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Administration and Assessment of Brief Mindfulness Practice in the Field: a Feasibility Study Using Ecological Momentary Assessment

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Abstract

Measuring the construct, component processes, and practice of mindfulness remains challenging. This ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study was a pilot parallel group randomized controlled trial of a brief mindfulness practice (Brief-MP) intervention on self-reported mindfulness and performance-based cognition. Adult community smokers were randomly assigned to a Brief-MP or Control (sham meditation) group. Participants carried a personal digital assistant (PDA) for 2 weeks and were instructed to initiate 20 min of meditation (or control) training on the PDA daily, and to complete an assessment of mindfulness and cognition immediately afterwards. Additionally, participants completed assessments at random times up to four times per day. Primary outcome variables were feasibility and acceptability, state and trait mindfulness, a decentered perspective to depressive stimuli, and attentional bias to smoking stimuli. Thirty-seven participants provided EMA data totaling 1874 assessments. Fifteen of 18 Brief-MP participants completed over 75 % of mindfulness trainings in the field. The majority of Brief-MP participants endorsed favorable descriptions of the intervention: “acceptable,” and “willing to recommend to a friend”. Linear Mixed Model analyses on EMA data revealed that, over time, Brief-MP (vs. Control) increased self-reported Curiosity and Decentering assessed by the Toronto Mindfulness Scale. Brief-MP did not change trait mindfulness or cognition. In sum, Brief-MP administered in the field was acceptable and increased state mindfulness.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences grant number TO72NR awarded to Aimee C. Ruscio.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Aimee C. Ruscio, Emily Brede, Jessica MacIntyre & Andrew J. Waters

  2. American University, Washington, D.C., USA

    Christine Muench

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  1. Aimee C. Ruscio
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  2. Christine Muench
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Correspondence to Andrew J. Waters.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Ruscio, A.C., Muench, C., Brede, E. et al. Administration and Assessment of Brief Mindfulness Practice in the Field: a Feasibility Study Using Ecological Momentary Assessment. Mindfulness 7, 988–999 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0538-4

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