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Choose one of the evidence-based coping interventions listed in your textbook and describe how it is effective in promoting well-being (e.g., mindfulness, ACT, expressive writing, etc.). Then, find a research article that addresses the approach with a wellness outcome (e.g., reduced depression; increased physical exercise; reduced alcohol use; reduced stress). Share the main findings with the class and why you were interested in the article.

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      One of the coping interventions that Taylor (2018) focuses on for stress is mindfulness. Davidson and Kaszniack (as cited in Taylor, 2018) explain that mindfulness meditation educates individuals on how to achieve heightened awareness of the present, both accepting and being mindful of it, without distraction or stress. Schirda, Nicholas, and Prakash (as cited in Taylor, 2018) advance that mindfulness can improve quality of life, diminish anxiety, and therefore is a prudent intervention.

        A specific approach is mindfulness-based stress reduction, which is a mechanism to help people manage their reactions to stress and the negative emotions that may result. Therefore, the overarching aim is to aid clients to approach stress mindfully, rather than reacting to them automatically. An amazing result of this process is how mindfulness can mute biological responses to stress. For example, Roth and Robbins (as cited in Taylor, 2018) explored if the use of a mindfulness approach can improve health in a low-income Latino and Anglo community. The results were overwhelmingly positive with a great increase in health among the population. One reason why there is a beneficial effect is that mindfulness utilizes the pre-frontal cortical region of the brain, which regulates the limbic areas of anxiety and other negative emotions.

        An interesting article addressing this approach with a wellness outcome is by Kemper et al. (2015). Kemper et al. (2015) endeavored to describe the relationship between trainable qualities such as mindfulness and self-compassion with factors related to burnout and quality of care in professionals and trainees. The main concern is that while resiliency protects from burnout, impaired sleep may exacerbate it. It is also important to identify that sleep is not only affected by stress, physical, and mental health problems, but also by workload. Consider that policies aimed at diminishing hours in graduate education and improving sleep hygiene have not been successful. According to Kemper et al. (2015), a more comprehensive, holistic, and integrative approach is needed.

          Participants in the study (Kemper et al., 2015) were 213 clinicians and trainees. Sleep and resilience were assessed using the 8-item PROMIS Sleep scale and the 6-item Brief Resilience Scale, revised and the 12-item Self-Compassion Scale. Health was assessed with patient-reported outcomes measurement information system global health measures. Post examination of descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations, multiple regression analyses were done to assess whether mindfulness and self-compassion were associated with better sleep and resilience. Mindfulness was assessed using the 10 items Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised. Self-Compassion was assessed using Neffs 12 item self-compassion scale.

      The outcome of the study is that sleep and resilience were found to be correlated with both mindfulness and self-compassion (Kemper et al., 2015). This study was extremely interesting to me because I find that I am sleep deprived and under much stress. Recently, I have been integrating mindfulness into my daily routine and have found some great amelioration in stress. I have found that my sleep has been improving steadily.

References

Kemper, K. J., Mo, X., & Khayat, R. (2015). Are mindfulness and self-compassion associated with sleep and resilience in health professionals?. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 21(8), 496-503.

Taylor, S. (2018). Health psychology. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.