Having close social connections powerfully predicts well-being and longevity (Holt-Lunstad, Smith, & Layton, 2010). Our study examined whether taking a 6-week mindfulness meditation training would lead to gains in perceived social connection from pre to post training, compared to an active-control wellness training group. We also examined possible cognitive and emotional mechanisms of this hypothesized …
Continue reading “Mindfulness in interpersonal judgments and relationships in daily life”
This pilot randomized control trial (RCT) addressed the design and evaluation of a trauma-informed adaptation of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (TI-MBSR) as a trauma-informed intervention for women who identified themselves as survivors of interpersonal violence and felt that these past experience still negatively affected them currently. A mixed methods approach included using quantitative measures to …
Contemplative practices cultivate well-being in oneself but also foster other-oriented emotions, such as empathy, perspective-taking, and compassion. This may be due to a reduction in egocentric thought. However, the neural mechanisms behind how mindfulness reduces ego and how this might impact romantic relationships has not yet been explored. This study proposes a multi-method investigation of …
Remembering autobiographical memories of personal past experiences is very common during our daily life. When remembering these memories, the lack of contextual specificity (where and when the event happened) because of an exacerbated self-absorption by overwhelming feelings may lead to increased emotional distress. In contrast, increasing specificity by promoting a focus on contextual aspects instead …
Mindfulness is associated with positive psychosocial, physical and mental health outcomes prompting research to investigate mindfulness as a tool for smoking cessation. However, there remains sparse evidence on the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness interventions in underserved populations, such as low-income, female smokers, who often have elevated levels of daily stress and greater barriers to …
Encountering social, economic, or family adversity early in life can exert lifelong consequences on stress systems that contribute to health and well-being. On the cellular level, early life adversity can negatively impact telomeres, which are repetitive DNA sequences that protect chromosomes from instability and degradation. Telomeres typically shorten slowly with age, but are shorter in …
You know that moment when you notice your mind wandering? Maybe you’re reading a book and notice that you’ve been scanning the page but thinking unrelated thoughts? This project will develop an innovative tool to model when and how your brain notices, i.e. “meta-awareness” (MA). We have some idea of neural-correlates of MA (the salience …
Continue reading “Measuring meta-awareness in the present moment”
Predominant theories of intergroup relations argue that ideological conflicts between American political groups are sustained by negative emotions. Cognitive reappraisal (CR), defined as the explicit reinterpretation of negative events, has been shown to reduce intergroup negative emotions. However, CR is limited in its applications to real-world political events. Mindfulness also appears to foster negative emotion …
Despite decades of school reform, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disproportionality in student academic opportunities and discipline continues to be a significant concern throughout the education system. The University of Southern California (USC), the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD), and Mindful Schools (MS) are collaborating on bringing mindfulness training to K-5 teachers/staff to foster an …
Continue reading “Cultivating mindful schools to promote an equitable climate of learning”
The goal of this project is to attempt to create a safe “non-invasive” intervention for adolescents that counteract changes in blood flow seen in the brain that are associated with cumulative and repetitive non-concussive head impacts after participating in a year of American football. There is concern that accumulation of a lifetime of participation could …
