Understanding How Mindfulness Meditation Affects Mental Health and Wellbeing in Adults Enrolled in Mindfulness Courses

What this Trial Is About

This research aims to understand how individual differences affect the impacts of mindfulness meditation on mental health and wellbeing. The study seeks to identify the mechanisms behind mindfulness meditations effects and to explore how factors like trauma symptoms, tendency to dissociate, and repetitive negative thinking influence these effects. It focuses on adults participating in mindfulness-based interventions and investigates for whom mindfulness may be beneficial or potentially harmful. Participants will attend an eight-week mindfulness course with group sessions lasting 2-3 hours each, held nearly weekly. These courses are based on established mindfulness programs such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, featuring guided exercises, group reflections, psychoeducation, and daily homework. Courses may vary slightly between sites but offer comparable training time. The study includes adults from mindfulness centers and stress clinics, with some participants invited for interviews after completing the course. During the study, participants complete self-report questionnaires before the course, midway, at the end, and three months after completion to assess anxiety, depression, quality of life, wellbeing, and any adverse effects of mindfulness practice. Additional measures include mindfulness skills, trauma history, obsessive beliefs, and meditation practice patterns. The study tracks changes over time and uses interviews for deeper insights, with a total follow-up of about three months post-intervention.

Who Fares Best With Mindfulness Meditation