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 While mindfulness training has long been linked to reductions in
social isolation, much of this research has focused on longer
in-person sessions that continue over several weeks or months. With
its focus on brief digital training sessions, the current study
suggests that group sessions and the social contact that comes from
in-person meetings may not be required for people to benefit from
mindfulness interventions, said lead author Emily Lindsay, a
psychology researcher at the University of Pittsburgh.
"Smartphone training is accessible and inexpensive," Lindsay, who
did the study while at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh,
said by email.
"The majority of American adults own smartphones, so the smartphone
platform provides an opportunity to learn mindfulness meditation for
people who might not have resources for longer, in-person
mindfulness training programs," Lindsay added.
Mindfulness-based training programs are designed to help people
focus on the present moment and accept any pain or discomfort they
may be feeling. This may involve meditation techniques to cultivate
awareness of the present moment during ordinary daily activities
such as driving or eating, or breathing exercises and practices such
as yoga to help encourage body awareness and focus on the present.
In the current study, the goal of mindfulness training was to help
participants accept discomfort with social interactions while
continuing to engage with other people.
The researchers randomly assigned 153 adults to one of three 14-day
smartphone-based interventions developed in collaboration with one
of their colleagues, Shinzen Young, based on his Unified Mindfulness
system.
For 20 minutes each day, one mindfulness training group received
training in monitoring and acceptance skills, a second mindfulness
group received training in monitoring skills only, and a third group
received no mindfulness content and instead received guidance in
common coping techniques.
With each group, researchers also asked participants to complete
brief daily homework activities that were designed to last no more
than 10 minutes.
For three days before and after these interventions, participants
completed periodic assessments throughout the day to measure
loneliness and social contact.
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Participants who received training in monitoring and acceptance
skills saw the greatest benefits: they reduced daily life loneliness
by 22 percent and increased social contact by an average of two
interactions each day.
The monitoring-only mindfulness group didn't experience these
changes, suggesting that acceptance skills training may be a
critical ingredient for the social benefits of mindfulness training
programs, researchers conclude in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences.
One limitation of the study is that researchers didn't specifically
test the smartphone mindfulness app in lonely or socially isolated
adults; people were stressed, but not necessarily suffering from
these other problems.
Researchers also lacked data on whether using the mindfulness app
might help users make new friends or interact with strangers as
opposed to engaging more with people they already know.
How well mindfulness apps work may depend a lot on the individual
user and the quality of the app, noted Na Zhang, a psychology
researcher at Arizona State University in Temple who wasn't involved
in the study.
"There are still a lot that we don't know about what dosage, timing,
and sequencing of mindfulness training would be effective for what
problems in what kinds of people," Zhang said by email. "So people
who are new to mindfulness training could have used an app and found
out that it is not very useful, especially without a teacher, and
then think that this is not for them."
Because smartphones are ubiquitous, it's also possible they could
reach people who need help more easily than other interventions or
help enhance treatment patients get in person, Zhang added.
"Perhaps by practicing monitoring and acceptance daily, even though
for a short period of time, we can feel more at peace and free, more
centered, and less affected by the possible negative thoughts and
feelings generated in our mind," Zhang said. "So we are closer to
who we really are - we are social beings and we inherently need to
connect to others."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2F6ffSJ Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences of the USA, online February 11, 2019.
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