An outcomes-based evaluation of the mindfulness for safe schools program

Objectives@#The objective of this evaluation was to assess the effectiveness of Mindfulness for Safe Schools, a mindfulness-based intervention adapted for sexual abuse prevention during peer-to-peer dating among Filipino public school children in Grades 7 and 8. It was hoped that through the intervention, children would be able to regulate their emotions so that they do not react impulsively to emotionally stimulating events, especially during peer dating. The study consists of four levels of evaluation: reaction, learnings, and behaviors of teachers toward the program, as well as effect of the intervention on emotion regulation and peer conformity among students. @*Methods@#This study utilized a mixed methods design using a concurrent embedded method. For teachers, quantitative surveys and focused group discussions were conducted to determine their reactions to the training, their learnings, and behaviors after the program, as well as their observations of students’ responses to the intervention. Focused group discussions were analyzed through thematic analysis. Effect of the program on emotion regulation and peer conformity among students were determined mainly through a pre and post-test survey and analyzed through paired samples t-test. Video content analysis of the classroom delivery was also conducted to determine student engagement during the program. @*Results@#Teachers reacted favorably to the training workshops and were able to use what they learned from the workshops to increase their patience and understanding towards themselves, their job, and their students. Students also reacted favorably to the Mindfulness for Safe Schools modules and were observed to use the skills taught in the modules to regulate their emotions. Emotion regulation improved (t=3.47, significant with p=0.00) and susceptibility to peer pressure decreased (t=8.94, significant with p=0.00) for Grade 8 students (n=950) after the modules were delivered. However, teachers reported implementation issues, such as conflicting requirements of the program with their official workload, which may have affected program effects. @*Conclusion@#Our findings indicate that Mindfulness for Safe Schools was associated with improvements in emotional awareness, management of negative emotions, and showing care and respect for student peers. It also suggests that integrating mindfulness interventions in schools requires close coordination with all stakeholders: teachers, schools, and appropriate government divisions to ensure fidelity and reaching desired effects.

Mindfulness, mindful eating e comer intuitivo na abordagem da obesidade e transtornos alimentares / Mindfulness, mindful eating and intuitive eating in the approach to obesity and eating disorders / Atención plena, alimentación consciente y alimentación intuitiva en el abordaje del obesidad y de los trastornos alimentarios

OBJETIVO: realizar uma revisão integrativa da literatura acerca do papel das intervenções baseadas em mindfulness, mindful eating e comer intuitivo na abordagem do sobrepeso e obesidade e dos transtornos alimentares. MÉTODO: para esta revisão foram consultadas as bases PubMed, PePSIC, PsycINFO, LILACS, IBECS, SciELO e BVS-Psi, e incluídos artigos publicados nos últimos 10 anos. Após o processo de análise dos estudos recuperados, 38 artigos compuseram o corpus final da revisão. RESULTADOS: os estudos demonstraram os benefícios das abordagens centradas no mindfulness, mindful eating e comer intuitivo no comportamento alimentar e nos aspectos emocionais e psicológicos dos indivíduos com excesso de peso e transtorno alimentar, reduzindo o comer emocional, comer guiado por fatores externos, e episódios de binge eating; bem como reduzindo os níveis de estresse, ansiedade e depressão. Para a perda de peso, os resultados são menos consistentes, haja visto que diversos estudos não observaram diferença para este parâmetro. CONCLUSÕES: as intervenções centradas no mindfulness, mindful eating e comer intuitivo são promissoras para a abordagem do sobrepeso/obesidade e dos transtornos alimentares, especialmente no que tange ao comportamento alimentar e aos aspectos psicoemocionais.

OBJECTIVE: to examine and summarize studies of mindfulness, mindful eating and intuitive eating in the approach of overweight / obesity and eating disorders. METHOD: for this integrative review, PubMed, PePSIC, PsycINFO, LILACS, IBECS, SciELO and BVS-Psi databases were consulted, and published articles published in the last 10 years. After analyzing the recovered studies, 38 articles made up the final review corpus. RESULTS: the studies demonstrated the benefits of approaches centered on mindfulness, mindful eating and intuitive eating on eating behavior and on the emotional and psychological aspects of overweight and eating disorders individuals, harmful or emotional, followed by external factors and compulsive eating; as well as levels of stress, anxiety and depression. For weight loss, the results are less consistent, since several studies have found no difference for this parameter. CONCLUSIONS: as selected focused on mindfulness, mindful eating and intuitive eating are promising for addressing obesity and obesity and eating disorders, especially with regard to eating behavior and psycho-emotional aspects.

OBJETIVO: desarrollar una revisión integrativa de la literatura sobre el papel de las intervenciones basadas en el mindfulness, mindful eating y alimentación intuitiva en el abordaje del sobrepeso / obesidad y de los trastornos alimentarios. MÉTODO: para esta revisión, se consultaron las bases de datos PubMed, PePSIC, PsycINFO, LILACS, IBECS, SciELO y BVS-Psi, y se incluyeron artículos publicados en los últimos 10 años. Después de analizar los estudios recuperados, 38 artículos constituyeron el corpus final de la revisión. RESULTADOS: los estudios han demostrado los beneficios las intervenciones basadas en el mindfulness, ME y alimentación intuitiva para el comportamiento alimentario y los aspectos emocionales y psicológicos de las personas con sobrepeso/obesidad y trastornos alimentarios, reduciendo la alimentación emocional, el comer basado en factores externos y en los episodios de binge eating; además de reducir los niveles de estrés, ansiedad y depresión. Para la pérdida de peso, los resultados son menos consistentes, dado que varios estudios no han encontrado diferencias para este parámetro con las intervenciones. CONCLUSIONES: las intervenciones basadas en el mindfulness, mindful eating y alimentación intuitiva son prometedoras para el abordaje del sobrepeso/obesidad y de los trastornos alimentarios, especialmente con respecto al comportamiento alimentario y los aspectos psicoemocionales.

Effect of mindfulness-based intervention on functional connectivity of resting state electroencephalogram of amphetamine-type stimulants use patients / 上海交通大学学报（医学版）

Objective • To test the mechanism of mindfulness-based intervention in patients with amphetamine-types stimulants use disorders. Methods • Forty participants from a drug rehabilitation center in Shanghai who had amphetamine-type stimulants use disorders were enrolled in this randomized controlled trial and randomly divided into either the intervention group or control group. The control group only received the normal treatment, while the intervention group received mindfulness-based intervention as well as normal treatment. Resting state electroencephalogram and mindfulness attention awareness were assessed before and after the intervention. Results • Compared with the control group, the scores of mindfulness attention awareness improved significantly in the intervention group (P=0.000), and functional connectivity of frontal cortex (F4 and F5) under the eyeopen state and parietal-occipital cortex (P7 and O2) under the mindfulness state increased significantly in the intervention group in β oscillations (P=0.000). Moreover, the functional connectivity of parietal-occipital cortex was significantly correlated with the mindfulness attention awareness scores in the intervention group (P=0.000). Conclusion • Mindfulness-based intervention is effective in improving the mindfulness attention awareness and increasing the electroencephalogram functional connectivity of partial frontal and parietal-occipital cortex for patients with amphetamine-type stimulants use disorders.

Effects of a brief mindfulness-based intervention on emotional regulation and levels of mindfulness in senior students

Abstract Mindfulness-based interventions have been applied in diverse populations and achieved mental health benefits. This study examined the effects of a brief mindfulness program for emotional regulation and levels of mindfulness on senior students in Brazil. The intervention consisted of six weekly meetings attended by 30 participants. It is a pre-experimental research, with pre- and post-test comparative and correlation measurements. The preliminary results, which relied on parametrical and non-parametrical tests, revealed a reduction in total emotional regulation difficulties (p = 0.0001; r = - 0.55). Also, there was an increase in the levels of mindfulness in the subtests for both dimensions under evaluation: "Awareness" (p = 0.0001; d =0.77) and "Acceptance" (p = 0.048; d =0.37). By associating the amount of meditative practices performed by students with the variables, a significant positive correlation was found with the mindfulness dimension "Awareness" (rP = 0.422; p = 0.020), and there was a significant negative correlation with Difficulties in emotion regulation (rS = - 0.478; p = 0.008) and with its respective subscales "Non-acceptance" (rS = - 0.654; p = 0.0001) and "Clarity" (rS = - 0.463; p = 0.010). In conclusion, the application of a brief mindfulness-based intervention is promising in Brazilian university contexts; moreover, it can bring benefits to students, e.g., an increase in emotion regulation as well as in levels of mindfulness. We suggest that further research should use an experimental design and follow-up.

Systematic review of mindfulness intervention in improving physical and mental symptoms in diabetic patients / 天津医药

Objective To evaluate the effect of mindfulness intervention (MBI) on physical and mental symptoms in patients with diabetes mellitus. Methods Data of the relevant MBI in the physical and psychological symptoms were reviewed in patients with diabetes. The quasi-experimental studies or randomized controlled trials were used to retrieval from May 2016, and back into the study of references. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the literature was screened and the quality was evaluated to extract the data. Review Manager 5.3 software was used for Meta-analysis. Results The total of 9 studies and 474 patients were included in this study. Patients were divided into MBI group (n=251) and control group (n=223). Meta-analysis showed that mindfulness therapy was effective in relieving depression, anxiety, stress and diabetes distress symptoms in diabetic patients compared with those of controls [MD=-5.35, 95%CI:-7.11--3.59;MD=-1.91, 95%CI:-3.04--0.79;MD=-4.65, 95%CI:-6.68--2.44;MD=-6.37, 95%CI:-10.84--1.90], the differences were statistical significance (P < 0.05). The improvement of the negative emotions was sustained long-term effect, and patients can benefit from it. The effects of MBI on the quality of life, whether short-term or long-term, were inconsistent and required further verification. The effects of glycemic control were generally better in MBI group than those of the control group. Conclusion Mindfulness intervention shows beneficial non-drug adjuvant therapy in reducing depression, anxiety, stress and diabetes related distress in patients with type 2 diabetes. The effects of MBI on improving the quality of life, blood glucose control need further verification.

Systematic review of mindfulness intervention in improving physical and mental symptoms in diabetic patients / 天津医药

Objective To evaluate the effect of mindfulness intervention (MBI) on physical and mental symptoms in patients with diabetes mellitus. Methods Data of the relevant MBI in the physical and psychological symptoms were reviewed in patients with diabetes. The quasi-experimental studies or randomized controlled trials were used to retrieval from May 2016, and back into the study of references. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the literature was screened and the quality was evaluated to extract the data. Review Manager 5.3 software was used for Meta-analysis. Results The total of 9 studies and 474 patients were included in this study. Patients were divided into MBI group (n=251) and control group (n=223). Meta-analysis showed that mindfulness therapy was effective in relieving depression, anxiety, stress and diabetes distress symptoms in diabetic patients compared with those of controls [MD=-5.35, 95%CI:-7.11--3.59;MD=-1.91, 95%CI:-3.04--0.79;MD=-4.65, 95%CI:-6.68--2.44;MD=-6.37, 95%CI:-10.84--1.90], the differences were statistical significance (P < 0.05). The improvement of the negative emotions was sustained long-term effect, and patients can benefit from it. The effects of MBI on the quality of life, whether short-term or long-term, were inconsistent and required further verification. The effects of glycemic control were generally better in MBI group than those of the control group. Conclusion Mindfulness intervention shows beneficial non-drug adjuvant therapy in reducing depression, anxiety, stress and diabetes related distress in patients with type 2 diabetes. The effects of MBI on improving the quality of life, blood glucose control need further verification.