Mindfulness as a Transtherapeutic Approach to Transdiagnostic Mental Processes
Speaker: Eric Garland, PhD, LCSW; David Black, PhD, MPH; Jeffrey Greeson, PhD, MS
Format: Audio & Slides

Objective: This research forum will elucidate how mindfulness training targets a variety of transdiagnostic processes, such as attentional bias, emotional reactivity, and sleep disturbance, that cu t across disorders, including depression, substance misuse, insomnia, hypertension, and chronic pain. Methods: Findings from two RCTs will detail how Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement modulates attentional bias and autonomic responses to emotional stimuli in samples of opioid (n = 57) and alcohol dependent patients (n = 26). Next, findings from a third RCT of Mindful Awareness Practices demonstrate improved sleep, inflammatory transcription dynamics, and gray matter density in older adults with insomnia symptoms (n=49). Fourth, we will present data on cardiovascular and neuroendocrine stress reactivity and recovery from stressed adults (n=65) who participated in MBSR. Data were analyzed with ANOVA, regression, latent growth curve analysis, and mixed effects models. Results: The first two studies revealed significant effects on attentional bias to pain- and alcohol-related cues, as well as significant effects on heart rate variability reactivity to and recovery from such cues. The third study found that both mindfulness training and sleep hygiene improved sleep and peripheral blood Nuclear Factor-kappa B. Sleep improvements in the mindfulness condition were greater than sleep hygiene, and significant increases in brain gray matter density (posterior cingulate cortex) were observed in the mindfulness group. The fourth study found significantly reduced blood pressure reactivity and faster recovery, as well as significant reductions in cognitive and emotional stress reactivity and sleep disturbance following MBSR. Conclusions: Mindfulness training can successfully target a range of transdiagnostic, biobehavioral processes, which could partly explain the broad effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions across stress-related conditions.