How do mindfulness and compassion programs improve mental health and well-being? The role of attentional processing of emotional information


Author: Pablo Roca1, Carmelo Vazquez2, Gustavo Diez3, Richard J McNally4

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Villanueva, Spain; Valencian International University, Valencia, Spain. Electronic address: pablo.roca@villanueva.edu.

<sup>2</sup> School of Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.

<sup>3</sup> Nirakara Lab, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.

<sup>4</sup> Department of Psychology, Harvard University, USA.
Conference/Journal: J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry
Date published: 2023 Jul 23
Other:
 Volume ID: 81   ,  Pages: 101895   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2023.101895.   ,  Word Count: 245  
    Background and objectives:

Although the benefits of Meditation-Based Programs are well documented, the mechanisms underlying these benefits have not been fully elucidated. Therefore, we examined whether: (1) formal training in mindfulness and compassion meditation modifies the distribution of attentional resources towards emotional information; and (2) whether changes in attentional processing of emotional information after the meditation programs mediate the improvements in psychological distress, emotion regulation, and well-being.



Methods:

A sample of 103 participants enrolled in the study: 36 in the mindfulness program (MBSR), 30 in the compassion program (CCT), and 37 in the no-intervention comparison group (CG). The assessment before and after the programs included the completion of an emotional Attentional Blink task (AB) together with self-report measures of psychological distress, emotion regulation, and well-being.



Results:

MBSR and CCT reduced similarly the AB deficit, whereas no changes occurred in the CG. This AB reduction was found for the different emotional and non-emotional stimuli (i.e., negative, positive, and neutral), showing a significant disengagement from first-target emotions and significant accessibility of second-target emotions to consciousness. The effects of both meditation programs on the psychological measures were mediated by changes in the AB and emotion regulation skills.



Limitations:

Due to our naturalistic design in a real-world community setting, random assignment of participants was not feasible.



Conclusions:

Meditation may promote more flexible and balanced attention to emotional information, which may be a key transdiagnostic mechanism underlying its benefits on emotional distress and well-being.



Keywords: Attentional blink; Compassion; Distress; Mindfulness; Well-being.



PMID: 37515955 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2023.101895