Research News
by B. GRACE BULLOCKSPORT PERFOR-
MANCE GETS A
BOOST FROM
MINDFULNESS
Being an elite
athlete comes
with its share of
stress. Sixty-nine
Swedish competi-
tive athletes new
to mindfulness
completed either
a Mindfulness-
Acceptance
and Commit-
ment (MAC)
intervention, or
Psychological
Skills Train-
ing (PST). Both
were designed to
increase athletic
performance.
Unlike PST, MAC
training empha-
sizes present-
moment aware-
ness, attention,
and acceptance.
Seven weeks later
MAC-trained
athletes showed
superior improve-
ments in sport-
related mindful-
ness, emotion
regulation, and
athletic perfor-
mance compared
to PST group
members. The
study’s authors
attribute these
results to MAC
group athletes’
improved ability
to focus, regulate
emotion, and
adapt to stress.MBCT: A TREAT-
MENT FOR
CHRONIC PAIN?
Chronic low-back
pain affects mil-
lions globally and
can be debilitat-
ing and hard to
treat. A study at
the University of
Queensland in
Australia found
Mindfulness-
Based Cognitive
Therapy (MBCT)
may reduce
its symptoms.
Researchers had
three groups of
23 people either
attend MBCT
classes, receivemindfulness
meditation train-
ing, or undergo
cognitive therapy
for eight weeks.
Their pain,
mood, physical
functioning, and
medication use
were evaluated
immediately
after training,
and three and six
months later.
Following
training, partici-
pants in all three
groups reported
significant
decreases in pain
interference (the
degree to which
pain interferes
with function-
ing), pain inten-
sity, and depres-
sion, and better
physical function.
Improvements
in pain interfer-
ence over time
were better in
the MBCT group
than the other
approaches.
For physical
functioning,
both the MBCT
and cognitive
therapy groups
showed moreResearch gathered from Greater Good Science Center
at UC Berkeley, Center for Healthy Minds at University of
Wisconsin–Madison, Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical
School, and American Mindfulness Research Association.12 mindful August 2019top of mind