Enhanced response inhibition during intensive meditation training predicts improvements in self-reported adaptive socioemotional functioning.
Baljinder K Sahdra, Katherine A Maclean, Emilio Ferrer, Phillip R Shaver, Erika L Rosenberg, Tonya L Jacobs, Anthony P Zanesco, Brandon G King, Stephen R Aichele, David A Bridwell, George R Mangun, Shiri Lavy, B Alan Wallace, Clifford D Saron
Emotion (Washington, D.C.) April 1, 2011 DOI: 10.1037/a0022764 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThree months of intensive meditation training in an isolated retreat setting improved sustained self-regulatory control, measured by a response inhibition task, and adaptive socioemotional functioning, a latent factor combining measures of attachment, mindfulness, empathy, personality traits, emotion regulation, depression, anxiety, and well-being. A wait-list control group showed no improvement until they underwent the same training. Gains in both self-regulation and adaptive functioning were sustained at a 5-month follow-up. Dynamic modeling indicated that improvements in self-regulation drove later changes in adaptive functioning, supporting the Buddhist claim that enhanced self-regulation is a precursor to emotional well-being.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Longitudinal controlled study with wait-list control Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Participants undergoing intensive meditation retreats |
| Intervention | Intensive meditation training |
| Duration | 3-month intervention, 5-month follow-up |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Self-regulation Emotional well-being |
| Citations | 203 |
| Key finding | Improvement in response inhibition during meditation training predicted longitudinal increases in adaptive socioemotional functioning. |
Abstract
We examined the impact of training-induced improvements in self-regulation, operationalized in terms of response inhibition, on longitudinal changes in self-reported adaptive socioemotional functioning. Data were collected from participants undergoing 3 months of intensive meditation training in an isolated retreat setting (Retreat 1) and a wait-list control group that later underwent identical training (Retreat 2). A 32-min response inhibition task (RIT) was designed to assess sustained self-regulatory control. Adaptive functioning (AF) was operationalized as a single latent factor underlying self-report measures of anxious and avoidant attachment, mindfulness, ego resilience, empathy, the five major personality traits (extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience), difficulties in emotion regulation, depression, anxiety, and psychological well-being. Participants in Retreat 1 improved in RIT performance and AF over time whereas the controls did not. The control participants later also improved on both dimensions during their own retreat (Retreat 2). These improved levels of RIT performance and AF were sustained in follow-up assessments conducted approximately 5 months after the training. Longitudinal dynamic models with combined data from both retreats showed that improvement in RIT performance during training influenced the change in AF over time, which is consistent with a key claim in the Buddhist literature that enhanced capacity for self-regulation is an important precursor of changes in emotional well-being.