Efficacy of a brief online mindfulness and self-compassion intervention (Mind-OP+) to increase connectedness: Randomized controlled trial
Connectedness is defined as a connection with others that promotes well-being. Although studies examining connectedness are few to date, the extant literature on closely related concepts suggests connectedness is associated with reduced symptoms of psychological and physical disorders and higher overall well-being. Cultivating feelings of connectedness also appears to encourage prosocial behaviour, such as volunteering or donating to charity. Mindfulness and compassion interventions (MBIs) may be adapted to cultivate feelings of connectedness, thereby unlocking a protective mechanism in mental health and beyond. Further, brief self-guided MBIs are particularly promising, given demonstrations of their efficacy combined with their potential for wide scalability and dissemination. Accordingly, this author examined the effectiveness of an augmented, self-guided, brief, online mindfulness and self-compassion-based intervention (Mind-OP+) to facilitate perceptions of connectedness in undergraduate students. Total of 117 undergraduate students were randomized into a waitlist (n = 55) or Mind-OP+ (n = 62) condition. Participants in the Mind-OP+ condition completed five modules at a pace of one module per week. Correlation analyses with participants that passed baseline attention-checks (n = 101 ) revealed that social connectedness at baseline was correlated positively with mindfulness and self-compassion, and correlated negatively with fears of compassion, depression, anxiety, and stress. Relatedness at baseline was correlated positively with mindfulness and negatively with fears of compassion and depression, stress, and anxiety. Intent-to-treat mixed-model analyses on all randomized participants indicated that, compared to participants in the waitlist condition, participants in Mind-OP+ reported increased feelings of social connectedness (d = 0.81) and relatedness (d = 0.64) at post-treatment, and increased feelings of social connectedness (d = 0.80) and relatedness (d = .38) at one-month follow-up. Mediation analyses completed with protocol adherent participants at post-treatment (n = 47) demonstrated no statistically significant mediation of self-compassion or mindfulness scores on the relationship between group membership and connectedness nor relatedness scores at post-treatment. These findings provide support for the use of brief, accessible, self-guided interventions to cultivate connectedness. Larger, more definitive trials should compare the effects of Mind-OP+ for connectedness against an active control, and examine whether the effects on connectedness are independent of effects of reducing psychological disorder symptoms. This intervention holds promise as an option for those seeking protective factors for their mental health and general resiliency.
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Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina