Mindfulness training supported by a restorative natural setting: Integrating individual and environmental approaches to the management of adaptive resources - Mindfulness-based restoration skills training (ReST) in a natural setting compared to conventional mindfulness training: Psychological functioning after a five-week course
SND-ID: 2020-17-1. Version: 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5878/p34t-9j15
Citation
Creator/Principal investigator(s)
Freddie Lymeus - Uppsala University, Department of Psychology
Terry Hartig - Uppsala University, Institute for Housing and Urban Research
Per Lindberg - Uppsala University, Department of Psychology
Research principal
Uppsala University
- Department of Psychology
Description
This project integrates restorative environments research and mindfulness research: two disparate but related approaches to managing the demands of modern living. Both offer ways to improve attention regulation by detaching from routine mental contents and engaging with present experience. However, restoration works bottom-up, from supportive environmental features, while mindfulness meditation works top-down, through effortful training. Complementarities between the two are the foundations of restoration skills training (ReST), a five-week mindfulness-based course that uses mindful sensory exploration in a natural setting to build a meditative state effortlessly. As in conventional mindfulness training (CMT), ReST involves a learning structure to teach versatile adaptive skills. Data were collected in four rounds, with successively refined versions of ReST given in a botanic garden and formally matched CMT given indoors. Data were collected to test short-term outcomes of practice sessions and long-term course outcomes.
These data form the basis of the analyses presented in (Lymeus et al. (20
These data form the basis of the analyses presented in (Lymeus et al. (2020) Mindfulness-based restoration skills training (ReST) in a natural setting compared to conventional mindfulness training: Psychological functioning after a five-week course. Frontiers in Psychology). Some of these data were reused by (Lymeus et al. (2022) Mindfulness-based restoration skills training (ReST) in a natural setting compared to conventional mindfulness training: Sustained advantages at a 6-month follow-up. Frontiers in Psychology) as background to the follow-up analyses presented there. Therefore, some variables are replicated from this entry in the related entry (https://doi.org/10.5878/prw6-k648), where they are likewise marked T1 and T2.
These data were collected in four data collection rounds. In each data collection round, data were collected before and directly after two different five-week mindfulness training courses: restoration skills training (ReST; n = 75) and conventional mindfulness training (n = 77), between which participants were randomly assigned. In the fourth round of data collection, data were also collected before and immediately after the same five-week period from a separately recruited (non-randomized) passive control group (n = 29). The participants were university students who experienced stress or concentration problems.
Data were collected with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ; Baer et al. (2006). Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment, 13(1), 27-45.), Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (Broadbent et al. (1982). The Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) and its correlates. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 21(1), 1-16.) and the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen et al. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385-396). Show less..
Data contains personal data
Yes
Sensitive personal data
Yes
Type of personal data
Pseudonymized data with information about health status on individual level.
Code key exists
Yes
Language
Unit of analysis
Population
University students with stress or concentration problems
Time Method
Sampling procedure
In each data collection round, we posted flyers in several areas of our university campus, asking for volunteers for a study about mindfulness training. We particularly stated that we sought students with self-perceived stress or concentration problems but no other major health issues and with little or no meditation experience. Volunteers were called to a screening interview that included the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview (Lecrubier et al., 1997). Criteria for exclusion were based on Dobkin et al. (2012): We excluded those who indicated a history of neuropsychiatric disorder, psychoses, hypomanic or manic episodes or recurring depression, moderate to severe post-traumatic stress symptoms, serious self-harm, or suicide attempts; and those with any current moderate to severe psychiatric disorders, suicidal ideation, or ongoing psychological or psychiatric treatment.
For the passive control condition in data collection round 4, we approached students in the campus environment asking for volunteers for a study. To be eligible, they had to certify that they had no major health issu
For the passive control condition in data collection round 4, we approached students in the campus environment asking for volunteers for a study. To be eligible, they had to certify that they had no major health issues and little or no meditation experience.
Within each data collection round, eligible mindfulness training volunteers who provided informed consent to participate were stratified by gender and randomly assigned to either ReST or CMT. Altogether, 159 participants were assigned. Of them, 152 provided usable pre-course data. Additionally, 29 control group participants who provided informed consent were included in Round 4.
In Round 1, the course participants could be accommodated in one ReST and one CMT course group. In the later rounds, which recruited larger numbers, participants were accommodated in multiple course groups of ≤12 participants. These met on different weekdays. Participants self-selected a course group that fit their schedule and could not switch groups during the course. Participation in the courses was free of charge. Participants could drop out at any time without facing any further requests or consequences. They were, however, promised three cinema tickets if they completed the course and all measurements in connection with the course. The control group participants were also promised three cinema tickets for completing all measurements.
The mindfulness training participants who completed the courses in data collection rounds 2-4 were contacted again six months after the course and asked to complete follow-up assessments. Show less..
Time period(s) investigated
2013-01 – 2017-12
Variables
30
Number of individuals/objects
181
Response rate/participation rate
74%
Altogether, 159 participants were assigned to either of the mindfulness-based courses. Of them, 152 provided usable pre-course data. Of the 113 participants who completed the courses, 105 (93%;ReST n = 56, CMT n = 49) also completed the assessments directly after the course. Additionally, 29 control group participants were included in Round 4, all of whom completed the assessments before and after the course.
Data format / data structure
Geographic spread
Geographic location: Sweden
Geographic description: Botanical Gardens of Uppsala, Uppsala Linnaean Gardens
Responsible department/unit
Department of Psychology
Ethics Review
Uppsala - Ref. 2013/033
Research area
Psychology (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)
Psychology (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Lymeus, F., Ahrling, M., Apelman, J., Florin, C. de M., Nilsson, C., Vincenti, J., Zetterberg, A., Lindberg, P., & Hartig, T. (2020). Mindfulness-based restoration skills training (ReST) in a natural setting compared to conventional mindfulness training: Psychological functioning after a five-week course. Frontiers in Psychology.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01560
Lymeus, F., White, M.P., Lindberg, P., Hartig, T. (2022). Mindfulness-based restoration skills training (ReST) in a natural setting compared to conventional mindfulness training: Sustained advantages at a 6-month follow-up. Frontiers in Psychology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.763650
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