Mindfulness, meet self-regulation: Boosting out-of-class meditation practice with brief action plans.

Abstract

Mindfulness training programs require the completion of daily out-of-class meditation practices, often referred to as "homework," and individuals who adhere to these requirements have better outcomes. Nevertheless, many people fall short of the recommended amount of meditation practice. Two field studies tested whether the formation of action plans-strategic plans for when and where to meditate-would support out-of-class meditation practice. Study 1 was a 3-month longitudinal study of adolescents who participated in a 5-day meditation retreat. Immediately before and after, and then 3 months later, adolescents answered questions about emotional wellbeing. Immediately after the retreat, adolescents also answered questions about their commitment to continue meditating, and action plans for when and where to meditate. Three months later, they reported on their meditation frequency. Study 2 was a between-subjects experiment in which adults enrolled in an 8-week mindfulness program were randomly assigned to an action plan condition or a control condition. Personal commitment to practice meditation was assessed at baseline, out-of-class meditation frequency was assessed weekly, and emotional well-being was assessed at the beginning and end of the 8-week program. In both studies, individuals who formed strategic plans for when and where to meditate meditated more frequently, but only if they also had a strong personal commitment to do so. Further, out-of-class meditation days mediated the association between action plans and emotional well-being among participants with strong personal commitment. Collectively, these results suggest that although mindfulness is about nonreactive awareness of the present, its practice is enhanced by planning ahead.

Beyond Willpower: Strategies for Reducing Failures of Self-Control

“…Participants showed a high degree of willingness to adopt either (or both) of these precommitment strategies, but the joint effect of these two precommitment interventions on savings was about the same as each intervention on its own. On the other hand, the strategy of planning prompts has been shown to enhance the benefits of mindfulness training (Galla, Baelen, Duckworth, & Baime, 2016). More research is needed to identify how and when intervention approaches complement rather than substitute for one another.…”

“I am getting something out of this, so I am going to stick with it”: supporting participants’ home practice in Mindfulness-Based Programmes

“…Action plans, specifying where and when to practice, have shown promise in increasing the frequency of participants' at-home formal practice [24]. This might also be applied to informal practices (e.g., 'I will prepare my vegetables mindfully and with awareness').…”

Applying Behavioral Theory to Increase Mindfulness Practice Among Adolescents: an Exploratory Intervention Study Using a Within-Trial RCT Design

“…Had the booster intervention tested here targeted all RAA constructs (e.g., self-efficacy), it may have led to greater changes in students' intention and ultimately mindfulness practice. The booster intervention also did not include any elements of action planning (i.e., having students plan when, where, and how they will practice the learned exercises), which has frequently been utilized in effective adolescent health behavior change interventions (Galla et al 2016;Hynynen et al 2016). Future studies should add action planning to motivational interventions to investigate whether this yields better results in increasing mindfulness practice.…”

“…There is the Liverpool Mindfulness Model, which hypothesizes that motivation, intention, positive expectations, and attitudes lead to mindfulness practice (Malinowski 2013). Other hypothesized predictors of mindfulness practice include certain open, Bmindfulĉ haracteristics and positive attitudes towards mindfulness practice (Stanley et al 2011), habits and self-control (Galla and Duckworth 2015), and action planning and commitment (Galla et al 2016). Despite some investigation into these possible predictors of mindfulness practice, the determinants of other health-supporting behaviors have been more thoroughly investigated and may help to shed light on additional predictors of mindfulness practice.…”