UMMS Affiliation
Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine; Department of Medicine, Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine
Publication Date
2013
Document Type
Article Preprint
Subjects
Health Behavior; Stress, Psychological; Mind-Body Therapies; Meditation; Relaxation Therapy
Disciplines
Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms | Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Movement and Mind-Body Therapies | Preventive Medicine
Abstract
How best to support change in health-related behaviors is an important public health challenge. The role of mindfulness training in this process has received limited attention. We sought to explore whether mindfulness training is associated with changes in health-related behaviors. The Health Behaviors Questionnaire was used to obtain self-reported dietary behaviors, drinking, smoking, physical activity and sleep quality before and after attendance at an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program. T-test for paired data and chi-square were used to compare pre-post intervention means and proportions of relevant variables with p = .05 as level of significance. Participants (n = 174; mean age 47 years, range: 19-68; 61 % female) reported significant improvements in dietary behaviors and sleep quality. Partial changes were seen in drinking and physical activity, and no change in smoking. In conclusion, mindfulness training promotes favorable changes in selected health-related behaviors deserving further study through randomized controlled trials.
Keywords
mindfulness, mindfulness-based stress reduction, health behaviors
Rights and Permissions
Copyright The Author(s). This is the authors' initial version of the paper before peer review as submitted to: Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
DOI of Published Version
10.1177/2156587213488600
Source
Salmoirago-Blotcher E, Hunsinger M, Morgan L, Fischer D, Carmody J. Mindfulness-based stress reduction and change in health-related behaviors. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine. 2013 Oct;18(4):243-7. doi:10.1177/2156587213488600. Link to final published version of article on publisher's website
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Repository Citation
Salmoirago-Blotcher, Elena; Hunsinger, Matthew; Morgan, Lucas; Fischer, Daniel; and Carmody, James, "Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Change in Health-Related Behaviors" (2013). Cardiovascular Medicine Publications and Presentations. 87.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/cardio_pp/87
Included in
Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons, Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Movement and Mind-Body Therapies Commons, Preventive Medicine Commons