Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Mental Health
Date Submitted: Nov 8, 2023
Open Peer Review Period: Nov 8, 2023 - Jan 3, 2024
Date Accepted: Jan 9, 2024
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
he Effects of a Brief, Fully Self-Guided Mindfulness Ecological Momentary Intervention on Empathy and Theory-of-Mind for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Theories on the utility of brief mindfulness ecological momentary interventions (MEMIs) to improve empathy and theory-of-mind have been under-investigated, particularly in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
Objective:
The present randomized controlled trial (RCT) thus examined the efficacy of a 14-day self-guided MEMI on empathy and theory-of-mind domains for GAD.
Methods:
Participants diagnosed with GAD were randomized to MEMI (n = 68) or self-monitoring app (SM; n = 42). They completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index self-report empathy measure and theory-of-mind test (Bell-Lysaker Emotion Recognition Task; BLERT) at pre-randomization, post-intervention, and one-month follow-up (1MFU). Hierarchical linear modeling was conducted to determine pre-post-intervention and pre-1MFU effects.
Results:
Observed effects were generally stronger from pre-1MFU than pre-post-intervention. MEMI, but not SM, improved theory-of-mind (a window into another's thoughts and intentions through abstract, propositional knowledge about their mental states, encompassing the ability to decipher social cues), fantasy (ability to imagine being in others' shoes), personal distress (stress when witnessing others' negative experiences), and perspective-taking (understanding someone else's perspective) empathy domains from pre-1MFU (between-group Cohen's d = 0.15–0.36 and within-group d = 0.30–0.43 vs. -0.12–0.21). No between-group and within-group effects on empathic concern (feeling affection, compassion, and care when observing others in distress, primarily attending to their emotional well-being) were observed from pre-post-intervention and pre-1MFU.
Conclusions:
Brief MEMI improved specific domains of empathy (fantasy, personal distress, and perspective-taking) and theory-of-mind with small-to-medium effect sizes in persons with GAD. Higher-intensity self-guided MEMIs are likely necessary to improve the empathic concern domain in this population. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT04846777) and OSF DOI (osf.io/vbsjd)
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.