Does practice quality mediate the relationship between practice time and outcome in mindfulness-based stress...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Behavioral Science
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are widely used for stress reduction.
• Understanding the mechanisms driving MBI effectiveness is crucial for optimizing treatment.
• Mindfulness practice quality is a potential mediator of MBI outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate mindfulness practice quality as a mediator between practice time and outcomes in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
• To assess the reliability and validity of a weekly measure of mindfulness practice quality.
• To examine the relationship between practice time, practice quality, and changes in self-report and behavioral mindfulness.

Main Methods:

• 96 participants in an 8-week MBSR program completed baseline and post-treatment measures of mindfulness and psychological symptoms.
• Weekly questionnaires assessed participants' mindfulness practice time and quality.
• Multilevel models were used to analyze the data, accounting for nested structures (participants, groups, instructors).

Main Results:

• Greater practice time was positively associated with improved practice quality (r = .48).
• Increases in practice quality predicted improvements in self-report mindfulness and psychological symptoms (βs = .35, .30, -.19, ps < .05).
• Practice quality did not significantly predict changes in behavioral mindfulness (β = -.02, p = .879).

Conclusions:

• Mindfulness practice quality mediates the relationship between practice time and improvements in self-report mindfulness within MBSR.
• The findings highlight the importance of practice quality, not solely duration, for achieving therapeutic benefits.
• Future research should explore practice quality in clinical settings and with objective outcome measures.