Willoughby B Britton1, Jake H Davis2, Eric B Loucks3, Barnes Peterson4, Brendan H Cullen5, Laura Reuter6, Alora Rando7, Hadley Rahrig5, Jonah Lipsky5, Jared R Lindahl8. 1. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Providence, RI, United States. Electronic address: willoughby_britton@brown.edu. 2. Virtues of Attention Project, New York University, New York, United States. 3. Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, United States. 4. Director of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Recovery Services, Cheshire County Department of Corrections, Keene, NH, United States. 5. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Providence, RI, United States. 6. Stanley Street Treatment and Resource, Fall River, MA, United States. 7. Department of Psychology, Suffolk University, Boston, MA, United States. 8. Cogut Center for the Humanities, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: While mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) employ two distinct practices, focused attention (FA) and open monitoring (OM), the integrated delivery of these practices in MBIs precludes understanding of their practice-specific effects or mechanisms of action. The purpose of this study is to isolate hypothesized active ingredients and practice-specific mechanistic target engagement by creating structurally equivalent interventions that differ only by the active ingredient (meditation practice) offered and to test whether the hypothesized components differentially engage the mechanistic targets that they are purported to engage. METHODS:Participants were intended to be representative of American meditators and had mild to severe affective disturbances. Measures of structural equivalence included participant-level (sample characteristics), treatment-level (program structure and duration, program materials, class size, attendance, homework compliance, etc.), and instructor-level variables (training, ratings and adherence/fidelity). Measures of differential validity included analysis of program materials and verification of differential mechanistic target engagement (cognitive and affective skills and beliefs about meditation acquired by participants after the 8-week training). RESULTS: The results indicate successful creation of structurally equivalent FA and OM programs that were matched on participant-level, treatment-level, and instructor-level variables. The interventions also differed as expected with respect to program materials as well as mechanistic targets engaged (skills and beliefs acquired). CONCLUSIONS: These validated 8-week FA and OM training programs can be applied in future research to assess practice-specific effects of meditation.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: While mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) employ two distinct practices, focused attention (FA) and open monitoring (OM), the integrated delivery of these practices in MBIs precludes understanding of their practice-specific effects or mechanisms of action. The purpose of this study is to isolate hypothesized active ingredients and practice-specific mechanistic target engagement by creating structurally equivalent interventions that differ only by the active ingredient (meditation practice) offered and to test whether the hypothesized components differentially engage the mechanistic targets that they are purported to engage. METHODS:Participants were intended to be representative of American meditators and had mild to severe affective disturbances. Measures of structural equivalence included participant-level (sample characteristics), treatment-level (program structure and duration, program materials, class size, attendance, homework compliance, etc.), and instructor-level variables (training, ratings and adherence/fidelity). Measures of differential validity included analysis of program materials and verification of differential mechanistic target engagement (cognitive and affective skills and beliefs about meditation acquired by participants after the 8-week training). RESULTS: The results indicate successful creation of structurally equivalent FA and OM programs that were matched on participant-level, treatment-level, and instructor-level variables. The interventions also differed as expected with respect to program materials as well as mechanistic targets engaged (skills and beliefs acquired). CONCLUSIONS: These validated 8-week FA and OM training programs can be applied in future research to assess practice-specific effects of meditation.
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