Exploring the impact of a brief mindfulness-based intervention on autonomic functioning: A multisystem approach

Previous work on brief mindfulness-based interventions (bMBI) reveals that they consistently alleviate stress, but their impact on biological stress response systems, such as the autonomic nervous system (ANS), varies. Nevertheless, most of this work has focused on only a single physiological response system or a specific biomarker, limiting insight into how multiple systems work together. The present study tested whether bMBI alters ANS markers and coordination across ANS subsystems. Participants were young adults (bMBI: n = 44, M age = 18.64 years; control: n = 47, M age = 19.00 years) who completed two sessions of either a brief mindfulness intervention or an attention control condition (audiobook listening), followed by a psychosocial stress test at the second visit. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), skin conductance level (SCL), and blood pressure were assessed during mindfulness engagement, control condition, and stress. Results indicated that bMBI elicited greater RSA augmentation and lower SCL and greater declines in blood pressure relative to the control condition. In response to the TSST, the bMBI group exhibited reciprocal coordination between RSA and SCL, reflected in an inverse association between the two systems. In contrast, the control group showed non-reciprocal coordination, reflected in a positive association between RSA and SCL. The bMBI group also displayed lower blood pressure immediately after the psychosocial stressor compared to controls. These results suggest that examining coordination across systems might explain variation across previous publications. They also highlight the promise of two sessions of bMBI in promoting optimal adaptive ANS coordination across multiple measures, potentially revealing quick, inexpensive ways to understand and decrease reactions to stressors.