Small delayed benefit seen for loneliness, but larger improvements seen in perceived stress<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
FRIDAY, March 15, 2024 (HealthDay News) — A single-session mindfulness and compassion intervention may lead to meaningful reductions in perceived stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression, according to a study published online March 13 in\u00a0PLOS ONE<\/em>.<\/p>\n Mikael Rubin, Ph.D., from University of Texas at Austin, and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of a newly developed, manualized, mindfulness-based single-session intervention on self-reported loneliness. Analysis included 91 adults randomly assigned to a one-hour mindfulness-only telehealth intervention, a one-hour mindfulness and compassion telehealth intervention, or a one-week waitlist control (before random assignment to an active intervention).<\/p>\n The researchers found that compared to the control, the inclusion of a compassion component led to meaningful reductions in perceived stress (b = \u00e2\u0088\u00923.75), anxiety (b = \u00e2\u0088\u00923.79), and depression (b = \u00e2\u0088\u00923.01). No benefit was seen for loneliness at the one-week follow-up, but by the two-week follow-up, there was a moderate decrease in loneliness across both conditions.<\/p>\n “This was the first single session mindfulness intervention intended to specifically target symptoms of loneliness,” the authors write. “Given the degree to which the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increases in loneliness and stress, it was important to consider ways to address this concern in a relatively accessible and brief way.”<\/p>\n