The findings support the theory that mindfulness training facilitates a capacity to observe and experience internal reactions to stressors as they arise with acceptance and equanimity.
In a randomized controlled trial of 134 mildly stressed, middle-aged to older adults, participants who were assigned to a six-week mindfulness-meditation training program experienced significantly reduced negative affect variability—which refers to subjective distress and includes a range of mood states such as worry, anxiety, anger, self-criticism, and life dissatisfaction—compared with participants assigned to a waitlist control. The effects seen in the Stress & Health study were mediated by a reduction in perceived stress.
The findings support the theory that mindfulness training facilitates a capacity to observe and experience internal reactions to stressors as they arise with acceptance and equanimity. “In turn, this impartial receptiveness buffers initial threat appraisals, and subsequently, reduces emotional reactivity, potentially leading to greater health,” the authors wrote.
Additional Information
Link to Study: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/smi.2845
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Stress & Health provides an international forum for disseminating cutting-edge theoretical and empirical research that significantly advances understanding of the relationship between stress and health and well-being in humans. Despite the prevalence of stress in society, scientific conceptualizations of stress are less than 100 years old and there is much yet to learn regarding the causes, nature, and outcomes of stress, as well as the mechanisms for coping with such stress.
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