TY - JOUR
T1 - Frequency of Self-reported Unpleasant Events and Harm in a Mindfulness-Based Program in Two General Population Samples
AU - The MYRIAD team
AU - Baer, Ruth
AU - Crane, Catherine
AU - Montero-Marin, Jesus
AU - Phillips, Alice
AU - Taylor, Laura
AU - Tickell, Alice
AU - Kuyken, Willem
AU - Allwood, Matthew
AU - Auckland, Louise
AU - Brett, Daniel
AU - Casey, Triona
AU - De Wilde, Katherine
AU - Farley, Eleanor Rose
AU - Fletcher, Katie
AU - Kappleman, Nils
AU - Laws, Suzannah
AU - Lord, Liz
AU - Medlicott, Emma
AU - Palmer, Lucy
AU - Petit, Ariane
AU - Pryor-Nitsch, Isobel
AU - Radley, Lucy
AU - Raja, Anam
AU - Shackleford, Jeremy
AU - Sonley, Anna
AU - Warriner, Lucy
AU - Williams, Mark
AU - Bennett, Marc
AU - Dalgleish, Tim
AU - Dunning, Darren
AU - Griffiths, Kirsty
AU - Ford, Tamsin
AU - Knight, Rachel
AU - Vainre, Maris
AU - Ahmed, Saz
AU - Blakemore, Sarah Jayne
AU - Foulkes, Lucy
AU - Griffin, Cait
AU - Leung, Jovita
AU - Nuthall, Elizabeth
AU - Sakhardande, Ashok
AU - Ukoumunne, Obioha C.
AU - Ball, Susan
AU - Byford, Sarah
AU - Ganguli, Poushali
AU - Greenberg, Mark
AU - Viner, Russell
AU - Parker, Jenna
AU - Pi-Sunyer, Bianca Piera
AU - Wilde, Stephanie
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by the Wellcome Trust Grant WT104908/Z/14/Z and supported by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - Objectives: Evidence-based mindfulness programs have well-established benefits, but the potential for harmful effects is understudied. We explored the frequency and severity of unpleasant experiences and harm in two nonclinical samples participating in an adaptation of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for the general population. Methods: Study 1 included 84 schoolteachers; study 2 included 74 university students. Both studies were uncontrolled. Participants completed self-report questionnaires about psychological symptoms before and after the 8-week mindfulness course. After the course, they responded to a survey designed for this study that included Likert ratings and free-text questions about unpleasant experiences and harm. All data were collected online. Results: In both samples, about two-thirds of participants reported unpleasant experiences associated with mindfulness practice during the course. Most participants (85–92%) rated these experiences as not at all or somewhat upsetting; some indicated that difficult experiences led to important learning or were beneficial in some way. The proportion of participants reporting harm from the mindfulness course ranged from 3 to 7%. The proportion showing reliable deterioration on symptom questionnaires ranged from 2 to 7%. Those reporting harm and those showing reliable deterioration on questionnaires were largely separate subgroups; only one participant fell in both. Conclusions: Findings highlight the need for mindfulness teachers to manage expectations about benefits and difficulties that may occur in mindfulness-based programs and to work skilfully with participants experiencing difficulties. Experiences of harm may not be captured by symptom questionnaires and should be explicitly assessed in other ways.
AB - Objectives: Evidence-based mindfulness programs have well-established benefits, but the potential for harmful effects is understudied. We explored the frequency and severity of unpleasant experiences and harm in two nonclinical samples participating in an adaptation of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for the general population. Methods: Study 1 included 84 schoolteachers; study 2 included 74 university students. Both studies were uncontrolled. Participants completed self-report questionnaires about psychological symptoms before and after the 8-week mindfulness course. After the course, they responded to a survey designed for this study that included Likert ratings and free-text questions about unpleasant experiences and harm. All data were collected online. Results: In both samples, about two-thirds of participants reported unpleasant experiences associated with mindfulness practice during the course. Most participants (85–92%) rated these experiences as not at all or somewhat upsetting; some indicated that difficult experiences led to important learning or were beneficial in some way. The proportion of participants reporting harm from the mindfulness course ranged from 3 to 7%. The proportion showing reliable deterioration on symptom questionnaires ranged from 2 to 7%. Those reporting harm and those showing reliable deterioration on questionnaires were largely separate subgroups; only one participant fell in both. Conclusions: Findings highlight the need for mindfulness teachers to manage expectations about benefits and difficulties that may occur in mindfulness-based programs and to work skilfully with participants experiencing difficulties. Experiences of harm may not be captured by symptom questionnaires and should be explicitly assessed in other ways.
KW - Adverse effects
KW - Mindfulness-based program
KW - Secondary teachers
KW - Side effects
KW - University students
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U2 - 10.1007/s12671-020-01547-8
DO - 10.1007/s12671-020-01547-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 33747251
AN - SCOPUS:85097045116
SN - 1868-8527
VL - 12
SP - 763
EP - 774
JO - Mindfulness
JF - Mindfulness
IS - 3
ER -