Mindfulness
Does 8 weeks of mindfulness change how people plan ahead mentally?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Mindfulness training raised self-reported mindfulness, but only hinted at a shift toward more anticipatory (proactive) cognitive control, with no reliable group-by-time effect.
Study at a glance
- Design
- RCT — Participants randomised to 8-week mindfulness training or waitlist; AX-CPT and FFMQ measured before and after (2 group x 2 time design).
- N
- N=30 · 34 recruited; 30 analysed, 15 per group, after exclusions for errors or incomplete training.
- Population
- Adults in Beijing with no prior mindfulness experience, recruited at a public lecture
- Outcome
- AX-CPT error rates and reaction times on AY and BX trials, Behavior Shift Index (proactive vs reactive control), FFMQ mindfulness scores
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Key findings
Mindfulness questionnaire scores rose in the training group but not the waitlist group. On the AX-CPT there were no significant group-by-time interactions: errors on AY trials fell in both groups, suggesting practice effects, and BX errors only showed a non-significant downward trend in the training group. After training the trained group had a higher reaction-time Behavior Shift Index than controls, which the authors read as a possible shift toward proactive control, and this index correlated with the Observing facet of mindfulness.
Methodology
Adults new to meditation were randomly assigned to an 8-week mindfulness course (weekly 2.5-hour sessions plus daily home practice, adapted from MBCT and MBSR) or a waitlist. Before and after, everyone did the AX-CPT, a letter cue-probe task that separates proactive control (keeping the cue in mind ahead of time) from reactive control (correcting when a conflict appears), and filled in the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire.
Limitations
With only 15 people per group, the study was small and the key interaction was not significant, so it cannot show that mindfulness causes better proactive control. The waitlist control did nothing, so expectancy, group engagement or the physical activity in mindful yoga could explain any difference. The post-test group difference could partly reflect chance baseline differences, and reactive-control gains appeared in both groups, so they cannot be credited to training.
How this study connects
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