Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Mental Health
Date Submitted: Nov 21, 2022
Date Accepted: May 31, 2023
Effects of Induced Mindfulness at Night on Repetitive Negative Thinking: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a cognitive risk factor for various disorders. Although brief mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs; 20-30 minutes or shorter) are effective tools to reduce RNT, the effect of a minimal (five-minute) MBI remains largely unknown.
Objective:
We investigated the acute changes in RNT induced by a 10-day minimal MBI (body scan before sleeping) using an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) administered during the MBI training phase. Additionally, we examined longer-term effects on the post-intervention and two-month follow-up assessments for questionnaire-based RNT and psychological distress.
Methods:
Participants (community sample, 18 to 55 years; 85.3% female) were randomly allocated to either the intervention group (N = 35) or the no-training control group (N = 33). Both groups completed a 10-day EMA assessment phase of RNT, during which only the intervention group performed a daily five-minute body scan before sleeping.
Results:
The intervention group showed a significantly larger reduction in questionnaire-based RNT than the control group at the follow-up assessment (dGMA = -0.91), but this effect was not observed during the EMA phase or at the post-intervention assessment. Furthermore, the intervention group showed significantly larger decreases in stress both at post-intervention (dGMA = -0.78) and follow-up assessment (dGMA = -0.60) than the control group. We found no intervention effects on depressive and anxiety symptoms.
Conclusions:
A five-minute body scan before sleeping reduces RNT and stress when continued for at least 10 days; however, the results suggest that this effect only appears with some time lag, as no acute changes during and immediately after the intervention emerged for RNT. Clinical Trial: NA
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