Pay attention to
the implication of these new research results: People who pay more attention to
their feelings and experiences tend to have better cardiovascular health.
As noted more
precisely in a new study in the International
Journal of Behavioral Medicine, researchers at Brown University
found a significant association between self-reported “dispositional
mindfulness” and better scores on four of seven cardiovascular health
indicators, as well as a composite overall health score. Dispositional
mindfulness is defined as someone’s awareness and attention to what they are
thinking and feeling in the moment.
The study is the
first to quantify such an association between mindfulness and better
cardiovascular health, said study lead author Eric Loucks, assistant professor
of epidemiology in the School of Public Health. It’s an encouraging link for
health promotion, because mindfulness can be enhanced with training.
“Mindfulness is
changeable, and standardized mindfulness interventions are available,” Loucks
said. “Mostly they’ve been looked at for mental health and pain management, but
increasingly they are being looked at for cardiovascular risk factors such as
obesity, smoking, and blood pressure.”
The connection
may come about because people who are attuned to their present feelings may be
better at minding and managing the various cravings — for salty or sugary foods
or cigarettes or even a spell on the couch — that undermine health, Loucks
said. Mindfulness interventions, for example, have already shown efficacy in
helping people to quit smoking.
Measuring mindfulness and health
In the study,
Loucks and his colleagues asked 382 participants in the broader New England Family Study to answer the 15
questions of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS).
MAAS questions,
rated on a six-point scale from “almost always” to “almost never” include “I
find it difficult to stay focused on what’s happening in the present” and “I
tend not to notice feelings of physical tension or discomfort until they really
grab my attention.”
The participants
also underwent tests to determine ratings on seven indicators of cardiovascular
health, as suggested by the American Heart Association: smoking avoidance,
physical activity, body mass index, fruit and vegetable consumption,
cholesterol, blood pressure, and fasting blood glucose. The researchers also
noted the participants’ age, race, sex, education and scores on standardized
scales of depression, and sense of control in their lives.
In their analysis
of the data, Loucks and his team examined the association between the degree of
self-reported mindfulness and the scores on each of the seven cardiovascular
health indicators, accounting for age, sex, and race. They also calculated a
composite score of the health indicators.
Participants
with high MAAS scores had an 83 percent greater prevalence of good
cardiovascular health (as measured by the composite score) compared to those
with relatively low MAAS scores. High vs. low MAAS scores were associated with
significantly higher cardiovascular health on four of the seven individual
indicators: BMI, physical activity, fasting glucose, and avoiding smoking.
That higher
mindfulness did not also associate with higher scores for blood pressure or
cholesterol may be because neither of those health indicators directly affect
how someone feels in a typical moment, whereas smoking, obesity (and closely
related fasting glucose), and physical activity are all much more explicitly
evident experiences for the self.
Meanwhile, fruit
and vegetable consumption, an indicator of diet quality, showed a positive
association with higher MAAS scores, but with too wide a range of uncertainty
to be considered statistically significant.
Loucks said the
next step in his research is to begin testing whether improving mindfulness can
increase cardiovascular health indicators. He said he hopes to launch
randomized controlled trials with long-term follow-up (because behavioral
interventions often look good in the short term but then don’t last).
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