Mindfulness practice for protecting mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract Emerging evidence shows that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is negatively affecting mental health around the globe. Interventions to alleviate the psychological impact of the pandemic are urgently needed. Whether mindfulness practice may protect against the harmful emotion...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Publishing Group
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Translational Psychiatry |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01459-8 |
| _version_ | 1818647978785636352 |
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| author | Julie Lei Zhu Rasmus Schülke Deniz Vatansever Dayou Xi Junjie Yan Hanqing Zhao Xiaohua Xie Jianfeng Feng Mark Yuting Chen Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian Shouyan Wang |
| author_facet | Julie Lei Zhu Rasmus Schülke Deniz Vatansever Dayou Xi Junjie Yan Hanqing Zhao Xiaohua Xie Jianfeng Feng Mark Yuting Chen Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian Shouyan Wang |
| author_sort | Julie Lei Zhu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Emerging evidence shows that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is negatively affecting mental health around the globe. Interventions to alleviate the psychological impact of the pandemic are urgently needed. Whether mindfulness practice may protect against the harmful emotional effects of a pandemic crisis remains hitherto unknown. We investigated the influence of mindfulness training on mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. We hypothesized that mindfulness practitioners might manifest less pandemic-related distress, depression, anxiety, and stress than non-practitioners and that more frequent practice would be associated with an improvement in mental health during the pandemic. Therefore, we assessed pandemic-related distress and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, as well as the frequency of meditation practice at the peak of new infections (Feb 4–5; N = 673) and three weeks later (Feb 29–30; N = 521) in mindfulness practitioners via online questionnaires. Self-reported symptoms were also collected from non-practitioners at peak time only (N = 1550). We found lower scores of pandemic-related distress in mindfulness practitioners compared to non-practitioners. In general, older participants showed fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. In younger practitioners, pandemic-related distress decreased from peak to follow-up. Importantly, increased mindfulness training during the preceding two weeks was associated with lower scores of depression and anxiety at both assessments. Likewise, practice frequency predicted individual improvement in scores of depression, anxiety, and stress at follow-up. Our results indicate that mindfulness meditation might be a viable low-cost intervention to mitigate the psychological impact of the COVID-19 crisis and future pandemics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T01:11:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9bde3ed385fb42a1bdf45c6608416317 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2158-3188 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T01:11:07Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Translational Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-9bde3ed385fb42a1bdf45c66084163172022-12-21T22:09:09ZengNature Publishing GroupTranslational Psychiatry2158-31882021-05-0111111110.1038/s41398-021-01459-8Mindfulness practice for protecting mental health during the COVID-19 pandemicJulie Lei Zhu0Rasmus Schülke1Deniz Vatansever2Dayou Xi3Junjie Yan4Hanqing Zhao5Xiaohua Xie6Jianfeng Feng7Mark Yuting Chen8Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian9Shouyan Wang10Fanhai International School of Finance, Fudan UniversityInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversitySchool of Economics, Fudan UniversityPure Awareness Research InstitutePure Awareness Research InstituteInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityPure Awareness Research InstituteBehavioural and Clinical Neurosciences Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of CambridgeInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan UniversityAbstract Emerging evidence shows that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is negatively affecting mental health around the globe. Interventions to alleviate the psychological impact of the pandemic are urgently needed. Whether mindfulness practice may protect against the harmful emotional effects of a pandemic crisis remains hitherto unknown. We investigated the influence of mindfulness training on mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. We hypothesized that mindfulness practitioners might manifest less pandemic-related distress, depression, anxiety, and stress than non-practitioners and that more frequent practice would be associated with an improvement in mental health during the pandemic. Therefore, we assessed pandemic-related distress and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, as well as the frequency of meditation practice at the peak of new infections (Feb 4–5; N = 673) and three weeks later (Feb 29–30; N = 521) in mindfulness practitioners via online questionnaires. Self-reported symptoms were also collected from non-practitioners at peak time only (N = 1550). We found lower scores of pandemic-related distress in mindfulness practitioners compared to non-practitioners. In general, older participants showed fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. In younger practitioners, pandemic-related distress decreased from peak to follow-up. Importantly, increased mindfulness training during the preceding two weeks was associated with lower scores of depression and anxiety at both assessments. Likewise, practice frequency predicted individual improvement in scores of depression, anxiety, and stress at follow-up. Our results indicate that mindfulness meditation might be a viable low-cost intervention to mitigate the psychological impact of the COVID-19 crisis and future pandemics.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01459-8 |
| spellingShingle | Julie Lei Zhu Rasmus Schülke Deniz Vatansever Dayou Xi Junjie Yan Hanqing Zhao Xiaohua Xie Jianfeng Feng Mark Yuting Chen Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian Shouyan Wang Mindfulness practice for protecting mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic Translational Psychiatry |
| title | Mindfulness practice for protecting mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | Mindfulness practice for protecting mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Mindfulness practice for protecting mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mindfulness practice for protecting mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | Mindfulness practice for protecting mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | mindfulness practice for protecting mental health during the covid 19 pandemic |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01459-8 |
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