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Yuval Hadash

University of Haifa, Psychology, Graduate Student

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University of Zagreb

Uppsala University

University of East London

University of Leicester

Gwen Robbins Schug

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Gabriel Gutierrez-Alonso

University of Salamanca

Macquarie University

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

Swansea University

Jesper Hoffmeyer

University of Copenhagen

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Papers by Yuval Hadash

Effect of mindfulness-based trauma recovery for refugees on shame and guilt in trauma recovery among African asylum-seekers

Emotion

Single Experience and Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT)

Handbook of Assessment in Mindfulness Research, 2022

Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science suggest that an important mechanism throu... more Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science suggest that an important mechanism through which mindfulness contributes to well-being is by reducing selfreferential processing of experience and cultivating selfless processing of experience. Selfreferential processing of experience is implicated in prevalent forms of suffering and mental health problems. In contrast, selfless processing of experience is considered to be fundamental for the cultivation of attitudinal qualities of mindfulness (e.g., non-judging) and of a metacognitive process subserving decentering (e.g., disidentification from internal experience). Critically, study of these processes has been limited by the absence of behavioral measurement methods of self-referential and selfless processing of experience. Accordingly, the Single Experience & Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT) was developed to behaviorally measure these processes. It involves the experimental elicitation of a subjective experience (e.g., elicitation of fear using videos and audio), while concurrently measuring the cognitive association between self and the elicited experience (e.g., fear) by means of a Single Category-Implicit Association Test. Based on this method, the fear SES-IAT was designed to measure self-referential and selfless processing of fear. Experimental and correlational findings indicate that the fear SES-IAT measures selfless processing of fear, identification with fear, and negative self-referential evaluation of fear. Importantly, findings also support the fear SES-IAT as a measure of key attitudinal qualities of mindfulness and of a metacognitive process subserving decentering (i.e. disidentification from internal experience). This chapter describes the theoretical foundations of the SES-IAT, findings supporting its reliability and validity, its methodology and score computation, and possible future directions for the SES-IAT.

Looking Inside the Black Box of Mindfulness Meditation: Investigating Attention and Awareness During Meditation Using the Mindful Awareness Task (MAT)

Training attention and awareness in mindfulness meditation is theorized to be essential for the c... more Training attention and awareness in mindfulness meditation is theorized to be essential for the cultivation of mindfulness and its salutary outcomes. Yet, the empirical foundation for this central premise in mindfulness science is surprisingly small due to a limited methodological capacity to measure attention and awareness during mindfulness meditation. Accordingly, we set out to measure and study these processes in a laboratory study (N = 143, 76.92% female) using a novel behavioral measurement paradigm – the Mindful Awareness Task (MAT). We empirically characterized attention and awareness during mindfulness meditation, and found novel behavioral evidence indicating that, as long-theorized, these processes were related to previous mindfulness meditation practice, attitudinal qualities of mindfulness, attention regulation, and mental health. Furthermore, we found that the accuracy of self-reported mindfulness was, paradoxically, dependent on behavioral capacities for mindful aware...

Investigating Mindful Awareness from Moment-to-Moment in Meditation: The Mindful Awareness Task (MAT)

All reported data and analysis syntax will be deposited in the Open Science Framework upon public... more All reported data and analysis syntax will be deposited in the Open Science Framework upon publication of the manuscript. This study was not preregistered. Yuval Hadash and Amit Bernstein developed the Mindful Awareness Task, designed and conducted the study, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. Yuval Hadash and Liad Ruimi conducted qualitative coding of the data. We want to thank: Or Harel for his help with qualitative coding of the data; research assistants Ortal Gretchin, Tzlil Abarbanel, Elad ATTENTION AND AWARENESS IN MINDFULNESS MEDITATION 2 Flusser, Chen Bar Cohen, Shaden Ghanem, Chen Joseph, and Lachan Sharabi for their help in carrying out the study; and Nicholas T. Van Dam and Simon B. Goldberg for their feedback on the manuscript. We have no known conflicts of interest to disclose.

Experiential self-referential and selfless processing in mindfulness and mental health: Conceptual model and implicit measurement methodology

Psychological Assessment, 2016

A Network Modeling Approach to Mindfulness Mechanisms: a Proof-of-Concept Investigation

Mindfulness, 2021

In contrast to theory, most extant research has not investigated mindfulness mechanisms as dynami... more In contrast to theory, most extant research has not investigated mindfulness mechanisms as dynamic system(s) of processes nor via measurement with high temporal and contextual resolution in participants’ real-world environment. Accordingly, as an initial proof of concept approach, we applied a network analysis methodology to experience sampling data twice daily of 10 risk and protective processes of interest, pre- and post-mindfulness training (3-week, 6-session intervention) among 82 meditation-naive adults. First, we found changes in the network post-relative to pre-intervention, including the emergence or strengthening of key network pathways (e.g., willingness, positive affect) as well as the pruning or weakening of pathways (e.g., negative affect, depressed/anxious mood). Second, relatedly, we found that negative affect was less functionally central at post- versus pre-intervention. Findings suggest theoretically and clinically important changes in the functional connectivity o...

The Metacognitive Processes of Decentering Scale: Development and initial validation of trait and state versions

The ability to decenter from internal experiences is important for mental health. Consequently, i... more The ability to decenter from internal experiences is important for mental health. Consequently, improving decentering is a common therapeutic target, particularly for mindfulness-based interventions. However, extant decentering measures are limited as they fail to directly assess all 3 metacognitive processes recently theorized to subserve decentering. We thus conducted 4 studies to develop and test the Metacognitive Processes of Decentering-Trait (MPoD-t) and State (MPoD-s) scales. Consistent with the metacognitive processes model, exploratory factor analysis (N = 355) and then bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling (N = 275) indicated the MPoD-t was composed of three independent yet interrelated lower-order factors, metaawareness, (dis)identification with internal experience, and (non)reactivity to internal experience, which subserved an emergent, higher-order, decentering factor. We next found evidence of the MPoD-t's convergent validity; as well as known-groups cr...

Mindfulness-Based Trauma Recovery for Refugees (MBTR-R): Randomized Waitlist-Control Evidence of Efficacy and Safety

Clinical Psychological Science

Refugees and asylum seekers often suffer from trauma- and stress-related mental health problems. ... more Refugees and asylum seekers often suffer from trauma- and stress-related mental health problems. We thus developed mindfulness-based trauma recovery for refugees (MBTR-R)—a 9-week, mindfulness-based, trauma-sensitive, and socioculturally adapted group intervention for refugees and asylum seekers. We conducted a randomized waitlist-control study to test its efficacy and safety among a community sample of 158 Eritrean asylum seekers (46.2% female) with severe trauma history and chronic postmigration stress. Relative to the waitlist-control group, MBTR-R participants demonstrated significantly reduced rates and symptom severity of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and multimorbidity at postintervention and 5-week follow-up. Therapeutic effects were not dependent on key demographics, trauma history severity, or postmigration living difficulties. Finally, there was no evidence of adverse effects or lasting clinically significant deterioration in monitored outcomes. The ...

Mindfulness-Based Trauma Recovery for Refugees (MBTR-R): Randomized Waitlist-Control Evidence of Efficacy and Safety

Background: Worldwide, refugees and asylum seekers suffer at high rates from trauma- and stress-r... more Background: Worldwide, refugees and asylum seekers suffer at high rates from trauma- and stress-related mental health problems. We thus developed Mindfulness-Based Trauma Recovery for Refugees (MBTR-R) – a 9-week, mindfulness- and compassion-based, trauma-sensitive and socio-culturally adapted, group intervention for refugees and asylum seekers. Aims: We assessed whether MBTR-R is an efficacious and safe mental health intervention for traumatized asylum seekers. Method: We conducted a randomized waitlist-control trial of MBTR-R among a community sample of 158 Eritrean asylum seekers (46.2% female, 53.8% male) with severe trauma history and ongoing post-migration stress. Results: Eighty-three of 98 participants randomized to MBTR-R and 48 of 60 randomized to waitlist-control condition were prospectively retained and completed pre- and post-intervention assessment. Relative to waitlist-controls, MBTR-R intervention completers (> 4 sessions attended) demonstrated significantly reduc...

Does Early Emotional Responding to Initial Mindfulness Training Impact Intervention Outcomes?

Mindfulness

Behavioral Assessment of Mindfulness: Defining Features, Organizing Framework, and Review of Emerging Methods

Current Opinion in Psychology

The development and implementation of psychometrically sound behavioral measures of mindfulness i... more The development and implementation of psychometrically sound behavioral measures of mindfulness is important to advancing the science of mindfulness. To help organize, conceptualize, and guide the development of behavioral measures of mindfulness, we propose defining features, and a four-domain framework, of the behavioral assessment of mindfulness. The framework domains include measurement of (I) objects of mindful awareness, (II) time-course of mindful awareness, (III) sensitivity of mindful awareness, and (IV) attitudes towards present moment experience. We describe mindfulness processes in each domain, and review extant behavioral method(s) and specific behavioral measure(s) of mindfulness processes per domain. Four of the 12 reviewed measures demonstrate acceptable reliabilities and preliminary evidence of construct validity as measures of mindfulness processes. Highlights  Rigorous behavioral measures of mindfulness are critical to mindfulness science  We propose key defining features of behavioral measures of mindfulness  We propose four domains of behavioral assessment of mindfulness  We describe mindfulness processes, behavioral methods and measures per domain  Four behavioral mindfulness measures demonstrate acceptable psychometric properties

Meta-Awareness of Dysregulated Emotional Attention

Clinical Psychological Science

We explore the human capacity for and the function(s) of meta-awareness for biased attentional pr... more We explore the human capacity for and the function(s) of meta-awareness for biased attentional processing of emotional information (MAB) subserving mental (ill) health. We do so by integrating probe-caught sampling methods, signal detection theory, and multilevel modeling of cognitive-experimental laboratory data among daily smokers ( N = 75) known to exhibit biased attentional processing of reward-related (drug) cues in addiction. We found (a) evidence of the capacity for and individual differences in MAB; (b) that momentary MAB was most likely observed in the event of the most extreme micro-expressions of biased attentional processing; and (c) that momentary micro-expressions of biased attention without MAB were more likely followed by attentional dysregulation, whereas momentary micro-expressions of biased attention with MAB were more likely followed by more balanced attentional expression or greater attentional control. We discuss the implications for basic and clinical science ...

State Mindfulness Scale (SMS)

The Satipatṭhāna Sutta describes mindfulness as a mental state characterized by the objects of mi... more The Satipatṭhāna Sutta describes mindfulness as a mental state characterized by the objects of mindful awareness (i.e., what experience a person attends to) and mental qualities of that mindful awareness (i.e., how a person attends to experience). In contemporary psychology, mindfulness is often similarly conceptualized as a trait or a state characterized by two components: attention of physical/bodily and mental present moment experience (i.e., what experience a person attends to) and a mental attitude characterized by curiosity and acceptance of present moment experience (i.e., how a person attends to experience) (Bishop et al., 2004; Lindsay & Creswell, 2017). Integrating these canonical and contemporary theoretical perspectives, Tanay and Bernstein (2013) developed the State Mindfulness Scale (SMS). The SMS is a 21-item self-report measure designed to assess state mindfulness. More specifically, the SMS is designed to quantify subjective levels of present moment attention to and...

Measuring Self-Referential and Selfless Processing of Experience: The Single Experience and Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT)

Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have implicated self-referential processi... more Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have implicated self-referential processing of experience in prevalent forms of maladaptation and mental health problems. According to Buddhist and contemporary psychological contemplative approaches, one important mechanisms through which mindfulness contributes to well-being and mental health is by reducing self-referential processing of experience or cultivating its selfless processing. Critically, study of these processes has been limited by the absence of behavioral measurement methods of these phenomena. Accordingly, Hadash, Plonsker, Vago & Bernstein (2016) developed the Single Experience & Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT). The SES-IAT is a behavioral paradigm measuring self-referential and selfless processing of a specific subjective experience. This paradigm involves the experimental elicitation of a subjective experience (e.g., using videos and audio), while concurrently measuring participant’s cognitive assoc...

Examining the Decoupling Model of Equanimity in Mindfulness Training: An Intensive Experience Sampling Study

Clinical Psychological Science

Although Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have theorized that equanimity m... more Although Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have theorized that equanimity may be a critical outcome and salutary mechanism of action of mindfulness, empirical evidence is limited. Eighty-two meditation-naive adults (52% female; Mage = 25.05 years, SD = 3.26 years) from the general community participated in a 3-week, six-session mindfulness training intervention. Prior to and then over the course of the intervention, in the contexts of daily living and mindfulness meditation, we collected 52 digital experience samples (2–3/day). Mixed-linear models permitted analysis of data much like 82 single-subject multiple-baseline experimental design data sets. The practice and cultivation of mindfulness states were associated with elevations in manifestations of equanimity (i.e., elevated willingness and decreased hedonic-based avoidance), which were robust to spontaneous subjective stress as well as experimentally evoked idiographic negative self-referential thoughts. Mi...

Metacognitive Processes Model of Decentering: Emerging Methods and Insights

We previously proposed that three metacognitive processes – meta-awareness, disidentification fro... more We previously proposed that three metacognitive processes – meta-awareness, disidentification from internal experience, and reduced reactivity to thought content – together constitute decentering. We review emerging methods to study these metacognitive processes and the novel insights they provide regarding the nature and salutary function(s) of decentering. Specifically, we review novel psychometric studies of self-report scales of decentering, as well as studies using intensive experience sampling, novel behavioral assessments, and experimental micro-interventions designed to target the metacognitive processes. Findings support the theorized inter-relations of the metacognitive processes, help to elucidate the pathways through which they may contribute to mental health, and provide preliminary evidence of their salutary role as mechanisms of action in mindfulness-based interventions.

Behavioral assessment of mindfulness: Defining features, organizing framework, and emerging methods

The development and implementation of psychometrically sound behavioral measures of mindfulness a... more The development and implementation of psychometrically sound behavioral measures of mindfulness are important to advancing the science of mindfulness. To help organize, conceptualize, and guide the development of extant and emerging behavioral measures of mindfulness, we delineate the defining features of behavioral measures of mindfulness and propose a framework consisting of four domains of behavioral assessment of mindfulness. The domains include measurement of (I) objects of mindful awareness, (II) time-course of mindful awareness, (III) sensitivity of mindful awareness, and (IV) attitudes towards present moment experience. We describe the mindfulness process(es), behavioral methods, and review specific measures per domain. Four of the measures exhibit sound psychometric properties and evidence of construct validity as measures of mindfulness processes.

Measuring Decentering and Related Constructs: Capacity and Limitations of Extant Assessment Scales

Mindfulness

Measuring Self-Referential and Selfless Processing of Experience: The Single Experience and Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT)

Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have implicated self-referential processi... more Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have implicated self-referential processing of experience in prevalent forms of maladaptation and mental health problems. According to Buddhist and contemporary psychological contemplative approaches, one important mechanisms through which mindfulness contributes to well-being and mental health is by reducing self-referential processing of experience or cultivating its selfless processing. Critically, study of these processes has been limited by the absence of behavioral measurement methods of these phenomena. Accordingly, Hadash, Plonsker, Vago & Bernstein (2016) developed the Single Experience & Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT). The SES-IAT is a behavioral paradigm measuring self-referential and selfless processing of a specific subjective experience. This paradigm involves the experimental elicitation of a subjective experience (e.g., using videos and audio), while concurrently measuring participant’s cognitive assoc...

Measuring Self-Referential and Selfless Processing of Experience: The Single Experience and Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT)

Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have implicated self-referential processi... more Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have implicated self-referential processing of experience in prevalent forms of maladaptation and mental health problems. According to Buddhist and contemporary psychological contemplative approaches, one important mechanisms through which mindfulness contributes to well-being and mental health is by reducing self-referential processing of experience or cultivating its selfless processing. Critically, study of these processes has been limited by the absence of behavioral measurement methods of these phenomena. Accordingly, Hadash, Plonsker, Vago & Bernstein (2016) developed the Single Experience & Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT). The SES-IAT is a behavioral paradigm measuring self-referential and selfless processing of a specific subjective experience. This paradigm involves the experimental elicitation of a subjective experience (e.g., using videos and audio), while concurrently measuring participant’s cognitive assoc...

Effect of mindfulness-based trauma recovery for refugees on shame and guilt in trauma recovery among African asylum-seekers

Emotion

Single Experience and Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT)

Handbook of Assessment in Mindfulness Research, 2022

Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science suggest that an important mechanism throu... more Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science suggest that an important mechanism through which mindfulness contributes to well-being is by reducing selfreferential processing of experience and cultivating selfless processing of experience. Selfreferential processing of experience is implicated in prevalent forms of suffering and mental health problems. In contrast, selfless processing of experience is considered to be fundamental for the cultivation of attitudinal qualities of mindfulness (e.g., non-judging) and of a metacognitive process subserving decentering (e.g., disidentification from internal experience). Critically, study of these processes has been limited by the absence of behavioral measurement methods of self-referential and selfless processing of experience. Accordingly, the Single Experience & Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT) was developed to behaviorally measure these processes. It involves the experimental elicitation of a subjective experience (e.g., elicitation of fear using videos and audio), while concurrently measuring the cognitive association between self and the elicited experience (e.g., fear) by means of a Single Category-Implicit Association Test. Based on this method, the fear SES-IAT was designed to measure self-referential and selfless processing of fear. Experimental and correlational findings indicate that the fear SES-IAT measures selfless processing of fear, identification with fear, and negative self-referential evaluation of fear. Importantly, findings also support the fear SES-IAT as a measure of key attitudinal qualities of mindfulness and of a metacognitive process subserving decentering (i.e. disidentification from internal experience). This chapter describes the theoretical foundations of the SES-IAT, findings supporting its reliability and validity, its methodology and score computation, and possible future directions for the SES-IAT.

Looking Inside the Black Box of Mindfulness Meditation: Investigating Attention and Awareness During Meditation Using the Mindful Awareness Task (MAT)

Training attention and awareness in mindfulness meditation is theorized to be essential for the c... more Training attention and awareness in mindfulness meditation is theorized to be essential for the cultivation of mindfulness and its salutary outcomes. Yet, the empirical foundation for this central premise in mindfulness science is surprisingly small due to a limited methodological capacity to measure attention and awareness during mindfulness meditation. Accordingly, we set out to measure and study these processes in a laboratory study (N = 143, 76.92% female) using a novel behavioral measurement paradigm – the Mindful Awareness Task (MAT). We empirically characterized attention and awareness during mindfulness meditation, and found novel behavioral evidence indicating that, as long-theorized, these processes were related to previous mindfulness meditation practice, attitudinal qualities of mindfulness, attention regulation, and mental health. Furthermore, we found that the accuracy of self-reported mindfulness was, paradoxically, dependent on behavioral capacities for mindful aware...

Investigating Mindful Awareness from Moment-to-Moment in Meditation: The Mindful Awareness Task (MAT)

All reported data and analysis syntax will be deposited in the Open Science Framework upon public... more All reported data and analysis syntax will be deposited in the Open Science Framework upon publication of the manuscript. This study was not preregistered. Yuval Hadash and Amit Bernstein developed the Mindful Awareness Task, designed and conducted the study, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. Yuval Hadash and Liad Ruimi conducted qualitative coding of the data. We want to thank: Or Harel for his help with qualitative coding of the data; research assistants Ortal Gretchin, Tzlil Abarbanel, Elad ATTENTION AND AWARENESS IN MINDFULNESS MEDITATION 2 Flusser, Chen Bar Cohen, Shaden Ghanem, Chen Joseph, and Lachan Sharabi for their help in carrying out the study; and Nicholas T. Van Dam and Simon B. Goldberg for their feedback on the manuscript. We have no known conflicts of interest to disclose.

Experiential self-referential and selfless processing in mindfulness and mental health: Conceptual model and implicit measurement methodology

Psychological Assessment, 2016

A Network Modeling Approach to Mindfulness Mechanisms: a Proof-of-Concept Investigation

Mindfulness, 2021

In contrast to theory, most extant research has not investigated mindfulness mechanisms as dynami... more In contrast to theory, most extant research has not investigated mindfulness mechanisms as dynamic system(s) of processes nor via measurement with high temporal and contextual resolution in participants’ real-world environment. Accordingly, as an initial proof of concept approach, we applied a network analysis methodology to experience sampling data twice daily of 10 risk and protective processes of interest, pre- and post-mindfulness training (3-week, 6-session intervention) among 82 meditation-naive adults. First, we found changes in the network post-relative to pre-intervention, including the emergence or strengthening of key network pathways (e.g., willingness, positive affect) as well as the pruning or weakening of pathways (e.g., negative affect, depressed/anxious mood). Second, relatedly, we found that negative affect was less functionally central at post- versus pre-intervention. Findings suggest theoretically and clinically important changes in the functional connectivity o...

The Metacognitive Processes of Decentering Scale: Development and initial validation of trait and state versions

The ability to decenter from internal experiences is important for mental health. Consequently, i... more The ability to decenter from internal experiences is important for mental health. Consequently, improving decentering is a common therapeutic target, particularly for mindfulness-based interventions. However, extant decentering measures are limited as they fail to directly assess all 3 metacognitive processes recently theorized to subserve decentering. We thus conducted 4 studies to develop and test the Metacognitive Processes of Decentering-Trait (MPoD-t) and State (MPoD-s) scales. Consistent with the metacognitive processes model, exploratory factor analysis (N = 355) and then bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling (N = 275) indicated the MPoD-t was composed of three independent yet interrelated lower-order factors, metaawareness, (dis)identification with internal experience, and (non)reactivity to internal experience, which subserved an emergent, higher-order, decentering factor. We next found evidence of the MPoD-t's convergent validity; as well as known-groups cr...

Mindfulness-Based Trauma Recovery for Refugees (MBTR-R): Randomized Waitlist-Control Evidence of Efficacy and Safety

Clinical Psychological Science

Refugees and asylum seekers often suffer from trauma- and stress-related mental health problems. ... more Refugees and asylum seekers often suffer from trauma- and stress-related mental health problems. We thus developed mindfulness-based trauma recovery for refugees (MBTR-R)—a 9-week, mindfulness-based, trauma-sensitive, and socioculturally adapted group intervention for refugees and asylum seekers. We conducted a randomized waitlist-control study to test its efficacy and safety among a community sample of 158 Eritrean asylum seekers (46.2% female) with severe trauma history and chronic postmigration stress. Relative to the waitlist-control group, MBTR-R participants demonstrated significantly reduced rates and symptom severity of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and multimorbidity at postintervention and 5-week follow-up. Therapeutic effects were not dependent on key demographics, trauma history severity, or postmigration living difficulties. Finally, there was no evidence of adverse effects or lasting clinically significant deterioration in monitored outcomes. The ...

Mindfulness-Based Trauma Recovery for Refugees (MBTR-R): Randomized Waitlist-Control Evidence of Efficacy and Safety

Background: Worldwide, refugees and asylum seekers suffer at high rates from trauma- and stress-r... more Background: Worldwide, refugees and asylum seekers suffer at high rates from trauma- and stress-related mental health problems. We thus developed Mindfulness-Based Trauma Recovery for Refugees (MBTR-R) – a 9-week, mindfulness- and compassion-based, trauma-sensitive and socio-culturally adapted, group intervention for refugees and asylum seekers. Aims: We assessed whether MBTR-R is an efficacious and safe mental health intervention for traumatized asylum seekers. Method: We conducted a randomized waitlist-control trial of MBTR-R among a community sample of 158 Eritrean asylum seekers (46.2% female, 53.8% male) with severe trauma history and ongoing post-migration stress. Results: Eighty-three of 98 participants randomized to MBTR-R and 48 of 60 randomized to waitlist-control condition were prospectively retained and completed pre- and post-intervention assessment. Relative to waitlist-controls, MBTR-R intervention completers (> 4 sessions attended) demonstrated significantly reduc...

Does Early Emotional Responding to Initial Mindfulness Training Impact Intervention Outcomes?

Mindfulness

Behavioral Assessment of Mindfulness: Defining Features, Organizing Framework, and Review of Emerging Methods

Current Opinion in Psychology

The development and implementation of psychometrically sound behavioral measures of mindfulness i... more The development and implementation of psychometrically sound behavioral measures of mindfulness is important to advancing the science of mindfulness. To help organize, conceptualize, and guide the development of behavioral measures of mindfulness, we propose defining features, and a four-domain framework, of the behavioral assessment of mindfulness. The framework domains include measurement of (I) objects of mindful awareness, (II) time-course of mindful awareness, (III) sensitivity of mindful awareness, and (IV) attitudes towards present moment experience. We describe mindfulness processes in each domain, and review extant behavioral method(s) and specific behavioral measure(s) of mindfulness processes per domain. Four of the 12 reviewed measures demonstrate acceptable reliabilities and preliminary evidence of construct validity as measures of mindfulness processes. Highlights  Rigorous behavioral measures of mindfulness are critical to mindfulness science  We propose key defining features of behavioral measures of mindfulness  We propose four domains of behavioral assessment of mindfulness  We describe mindfulness processes, behavioral methods and measures per domain  Four behavioral mindfulness measures demonstrate acceptable psychometric properties

Meta-Awareness of Dysregulated Emotional Attention

Clinical Psychological Science

We explore the human capacity for and the function(s) of meta-awareness for biased attentional pr... more We explore the human capacity for and the function(s) of meta-awareness for biased attentional processing of emotional information (MAB) subserving mental (ill) health. We do so by integrating probe-caught sampling methods, signal detection theory, and multilevel modeling of cognitive-experimental laboratory data among daily smokers ( N = 75) known to exhibit biased attentional processing of reward-related (drug) cues in addiction. We found (a) evidence of the capacity for and individual differences in MAB; (b) that momentary MAB was most likely observed in the event of the most extreme micro-expressions of biased attentional processing; and (c) that momentary micro-expressions of biased attention without MAB were more likely followed by attentional dysregulation, whereas momentary micro-expressions of biased attention with MAB were more likely followed by more balanced attentional expression or greater attentional control. We discuss the implications for basic and clinical science ...

State Mindfulness Scale (SMS)

The Satipatṭhāna Sutta describes mindfulness as a mental state characterized by the objects of mi... more The Satipatṭhāna Sutta describes mindfulness as a mental state characterized by the objects of mindful awareness (i.e., what experience a person attends to) and mental qualities of that mindful awareness (i.e., how a person attends to experience). In contemporary psychology, mindfulness is often similarly conceptualized as a trait or a state characterized by two components: attention of physical/bodily and mental present moment experience (i.e., what experience a person attends to) and a mental attitude characterized by curiosity and acceptance of present moment experience (i.e., how a person attends to experience) (Bishop et al., 2004; Lindsay & Creswell, 2017). Integrating these canonical and contemporary theoretical perspectives, Tanay and Bernstein (2013) developed the State Mindfulness Scale (SMS). The SMS is a 21-item self-report measure designed to assess state mindfulness. More specifically, the SMS is designed to quantify subjective levels of present moment attention to and...

Measuring Self-Referential and Selfless Processing of Experience: The Single Experience and Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT)

Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have implicated self-referential processi... more Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have implicated self-referential processing of experience in prevalent forms of maladaptation and mental health problems. According to Buddhist and contemporary psychological contemplative approaches, one important mechanisms through which mindfulness contributes to well-being and mental health is by reducing self-referential processing of experience or cultivating its selfless processing. Critically, study of these processes has been limited by the absence of behavioral measurement methods of these phenomena. Accordingly, Hadash, Plonsker, Vago & Bernstein (2016) developed the Single Experience & Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT). The SES-IAT is a behavioral paradigm measuring self-referential and selfless processing of a specific subjective experience. This paradigm involves the experimental elicitation of a subjective experience (e.g., using videos and audio), while concurrently measuring participant’s cognitive assoc...

Examining the Decoupling Model of Equanimity in Mindfulness Training: An Intensive Experience Sampling Study

Clinical Psychological Science

Although Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have theorized that equanimity m... more Although Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have theorized that equanimity may be a critical outcome and salutary mechanism of action of mindfulness, empirical evidence is limited. Eighty-two meditation-naive adults (52% female; Mage = 25.05 years, SD = 3.26 years) from the general community participated in a 3-week, six-session mindfulness training intervention. Prior to and then over the course of the intervention, in the contexts of daily living and mindfulness meditation, we collected 52 digital experience samples (2–3/day). Mixed-linear models permitted analysis of data much like 82 single-subject multiple-baseline experimental design data sets. The practice and cultivation of mindfulness states were associated with elevations in manifestations of equanimity (i.e., elevated willingness and decreased hedonic-based avoidance), which were robust to spontaneous subjective stress as well as experimentally evoked idiographic negative self-referential thoughts. Mi...

Metacognitive Processes Model of Decentering: Emerging Methods and Insights

We previously proposed that three metacognitive processes – meta-awareness, disidentification fro... more We previously proposed that three metacognitive processes – meta-awareness, disidentification from internal experience, and reduced reactivity to thought content – together constitute decentering. We review emerging methods to study these metacognitive processes and the novel insights they provide regarding the nature and salutary function(s) of decentering. Specifically, we review novel psychometric studies of self-report scales of decentering, as well as studies using intensive experience sampling, novel behavioral assessments, and experimental micro-interventions designed to target the metacognitive processes. Findings support the theorized inter-relations of the metacognitive processes, help to elucidate the pathways through which they may contribute to mental health, and provide preliminary evidence of their salutary role as mechanisms of action in mindfulness-based interventions.

Behavioral assessment of mindfulness: Defining features, organizing framework, and emerging methods

The development and implementation of psychometrically sound behavioral measures of mindfulness a... more The development and implementation of psychometrically sound behavioral measures of mindfulness are important to advancing the science of mindfulness. To help organize, conceptualize, and guide the development of extant and emerging behavioral measures of mindfulness, we delineate the defining features of behavioral measures of mindfulness and propose a framework consisting of four domains of behavioral assessment of mindfulness. The domains include measurement of (I) objects of mindful awareness, (II) time-course of mindful awareness, (III) sensitivity of mindful awareness, and (IV) attitudes towards present moment experience. We describe the mindfulness process(es), behavioral methods, and review specific measures per domain. Four of the measures exhibit sound psychometric properties and evidence of construct validity as measures of mindfulness processes.

Measuring Decentering and Related Constructs: Capacity and Limitations of Extant Assessment Scales

Mindfulness

Measuring Self-Referential and Selfless Processing of Experience: The Single Experience and Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT)

Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have implicated self-referential processi... more Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have implicated self-referential processing of experience in prevalent forms of maladaptation and mental health problems. According to Buddhist and contemporary psychological contemplative approaches, one important mechanisms through which mindfulness contributes to well-being and mental health is by reducing self-referential processing of experience or cultivating its selfless processing. Critically, study of these processes has been limited by the absence of behavioral measurement methods of these phenomena. Accordingly, Hadash, Plonsker, Vago & Bernstein (2016) developed the Single Experience & Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT). The SES-IAT is a behavioral paradigm measuring self-referential and selfless processing of a specific subjective experience. This paradigm involves the experimental elicitation of a subjective experience (e.g., using videos and audio), while concurrently measuring participant’s cognitive assoc...

Measuring Self-Referential and Selfless Processing of Experience: The Single Experience and Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT)

Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have implicated self-referential processi... more Buddhist thought and contemporary psychological science have implicated self-referential processing of experience in prevalent forms of maladaptation and mental health problems. According to Buddhist and contemporary psychological contemplative approaches, one important mechanisms through which mindfulness contributes to well-being and mental health is by reducing self-referential processing of experience or cultivating its selfless processing. Critically, study of these processes has been limited by the absence of behavioral measurement methods of these phenomena. Accordingly, Hadash, Plonsker, Vago & Bernstein (2016) developed the Single Experience & Self-Implicit Association Test (SES-IAT). The SES-IAT is a behavioral paradigm measuring self-referential and selfless processing of a specific subjective experience. This paradigm involves the experimental elicitation of a subjective experience (e.g., using videos and audio), while concurrently measuring participant’s cognitive assoc...