Xinghua Liu

Effect of brief mindfulness intervention on tolerance and distress of pain induced by cold-pressor task.

A number of studies have demonstrated that short-term meditation intervention can lead to greater tolerance and lower pain or distress ratings of experimentally induced pain. However, few attempts have been made to examine the effects of short-term mindfulness-based intervention on the tolerance and distress of pain, when delivered in a therapist-free form. The present research explored the effect of brief mindfulness intervention using pre-recorded instruction on pain experimentally induced by the cold-pressor task. The effects of the mindfulness strategy, the distraction strategy and spontaneous strategy, all through the instructions of pre-recorded voices, were compared. The subjects were drawn from healthy college students and randomly assigned to the aforementioned three groups. Our results showed that compared with using spontaneous strategies, the mindfulness intervention significantly improved the participants pain tolerance and reduced their immersion distress. The distraction strategy also significantly improved the participants pain tolerance. However, it did not have a significant effect on the participants level of distress during the immersion period. Our results suggest that brief mindfulness intervention without a therapists personal involvement is capable of helping people cope with pain induced by the cold-pressor task.

Perceived impact of socially anxious behaviors on individuals' lives in Western and East Asian countries.

The current study compared the predicted social and career impact of socially withdrawn and reticent behaviors among participants from Western and East Asian countries. Three hundred sixty-one college students from 5 Western countries and 455 students from 3 East Asian countries read hypothetical vignettes describing socially withdrawn and shy behaviors versus socially outgoing and confident behaviors. Participants then answered questions following each vignette indicating the extent to which they would expect the subject of the vignette to be socially liked and to succeed in their career. Participants also completed measures of their own social anxiety and quality of life. The results indicated significant vignette-by-country interactions in that the difference in perceived social and career impact between shy and outgoing vignettes was smaller among participants from East Asian countries than from Western countries. In addition, significant negative correlations were shown between personal level of shyness and experienced quality of life for participants from both groups of countries, but the size of this relationship was greater for participants from Western than East Asian countries. The results point to the more negative impact of withdrawn and socially reticent behaviors for people from Western countries relative to those from East Asia.

Cross-cultural study of conviction subtype Taijin Kyofu: proposal and reliability of Nagoya-Osaka diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder.

Conviction subtype Taijin-Kyofu (c-TK) is a subgroup of mental disorder characterized by conviction and strong fear of offending others in social situations. Although the concept of c-TK overlaps with that of social anxiety disorder (SAD), patients with c-TK often may not be diagnosed as such within the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV criteria. We propose the Nagoya-Osaka criteria to amend this situation. This study examined the cross-cultural interrater reliability of the proposed criteria. Eighteen case vignettes of patients with a variety of complaints focused around social anxieties were collected from 6 different countries, and diagnosed by 13 independent raters from various nationalities according to the original DSM-IV and the expanded criteria. The average agreement ratio for the most frequent diagnostic category in each case was 61.5% with DSM-IV and 87.6% with the modified DSM-IV with Nagoya-Osaka criteria (p < 0.001). These findings indicate that the Nagoya-Osaka criteria for SAD can improve interrater reliability of SAD.

Can Inner Peace be Improved by Mindfulness Training: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

This article reports a randomized controlled trial to investigate whether mindfulness training can successfully improve inner peace in participants with no known mental disorder. Fifty-seven participants were randomized to either mindfulness training (nu2009=u200929) or wait-list control (nu2009=u200928). The experience sampling method was used to measure the fleeting momentary experience of inner peace in participants. In addition, we used an experimental approach to assessing ability to focus attention: the Meditation Breath Attention Score, as well as the self-report Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Compared with the wait-list control group, mindfulness training led to an increase in scores of inner peace, Meditation Breath Attention Score and FFMQ, using analysis of repeated measures analysis of variance. Change in inner peace was not, however, mediated by changes in self-rated mindfulness (FFMQ) nor by increased attentional focus. The findings provide first evidence suggesting that using mindfulness training improves the participants inner peace. The focus here was on the immediate effects and future studies need to use follow-up.

The Effects of Mindfulness Training on Emotional Health in Chinese Long-Term Male Prison Inmates

Long-term imprisonment can cause severe emotional problems, which in turn can trigger behavioral problems, self-harm, and suicide. Mindfulness-based intervention can enhance emotional health. This study investigated the effects of a 6-week mindfulness training program on the emotional health of long-term male Chinese prison inmates. Forty long-term male prisoners completed a pretest and posttest, with 19 in the mindfulness training group and 21 in the waitlist control group. The treatment group showed a significant improvement in mindfulness level, anxiety, depression, tension-anxiety, depression-dejection, anger-hostility, confusion-bewilderment, and total mood disturbance. Implications and limitations of this study were discussed. These results support the use of a mindfulness-based intervention to enhance the emotional health of long-term male prison inmates.

Self-Acceptance Mediates the Relationship between Mindfulness and Perceived Stress

Previous research has shown that the effects of mindfulness-based interventions and increased trait mindfulness are associated with reduced stress. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which mindfulness-based interventions exert their beneficial effect on decreased stress. The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of self-acceptance in the relationship between trait mindfulness and perceived stress among a sample of 132 students from Beijing, China. Results revealed that self-acceptance was found to partially mediate the relationship between mindfulness and stress. Limitations, clinical implications, and directions for future research are identified.

Does Mind Wandering Mediate the Association Between Mindfulness and Negative Mood? A Preliminary Study:

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between trait mindfulness and mood and to examine whether the relationship is mediated by mind wandering. Eighty-two individuals (M ageu2009=u200924.27 years, SDu2009=u20095.64, 18 men, 22%) completed a series of measures including the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, the Profile of Mood States Questionnaire, and Meditation Breath Attention Exercise. Results showed that the level of mindfulness was significantly correlated with positive and negative mood, and the association between mindfulness and negative mood was mediated by mind wandering. This study indicated the important role of mind wandering in the relation between mindfulness and negative mood. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.