Abstract
Objectives
Mindfulness stress buffering theory (Creswell & Lindsay, 2014) posits that higher dispositional (trait) mindfulness can protect cardiovascular health by buffering physiological stress reactivity — a risk marker for hypertension and cardiac events. Yet, empirical evidence is mixed. This study used baseline data from the Serenity Study — a recently completed, two-site randomized clinical trial — to assess the link between trait mindfulness and cardiovascular stress reactivity in adults with unmedicated prehypertension (n = 153, Mage = 50, 47% male, 69% White, 28% African-American).
Methods
Latent growth curve modeling was used to determine whether specific facets of trait mindfulness, measured by the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and the Decentering subscale of the Experiences Questionnaire, predict blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) responses to a brief laboratory stressor (5-min anger recall task). BP and HR taken 1-min apart were used in latent growth curve models. We hypothesized after controlling for known covariates of cardiovascular health, higher trait mindfulness would predict lower cardiovascular reactivity to, and faster recovery from, acute emotional stress.
Results
Contrary to predictions, no mindfulness facets predicted cardiovascular reactivity or recovery.
Conclusions
These findings indicate that trait mindfulness facets may not independently affect BP and HR responses to acute emotional stress among prehypertensive but otherwise healthy adults with normal stress levels, prior to mindfulness training. Mindfulness-based interventions may therefore be necessary to engender benefits of mindfulness on stress physiology, as a putative biological mechanism of cardiovascular risk reduction and health promotion.
Trial registration number and date of registration: NCT02371317, 1/21/2015
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Data Availability
Please contact the corresponding author, Jeffrey Greeson, Ph.D. for inquiries regarding the datasets related to this article.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge Vanessa Anyanso, Jonathan Reda, Mary Keenan, Devin Barney, Megan Strowger, Rosa Heryak, and Monica Fallon for their assistance with data collection. We acknowledge Kora Clauser for her editorial assistance. We thank Drs. Dustin Fife, Georita Frierson, and Steven Brunwasser for advising on data analysis and interpretation of results.
Funding
This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01 HL119977) and by an associated Diversity Supplement Award (R01 HL119977-04S1). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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GC: Collaborated with the conceptualization of the current data analyses, completed the current data analyses, and wrote the manuscript. JG: Collaborated with the design and execution of the study, and collaborated with the conceptualization of the current data analyses and writing the manuscript. JH: Collaborated with the design and execution of the study, critically reviewed the manuscript for intellectual content. DF: Collaborated with the design and execution of the study, critically reviewed the manuscript for intellectual content.
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The study was approved by the institutional review boards of Kent State University and the University of Pennsylvania. The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Chin, G.R., Greeson, J.M., Hughes, J.W. et al. Does Dispositional Mindfulness Predict Cardiovascular Reactivity to Emotional Stress in Prehypertension? Latent Growth Curve Analyses from the Serenity Study. Mindfulness 12, 2624–2634 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01745-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01745-y