Is Informal Practice Associated with Outcomes in Loving-Kindness and Compassion Training? Evidence from Pre-Post and Daily Diary Assessments
February 10, 2023 Qiang Xie, Kevin M. Riordan, Scott A. Baldwin et al. 2 citations preprint
Among clinically distressed adults with no meditation experience who used a smartphone-based loving-kindness and compassion training program for two weeks, those who increased their informal meditation practice (using techniques outside formal sessions) showed greater reductions in psychological distress and loneliness from before to after the intervention, though no changes in empathy or prosociality were observed. Daily analyses indicated that more informal practice on a given day predicted lower distress the next day, but not lower loneliness. Distress and loneliness did not predict subsequent informal practice. The findings suggest that informal practice may play a causal role in reducing distress, but further experimental studies are needed.