Mechanisms of Mindfulness in Those with Higher and Lower Levels of Autism Traits
Open accessAbstract
The effects of brief mindfulness induction on a central trait of autism spectrum disorder (over-selective attention) were examined in order to assess whether different mechanisms act in those with lower and higher levels of autism traits, and determine which intervention may be most appropriate for individuals with different sets of symptoms. Two hundred and 24 volunteer participants (110 male; 114 female) were assessed for levels of autism traits (autism quotient; AQ), anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales), and mindful awareness (Toronto Mindfulness Scale). They were randomly assigned to mindfulness, relaxation, or no-intervention groups. After three 10-min sessions, held on alternate days, participants underwent simultaneous discrimination training between two two-element compound stimuli (AB+ CD−), followed by an extinction test (AvC, AvD, BvC, BvD) to determine the amount of over-selectivity present. Levels of depression, anxiety, and mindfulness were re-assessed. Participants with greater autism traits demonstrated greater over-selectivity, than those with lower autism traits. Mindfulness reduced over-selectivity, and did so independently of the level of AQ displayed by the participants. For lower scoring AQ participants, mindfulness worked more effectively than relaxation. In contrast, for participants with higher AQ scores, there was little difference between the impact of mindfulness and relaxation. The latter group displayed no improvement in mindful awareness. Mindfulness induction can be effective, but may work through different mechanisms for those with higher and lower autism traits, and consideration should be given as to whether this intervention may be the most suitable in all cases where autism traits are present.
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Mindfulness training targets nonjudgment, but it remains unclear whether this effect is population specific or a product of active control group selection.
“Our results suggest mindfulness training targets nonjudgment, but it remains unclear whether this effect is population specific or a product of active control group selection.39”
From Distinct and shared therapeutic neural mechanisms of mindfulness-based and social support stress reduction groups in adults with autism spectrum disorder (2023) · cites this paper as [39]
The Discussion (page unavailable) finds that mindfulness and relaxation had similar effects in participants with higher autism-trait scores, and notes that earlier studies often lacked a relaxation control. This supports the concern about population differences and active comparators, but the paper examines over-selective attention, not whether mindfulness training targets nonjudgment or whether a nonjudgment effect depends on those factors. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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Pagni, B. A., Hill, E., Walsh, M. J. M., Delaney, S., Ogbeama, D., Monahan, L., Cook, J. R., Guerithault, N., Dixon, M. V., Ballard, L., et al. (2023) · Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience · doi:10.1503/jpn.220159 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“40,41 In addition, total practice hours mediate mind-fulness trait changes, which in turn mediate mental health outcomes, 38 supporting the notion that mindfulness abilities are key dose–response–dependent therapeutic mechanisms.”
Background
- Authors
- Reed, P.
- Affiliations
- Swansea University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Reed, Phil
- ORCID
- Reed, Phil
- Venue
- Mindfulness
- Published
- 2018-06-01
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 234-244
- ISSN
- 1868-8527 (ISSN-L)
- 1868-8535
- OpenAlex
- W2804957560
- Cited by
- 3
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 0.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Mindfulness (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Swansea University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Keywords
- autistic traits, autism spectrum disorder, relaxation, mindful awareness, anxiety, depression, extinction, intervention mechanisms
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