Mindfulness training alters emotional memory recall compared to active controls: support for an emotional information processing model of mindfulness.
Douglas Roberts-wolfe, Matthew D Sacchet, Elizabeth Hastings, Harold Roth, Willoughby Britton
Frontiers in human neuroscience January 1, 2012 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00015 via PubMed
Summary
A 12-week mindfulness course increased positive word recall more than an active control (music) course among university students. Greater increases in positive word recall were linked to improved psychological well-being and reduced depression and anxiety. The findings suggest mindfulness training may enhance well-being by altering how emotional information is processed.
Study at a glance
| Design | non-randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 58 |
| Population | university students |
| Key finding | Mindfulness training led to greater increases in positive word recall compared to an active control condition, and this change was associated with improved well-being and reduced clinical symptoms. |
Abstract
While mindfulness-based interventions have received widespread application in both clinical and non-clinical populations, the mechanism by which mindfulness meditation improves well-being remains elusive. One possibility is that mindfulness training alters the processing of emotional information, similar to prevailing cognitive models of depression and anxiety. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mindfulness training on emotional information processing (i.e., memory) biases in relation to both clinical symptomatology and well-being in comparison to active control conditions. Fifty-eight university students (28 female, age = 20.1 ± 2.7 years) participated in either a 12-week course containing a "meditation laboratory" or an active control course with similar content or experiential practice laboratory format (music). Participants completed an emotional word recall task and self-report questionnaires of well-being and clinical symptoms before and after the 12-week course. Meditators showed greater increases in positive word recall compared to controls [F(1, 56) = 6.6, p = 0.02]. The meditation group increased significantly more on measures of well-being [F(1, 56) = 6.6, p = 0.01], with a marginal decrease in depression and anxiety [F(1, 56) = 3.0, p = 0.09] compared to controls. Increased positive word recall was associated with increased psychological well-being (r = 0.31, p = 0.02) and decreased clinical symptoms (r = -0.29, p = 0.03). Mindfulness training was associated with greater improvements in processing efficiency for positively valenced stimuli than active control conditions. This change in emotional information processing was associated with improvements in psychological well-being and less depression and anxiety. These data suggest that mindfulness training may improve well-being via changes in emotional information processing. Future research with a fully randomized design will be needed to clarify the possible influence of self-selection.