Boosting Psychological Well-Being through a Social Mindfulness-Based Intervention in the General Population

Teresa Fazia, Francesco Bubbico, Gerardo Salvato, Giovanni Berzuini, Salvatore Bruno, Gabriella Bottini and Luisa Bernardinelli
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Teresa Fazia: Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Francesco Bubbico: Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Gerardo Salvato: Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Giovanni Berzuini: Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Salvatore Bruno: Istituto di Psicosintesi, 20124 Milano, Italy
Gabriella Bottini: Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Luisa Bernardinelli: Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 22, 1-15

Abstract: The benefits of mindfulness meditation among clinical and non-clinical populations have been largely reported in literature. Existing mindfulness-based programs are particularly useful in targeting specific populations while researchers have pointed out the possibility of developing programs adapted to the audience and the context. In this two-groups pre-post experimental design we developed a mindfulness-based social intervention program to target individuals from the general population. Here we present a two-groups pre-post experimental design to investigate its effectiveness on participants’ psychological functioning assessed by eight self-reported questionnaires (CORE-OM, FFMQ, SWLS, PANAS, PSS, SCS, WEMWBS, SHS) which encompass different domains of well-being, mindfulness and emotional functioning. Participants, recruited on voluntary basis, were randomly allocated to treated or passive control groups and were aware of group allocation. The intervention comprises a 12-week meditation training in a big group that represents the social aspect of meditation. Data were analysed via a linear mixed effect model and intention to treat. Statistically significant results were obtained for global score of CORE-OM (β = −0.20 [−0.30; −0.10], p = 0.0002), FFMQ (β = 0.20 [0.12; −0.28], p < 0.0001), SWLS (β = 1.43 [0.42; 2.45], p = 0.006), positive PANAS (β = 1.99 [0.95; 3.04], p = 0.0002), negative PANAS (β = −1.67 [−2.92; −0.43], p = 0.009), PSS (β = −2.98 [−4.25; −1.71], p < 0.0001), WEMWBS (β = 4.38 [2.93; 5.83], p < 0.0001) and SHS (β = 1.43 [0.42; 2.45], p = 0.006). Our intervention is causally associated with an improvement of the psychological functioning and hence can be considered as a preventive measure that may potentially reduce the risk of developing psychological problems and improve the subject’s general well-being. Given the voluntary recruitment, our inference only applies to those individuals who have decided to experience meditation as a way to well-being and not to a random person from the general population.

Keywords: mindfulness-based meditation; psychological well-being; healthy subjects; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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