1. Mindfulness, Self-regulatory Capacity, and Regulation of Health Behaviors
Elizabeth C. McCrary, Sierra L. Watkins, & Whitney L. Heppner, Ph.D.
Introduction
Results
Mindfulness, the trait or state of heightened awareness and attention to the present moment, has been connected to a wide variety of self-regulatory behaviors, including health behaviors. Specifically, mindfulness has been linked to smoking cessation (Heppner et al., 2014), reduced alcohol misuse (Murphy & MacKillop, 2011), and reduced substance abuse (Witkiewitz & Bowen, 2010). Additionally, mindfulness-based dialectical behavior therapy has been successful in teaching affect regulation skills to patients with binge eating disorder (Kristeller, Baer, & Quillian-Wolever, 2006). Even though research links mindfulness to increased health behaviors, specific mechanisms by which mindfulness mediates self-regulation of health behaviors have yet to be empirically clarified. Gaillot et al. (2007) found blood glucose level to be a valid index of self-regulatory capacity; glucose levels fell when participants performed self-control tasks, and depleted glucose levels additionally impaired subsequent tasks requiring self-control. Thus, the current study proposes that a short mindfulness meditation task will increase self-regulation of health behaviors, mediated by blood glucose levels. * *
Method
Participants (N = 63, 88.9% female, 87.3% Caucasian, age M = 19.6)
answered a series of questionnaires:
Demographics
State Mindfulness Scale
Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire
Action Identification Questionnaire
Figure 1. Cookies and Rice Cakes Eaten Across Conditions.
and their blood glucose level was assessed.
Healthful Decisions
A one-way ANOVA revealed a significant effect of condition on the number of cookies eaten, F (2,59) = 3.2, p < .05. Post-hoc analyses determined those in condition 2 (depletion plus no mindfulness induction) differed significantly from condition 1 (control) and condition 3 (depletion plus mindfulness meditation). Rice cake consumption was not significantly different across groups. See Figure 1 above.
Participants were given an ego depletion task:
Crossing-out letters
or a control task that was not depleting.
Trait and State Mindfulness
Participant survey data revealed participants scoring high in levels of trait
mindfulness were less likely to eat based on mood, e.g. overeating when upset, r = -.341,
p = State mindfulness was not revealed as a mediator between mindfulness and eating bahavior, b = .05, 95% CI [-.06, .30].
Participants followed a guided mindfulness meditation
Mediating Role of Blood Glucose
or listened to a control audio clip.
Changes from pre to post measures of blood glucose levels did not mediate the relationship between mindfulness and eating behavior, b = -.01, 95% CI [-.19, .05].
All participants’ b.g. levels were measured a second time.
Discussion
Our primary finding – that participant condition affected number of cookies eaten in the laboratory – is interesting for two reasons: First, it supports our prediction that inducing a mindfully meditative state helped participants make a more healthful decision by abstaining from a tempting alternative: chocolate chip cookies. Second, we saw that the participants who experienced mindfulness meditation did not significantly differ from the control group in number of cookies eaten. This means that mindfulness is so effective in helping participants self-regulate their eating that it was as if they had not undergone ego depletion.
Though we did not find that blood glucose level mediates this relationship between mindfulness and eating behavior, Gaillot et al. (2007) produced a complex model supporting it.
As they also mentioned, individual differences in how blood glucose is processed might be
present in the current study within its relatively small sample space.
Participants were offered snacks “since we asked them to fast prior to the study.”
They could choose a healthful option
or a less healthful option.
Participants completed additional questionnaires:
Brief Mood Introspection Scale
Global/Local Processing Task
Vitality Scale
Original eating behavior items
Acknowledgements: Danielle Davis, Caleb Gay, Kaitlin Pelech