Introduction
Trauma and anxiety symptoms in young adults are highly researched topics in the field of mental health. A wide variety of potential treatments exist, including programs focused on medication, exercise, group conversations, and more. Mindfulness and meditation are among these interventions, as they have been shown to reduce stress and improve one’s mental wellbeing (Schuurmans et al., 2020; Shors et al., 2018). The present review of literature examines four articles discussing different approaches to using mindfulness for treating anxiety, trauma, and stress.
Article 1
The first article under examination looks at an online mindfulness program to reduce stress, anxiety, depression symptoms in adults. In the article, Querstret et al. (2018) present and evaluate an existing course that teaches individuals tools of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). The intervention can be finished at any pace, although the researchers set the length of completion to four weeks and recruit 60 adult participants (Querstret et al., 2018). The program focuses on such aspects of mindfulness as non-judging, describing, acting with awareness, and non-reacting (Querstret et al., 2018). Querstret et al. (2018) use three measurements at three points of time to appraise the shot- and long-term consequences of the intervention. As a result, the authors perceive a significant decrease in stress levels, anxiety, and depression that persists six months after the program’s completion.
An overview of the article shows that the evaluated online mindfulness program is effective for individuals with anxiety. The program’s focus on instruments that are given to individuals in order to cope with stress and anxiety-related symptoms after they finish the course is especially helpful. The results demonstrate that learning exercises and techniques allow people to apply them in the long term (Querstret et al., 2018). However, this program has several drawbacks, which makes it not fully compatible with the chosen setting. First, it is provided to clients online, although its tools can be used in real-life meetings as well. Second, it does not account for the trauma-related source of anxiety. The proposed course is not trauma-specific, which could lower its effectiveness in a setting where trauma-caused symptoms are prevalent in clients.
Article 2
In the second paper, the researchers evaluate the effectiveness of three game-based meditation programs for stress reduction in youth with trauma. Schuurmans et al. (2020) use three mindfulness applications (Muse, DayDream, and Wild Divine) and develop an intervention with 15-minute sessions. During a session, participants play one of the games, and after each one, they also complete an assessment. Schuurmans et al. (2020) also evaluate stress regulation and symptoms one month after the end of the program. As a result, Schuurmans et al. (2020) report a significant increase in participants’ ability to regulate stress in all three groups. Furthermore, Muse shows the best performance with individuals playing this game effectively and consistently reducing stress and anxiety-related symptoms. It is concluded that game-based meditation techniques are promising in helping adolescents regulate their negative emotions.
Overall, the article demonstrates the positive effect of mindfulness on adolescents’ mental wellbeing. The study compares three games that use different meditation-adjacent techniques. For example, Muse consists of several relaxation tutorials, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy exercises, and meditation sessions (Schuurmans et al., 2020). Therefore, the reported effectiveness of this application further supports the use of meditation and education in dealing with anxiety and stress. In contrast to the previously reviewed study, Schuurmans et al. (2020) chose participants with a history of trauma, further supporting the use of meditation in the selected setting. However, the article fails to provide the long-term effects of using mindfulness games and does not address how these tools can be taught during real-life therapy sessions.
Article 3
The authors of the third study focus on the trauma of sexual violence and compare three different interventions: meditation, aerobic exercise, and their combination. Shors et al. (2018) argue that mental and physical (MAP) programs are more effective in reducing trauma-related symptoms than sessions that only use one approach. The intervention consists of 20 minutes of sitting and 10 minutes of walking meditation, 30 minutes of physical activity, or an hour session starting with meditation and ending with exercise (Shors et al., 2018). The authors conclude that the combination of mental and physical activity is the most effective in reducing ruminative thoughts and post-traumatic conditions in participants (Shors et al., 2018). It is also found that meditation and physical activity are less effective on their own.
The results of this article are interesting for the setting because they demonstrate the potential weaknesses of mindfulness-based interventions for participants dealing with certain types of traumas. Shors et al. (2018) find that meditation alone effectively reduces trauma-related cognitions, but not for a subgroup with sexual trauma experience. Thus, it is vital to cater mindfulness sessions to patients according to their particular experiences, as some individuals may not respond to meditation and education due to their source of anxiety. Nevertheless, the study supports the role of meditation in reducing negative emotions and overcoming stressful events.
Article 4
Finally, the fourth study’s authors investigate the trauma-specific outcomes for brief mindfulness interventions. Zhu et al. (2019) look at a program that includes 5-minute sitting mindfulness meditation and its effects on people with trauma and stress-related symptoms. The participants complete self-assessment questionnaires and provide subjective responses about the program’s effectiveness. Moreover, their attention to the meditation intervention is scored using Meditation Breath Attention Scores (MBAS) (Zhu et al., 2019). As a result, the authors determine that the majority of participants were focused during the meditation and the level of focus correlates with the individuals’ positive emotional responses to the intervention (Zhu et al., 2019). Nevertheless, some adverse reactions to meditation are also linked to substantial stressor exposure. Thus, mindful meditation can increase one’s discomfort if trauma or stressors are recent or significant.
Conclusion
The articles discussed above share some of the conclusions related to the outcome of mindfulness interventions. Overall, meditation appears to have a positive effect on the management of emotions and anxiety or trauma-related symptoms in adolescents and adults. The papers review several varieties of meditation, including sitting and active types, mindfulness, and cognitive-based therapy techniques. The programs also range in length from five to 30 minutes per session. Nevertheless, they all have a positive impact on participants’ mental wellbeing. Thus, they support the program proposed for the chosen setting and provide some basic ideas for further adjusting the intervention to suit individuals with trauma.
Future research is necessary to review real-life interventions for persons with anxiety and trauma-based symptoms. While some articles mention the role and positive impact of education in mindfulness, they study primarily online-based courses or computer programs. Therefore, it is necessary to continue examining how learning meditation and mindfulness techniques during real-life therapy sessions can benefit clients. Moreover, only one of the four chosen studies considers the effects of meditation six months after the intervention’s completion. Further research into the long-term outcomes of teaching mindfulness is vital to supporting the need to implement such programs.
References
Querstret, D., Cropley, M., & Fife-Schaw, C. (2018). The effects of an online mindfulness intervention on perceived stress, depression and anxiety in a non-clinical sample: a randomised waitlist control trial. Mindfulness, 9(6), 1825-1836. Web.
Schuurmans, A. A., Nijhof, K. S., Scholte, R., Popma, A., & Otten, R. (2020). A novel approach to improve stress regulation among traumatized youth in residential care: Feasibility study testing three game‐based meditation interventions. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 14(4), 476-485. Web.
Shors, T. J., Chang, H. Y., & Millon, E. M. (2018). MAP Training My Brain™: Meditation plus aerobic exercise lessens trauma of sexual violence more than either activity alone. Frontiers in neuroscience, 12, 211. Web.
Zhu, J., Wekerle, C., Lanius, R., & Frewen, P. (2019). Trauma-and stressor-related history and symptoms predict distress experienced during a brief mindfulness meditation sitting: Moving toward trauma-informed care in mindfulness-based therapy. Mindfulness, 10(10), 1985-1996. Web.