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Empirical explorations of mindfulness: Conceptual and methodological conundrums.
Open accessAbstract
This commentary reflects on the articles in this Special Issue. The appearance of this group of articles underscores the important idea that a major target of mindfulness practice is on emotion. Transformation in trait affect is a key goal of all contemplative traditions. This commentary addresses several key methodological and conceptual issues in the empirical study of mindfulness. The many ways in which the term "mindfulness" is used in the articles in this Special Issue are noted, and they include its reference to states, traits, and independent variables that are manipulated in an experimental context. How the term "mindfulness" is conceptualized and operationalized is crucial, and for progress to be made it is essential that we qualify the use of this term by reference to how it is being operationalized in each context. Other methodological issues are considered, such as the duration of training and how it should be measured, and the nature of control and comparison groups in studies of mindfulness-based interventions. Finally, the commentary ends with a consideration of the targets within emotion processing that are likely to be impacted by mindfulness. This collection of articles underscores the substantial progress that has occurred in the empirical study of mindfulness and it is a harbinger of a very promising future in this area.
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“We employed a double-blind, randomized controlled design (Davidson, 2010;terburg, Morgan, & van honk, 2009).”
From Salivary testosterone and cortisol response in acute stress modulated by seven sessions of mindfulness meditation in young males (2024) · cites this paper as Davidson, 2010
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
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“For example, a series of studies used MBsR vs. health enhancement Program (heP) to validate the active control in meditation (Davidson, 2010;Maccoon et al., 2012;2014;Rosenkranz et al., 2013).”
From Salivary testosterone and cortisol response in acute stress modulated by seven sessions of mindfulness meditation in young males (2024) · cites this paper as Davidson, 2010
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“consequently, for the past 10 years, more and more meditation studies have used longitudinal Rct design with active controls such as relaxation training, health education or enhancement programs, physical exercise, and cognitive tasks (Davidson, 2010;Maccoon et al., 2012;2014;Rosenkranz et al., 2013;terburg et al., 2009).”
From Salivary testosterone and cortisol response in acute stress modulated by seven sessions of mindfulness meditation in young males (2024) · cites this paper as Davidson, 2010
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In the citing paper
“However, one-time mindfulness inductions do not necessarily generalize to longer-term mindfulness training (Davidson, 2010).”
From Mindfulness Training Alters Emotional Memory Recall Compared to Active Controls: Support for an Emotional Information Processing Model of Mindfulness (2012) · cites this paper as Davidson, 2010
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“The current results imply that mindfulness should be differentiated as a personal trait [52] and as an ability that is acquired as a result of practice [53,54].”
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“the waitlist control has been intensively investigated in the meditation field (Davidson, 2010;Maccoon, Maclean, Davidson, saron, & lutz, 2014;Maccoon et al., 2012;Rosenkranz et al., 2013;terburg et al., 2009).”
From Salivary testosterone and cortisol response in acute stress modulated by seven sessions of mindfulness meditation in young males (2024) · cites this paper as Davidson, 2010
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In the citing paper
“Other longitudinal Rcts also showed no sustained attention differences between MBsR and heP, MBsR and heP had comparable post-training stress-evoked cortisol responses, as well as equivalent reductions in self-reported psychological distress and physical symptoms (Davidson, 2010;Maccoon et al., 2012;2014;Rosenkranz et al., 2013).”
From Salivary testosterone and cortisol response in acute stress modulated by seven sessions of mindfulness meditation in young males (2024) · cites this paper as Davidson, 2010
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“however, later rigorous Rct studies using an active control failed to replicate these results.”
From Salivary testosterone and cortisol response in acute stress modulated by seven sessions of mindfulness meditation in young males (2024) · cites this paper as Davidson, 2010
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“Yet, non-specific factors are often viewed primarily as a confound in studies of MBI mechanisms (but see33–35) and used as motivation for increasing the rigor of comparison conditions to isolate the specific effects of MBIs28,36–38.”
From A common factors perspective on mindfulness-based interventions (2022) · cites this paper as [36]
In the citing paper
“Although some of these characteristics have been noted in relation to MBIs (for example, the role of expectancy21), they are often viewed primarily as confounding variables28,36 rather than theory-based, potentially potent causal mechanisms that should be studied and harnessed.”
From A common factors perspective on mindfulness-based interventions (2022) · cites this paper as [36]
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Citations
Cites
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Metadata
- Authors
- Davidson, R. J.
- Corresponding author
- Davidson, Richard J.
- ORCID
- Davidson, Richard J.
- Venue
- Emotion
- Published
- 2010-02
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 8-11
- ISSN
- 1528-3542 (ISSN-L)
- 1931-1516
- PMC
- PMC4485421
- OpenAlex
- W2114363889
- Cited by
- 361
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 33
- FWCI
- 32.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Emotion (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (P01-AT004952)
- Fetzer Institute
- Mental Insight Foundation
- John W. Kluge Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Keywords
- mindfulness, mindfulness-based interventions, emotion regulation, trait affect, contemplative traditions, emotional processing
- MeSH terms
- Emotions, Humans, Mental Processes, Models, Psychological, Psychological Theory, Psychophysiology, Psychotherapy, Meditation, Empirical Research
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