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Trait Mindfulness Is Associated with Lower Post-Injury Psychological Symptoms Following a Mild Head Injury

Mindfulness volume 8, pages 1594–1602 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Up to 25% of individuals that experience a mild head injury (MHI) suffer from long-term psychological and cognitive symptoms. Currently, there is a lack of evidence regarding potential modifiable protective factors that could decrease the risk and severity of long-term MHI sequelae. Therefore, we investigated whether trait mindfulness was associated with fewer clinically relevant psychological and neurocognitive symptoms in individuals following a mild head injury. A quasi-experimental study design with university students (n = 63) was conducted to examine associations between self-reported facets of mindfulness and psychological, post-concussive, and neurocognitive symptoms in a MHI and a no-MHI cohort. In both MHI and no-MHI cohorts, greater mindfulness tendencies were associated with significantly fewer psychological and post-concussive symptoms. Further, the odds of reporting clinically relevant depression scores were significantly lower as a function of greater mindfulness skills. However, neurocognitive outcomes were not associated with any mindfulness facets. These results indicate that mindfulness traits could promote skill sets necessary to circumvent psychological and post-concussive symptoms following a MHI. Due to the increased risk of a myriad of potential adverse outcomes following MHI, more research should be directed towards interventions designed to increase mindfulness in those suffering from persistent symptoms and those at an increased risk of sustaining a MHI.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. McMaster Integrative Neuroscience Discovery and Study (MiNDS) Program, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L8, Canada

    John E. Krzeczkowski

  2. Centre for Neuroscience, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1, Canada

    John E. Krzeczkowski & Dawn E. Good

  3. Department of Psychology, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1, Canada

    Sean A. Robb & Dawn E. Good

Authors
  1. John E. Krzeczkowski
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  2. Sean A. Robb
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  3. Dawn E. Good
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Correspondence to John E. Krzeczkowski.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding

Funding for this study were provided by Brock University Faculty Funds.

Ethical Approval

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. All study procedures were approved by the Brock University Research Ethics Board (REB no. 13-310).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Krzeczkowski, J.E., Robb, S.A. & Good, D.E. Trait Mindfulness Is Associated with Lower Post-Injury Psychological Symptoms Following a Mild Head Injury. Mindfulness 8, 1594–1602 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0731-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0731-0

Keywords

  • Mild head injury
  • Concussion
  • Mindfulness
  • Five facet mindfulness questionnaire
  • Depression