The present paper aimed to advance the research on school-based mindfulness interventions by examining the extent to which educators were able to deliver a specific intervention, Yoga Calm, with fidelity following a series of in-service trainings and follow-up coaching. Study 1 examined intervention fidelity outcomes for fifteen educators following a series of in-service trainings, finding that a majority of educators were able to deliver the intervention with high levels of adherence to the intervention’s core components. Study 2 used a multiple-baseline design to examine fidelity outcomes for four educators at baseline and following the introduction of side-by-side coaching supports. The data demonstrated four replications of an effect when comparing baseline to treatment, indicating a functional relation between participation in side-by-side coaching and adherence to Yoga Calm’s core components. Both studies also used quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify potential moderators of intervention fidelity, with results highlighting the importance of factors related to educator buy-in, educator self-efficacy, program delivery factors (e.g., scheduling barriers), and accountability. The implications of these findings for educator training and practice, suggestions for future research, and the limitations of this study are also discussed.
Why and When Does a Mindfulness Intervention Promote Job Performance? The Interpersonal Mechanisms and Individual, Job, and Social Contingencies
(2015-07) Yang, Tao
This dissertation develops and tests a theoretical model of the role of a mindfulness intervention in promoting job performance in service settings. I examine the client-focused mechanisms—attentiveness, perspective taking, and response flexibility—and individual (i.e., employee agreeableness), social (i.e., perception of workgroup service climate), and job (i.e., work overload) contingencies of the relationship between a mindfulness intervention and job performance. I conducted a pretest-posttest field experiment of 72 health care professionals in a health care organization with intervention (i.e., mindfulness meditation) and active control (i.e., wellness education) conditions and repeated measures from health care professionals and their patients over 15 days. Confirmatory factor analyses suggest that the three client-focused mechanisms were represented by a higher-order construct of patient centered behavior. Multilevel modeling and latent growth modeling suggest that the two conditions are distinct; compared with active control, the intervention yields pre-to-post increases in daily mindfulness and work behaviors including self-ratings of job performance and proactive patient care and patient ratings of patient centered behavior. Multilevel mediation analysis suggests that patient ratings of patient centered behavior fail to mediate the effect of a mindfulness intervention on patient satisfaction with job performance. Multilevel moderated mediation analyses suggest that agreeableness, perceived workgroup service climate, and work overload do not moderate the effect of a mindfulness intervention (via patient ratings of patient centered behavior) on patient satisfaction. Nonetheless, compared with active control, the mindfulness intervention yields higher patient rated patient centered behavior for health care professionals who have a higher level of agreeableness.

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