Abstract
This randomized controlled trial examined the effects of mindfulness on anhedonic symptoms in a sample of adults reporting high levels of chronic stress. Meditation-naïve adults (N = 68, Mage = 32, 62% female) were randomized to either an 8-week group-based MBSR intervention (N = 35), or a waitlist control group (N = 33). We hypothesized that changes in mindfulness would mediate the relationship between condition and changes in anhedonic symptoms. Additionally, the present study aimed to determine if other theoretically linked mechanisms (i.e., stress, negative affect [NA], depression) were involved in producing changes in anhedonic symptoms. Results provided evidence for full mediation of the effect of MBSR on social anhedonia through its essential mechanism of ΔMindfulness. These results highlight specificity of anhedonic symptoms targeted by MBSR, with social anhedonia symptoms being modified by changes in mindfulness whereas other anhedonic domains were not. The specificity of effects to the social anhedonia domain may be in part due to the group-based nature of MBSR. Additionally, although associative relationships were present for stress, depression, NA, and anhedonic symptoms, no mediational relationships emerged. Results presented here should be evaluated in light of study limitations, such as the reliance on self-report measures as well as a lack of information regarding cultural or geographic diversity.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank everyone who was involved in data collection including Marlene V. Strege, Gufran Mohed, Drew Weko, Grace Hinton, Jessica Feshari, Jessica Tourville, and Emma Thornberg.
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The authors gratefully acknowledge the primary source of funding for the work outlined in this manuscript, from the Virginia Tech College of Science Dean’s Discovery fund.
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Data for this article can be accessed here: "https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://osf.io/v49w7/__;!!LQC6Cpwp!5OBuKveTDk0e7m1ZXi0G2OX6q1W8jnSJ7mWJM5E9ZpV8yMpdiCdHi5LXflj4gf--4gM$" https://osf.io/v49w7/>
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All authors were involved in the conception, drafting, and revisions of this manuscript. J. A. R., H. S. T., and C. N. C. performed the data collection for this project. Primary data analyses and interpretation of results were performed by C. N. C under the supervision of J. A. R. C. N. C. drafted the paper, and L. A., K. M. G., H. S. T., and J. A. R. provided significant feedback and revisions at all stages. All authors approved the final version of the paper for submission.
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Carlton, C.N., Antezana, L., Garcia, K.M. et al. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Specifically Improves Social Anhedonia Among Adults with Chronic Stress. Affec Sci 3, 145–159 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-021-00085-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-021-00085-3