Introduction: Meditation practice and psychedelic use have attracted increasing attention in the public sphere and scientific research. Both methods induce non-ordinary states of consciousness that may have significant therapeutic benefits. Thus, there is growing scientific interest in potential synergies between psychedelic use and meditation practice with some research suggesting that psychedelics may benefit meditation practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBidirectional associations between changes in symptoms and alliance are established for in-person psychotherapy. Alliance may play an important role in promoting engagement and effectiveness within unguided mobile health (mHealth) interventions. Using models disaggregating alliance and psychological distress into within- and between-person components (random intercept cross-lagged panel model), we report bidirectional associations between alliance and distress over the course of a 4-week smartphone-based meditation intervention (=302, 80.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDigital interventions have the potential to alleviate mental health disparities for marginalized and minoritized communities. The current study examined whether disparities in access and utilization of meditation in the United States (US) were reduced for a freely available meditation app. We analyzed demographic and usage data from US-based users of the Healthy Minds Program (HMP; = 66,482) between October 2019 and July 2022.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: There is limited understanding of what motivates people to initiate and sustain a meditation practice. This study investigates initial and current motivations for meditation, demographic variability in motivations, and associations with ongoing and lifetime meditation practice.
Methods: A national sample of internet users were recruited to examine initial and current motivations for meditation practice.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated preexisting mental health disparities. In India, marginalization based on caste membership, gender, and rural residence are critical determinants of inequity across the lifespan. Guided by the theoretical frameworks of minority stress and intersectionality, this study examined caste-based disparities in fear of coronavirus (FOC), mental health symptoms, and perceived loneliness amongst rural women in north India during the COVID-19 pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMaternal self-efficacy (MSE) is associated with healthy functioning in mothers and children globally. Maternal exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and intimate partner violence (IPV) is known to negatively impact MSE in high-income countries; however, the association has not been examined in low-and-middle-income countries, such as India, which face socioeconomic risks including poverty, illiteracy, and discrimination based on caste membership. The present study examines the mediating role of IPV in the association between ACEs (specifically-emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, and discrimination) and MSE and tests caste membership as a moderator.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe recent COVID-19 pandemic is having profound impacts on every sector of society, and New York City (NYC) emerged as an early epicenter of the disease. Given the novelty and scale of the disease, information surrounding COVID-19 has been marked by considerable uncertainty and confusion. Although various factors have been associated with COVID-19 distress, little is known about the relations between levels of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and anxiety symptoms and behaviors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF