Divergent effects of brief contemplative practices in response to an acute stressor: A randomized controlled trial of brief breath awareness, loving-kindness, gratitude or an attention control practice

Abstract

Mindfulness practices are increasingly being utilized as a method for cultivating well-being. The term mindfulness is often used as an umbrella for a variety of different practices and many mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) contain multiple styles of practice. Despite the diversity of practices within MBIs, few studies have investigated whether constituent practices produce specific effects. We randomized 156 undergraduates to one of four brief practices: breath awareness, loving-kindness, gratitude, or to an attention control condition. We assessed practice effects on affect following brief training, and effects on affect and behavior after provocation with a stressor (i.e., Cold pressor test). Results indicate that gratitude training significantly improved positive affect compared to breath awareness (d = 0.58) and loving-kindness led to significantly greater reductions in implicit negative affect compared to the control condition (d = 0.59) immediately after brief practice. In spite of gains in positive affect, the gratitude group demonstrated increased reactivity to the stressor, reporting the CPT as significantly more aversive than the control condition (d = 0.46) and showing significantly greater increases in negative affect compared to the breath awareness, loving-kindness, and control groups (ds = 0.55, 0.60, 0.65, respectively). Greater gains in implicit positive affect following gratitude training predicted decreased post-stressor likability ratings of novel neutral faces compared to breath awareness, loving-kindness, and control groups (ds = - 0.39, -0.40, -0.33, respectively) as well. Moreover, the gratitude group was significantly less likely to donate time than the loving-kindness group in an ecologically valid opportunity to provide unrewarded support. These data suggest that different styles of contemplative practice may produce different effects in the context of brief, introductory practice and these differences may be heightened by stress. Implications for the study of contemplative practices are discussed.

Conflict of interest statement

Richard J. Davidson is the founder, president, and serves on the board of directors for the non-profit organization, Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. In addition, Dr. Davidson served on the board of directors for the Mind & Life Institute from 1992-2017. No donors, either anonymous or identified, have participated in the design, conduct, or reporting of research results in this manuscript. We confirm that our Competing Interest statement does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Fig 1. Study design.

Fig 2. CONSORT diagram.

Fig 3. Training changes in positive affect.

Notes: *** = p < .001, ** = p < .01, * = p < .05, t = p < .10. Loving-kindness = LK; Breath awareness = BA; Gratitude = GT; Control = CT.

Fig 4. Training changes in negative affect.

Notes: *** = p < .001, ** = p < .01, * = p < .05, t = p < .10. Loving-kindness = LK; Breath awareness = BA; Gratitude = GT; Control = CT.

Fig 5. Cold pressor aversiveness ratings.

Notes: *** = p < .001, ** = p < .01, * = p < .05, t = p < .10; 4A. Loving-kindness = LK; Breath awareness = BA; Gratitude = GT; Control = CT.

Fig 6. Cold pressor effects on negative affect.

Notes: *** = p < .001, ** = p < .01, * = p < .05, t = p < .10; 4A. Loving-kindness = LK; Breath awareness = BA; Gratitude = GT; Control = CT.

Fig 7. Practice induced positive affect x GROUP interaction predicts stressor-related negative affect.

Notes: Explicit positive affect following practice in GT predicts stressor-induced increases in negative affect whereas in BA practice-related explicit positive affect gains are protective against stressor-induced negative affect t(68) = 3.50, p < .002, d = 0.81 CI[.33, 1.29] (corrected).

Fig 8. Positive affect training gains x GROUP predict post-CPT face likability ratings.

Notes: Implicit positive affect following practice in GT predicts stressor-induced decreases in face likability ratings whereas in LK, BA, and CT practice-related implicit positive affect gains predict higher likability ratings GT-LK t(76) = -2.68, p = .020, d = -0.40 CI[0.1, 0.70], GT-BA t(68) = -2.51, p = .020, d = -0.39 CI[-0.71, -0.07], and GT-CT t(73) = -2.12, p = .036, d = -0.33 [-0.65, -0.01] (corrected).

Fig 9. Training effects on generosity.

*** = p < .001, ** = p < .01, * = p < .05, t = p < .10; 4A. Loving-kindness = LK; Breath awareness = BA; Gratitude = GT; Control = CT.