Personalizing Practice using Preferences for Meditation Anchor Modality

Abstract

Many new people are engaging contemplative practices and Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) have become quite popular. While MBIs positively impact well-being, drop-out and lack of practice-maintenance plagues these interventions, which use the breath to anchor attention. No study had yet compared preferences for practices using anchors from different sensory modalities (e.g. auditory, visual) thus the present study examined such individual differences, sharing resources on the OSF (osf.io/hcnz2/). Participants engaged 10-min practices within three modalities (somatosensory, auditory, visual) and post-practice preferences were modelled. Preference differences did exist: 49% preferred the breath, 30% the auditory-phrase, and 21% the visual-image. Pre-practice motivation and anchor-modality were primary predictors and cardiac responses also influenced preference. Preferences were updated through experience and over half of participants left the experiment preferring a different anchor than when entering. Tangible next-steps are discussed, including integrating additional anchor modalities into existing interventions by offering brief practices with a variety of anchors. Suggestions are made for increasing post-training contact using email-automation to answer central practice-maintenance questions, including whether and which contemplative benefits are predicated on continued practice.

Towards an Individual Differences Perspective in Mindfulness Training Research: Theoretical and Empirical Considerations

“…This finding from our own work, together with previous reports of individual preferences for different meditation techniques (Burke, 2012) and mindfulness practice anchors modality (Anderson and Farb, 2018) still leave open the question of how such preferences might impact the outcomes of mindfulness training. If individual preferences do indeed have substantial contribution to differential training outcomes, then such information would be critical for effectively applying and tailoring existing mindfulness programs toward individual characteristics, as a means to enhance their overall effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in achieving desirable outcomes.…”

“…Additionally, one study (N = 247) also established the presence of individual preferences for specific meditation techniques, but not all techniques, taught within a training program, suggesting that people may not find every training technique to be helpful and may only engage in techniques they find most effective (Burke, 2012). Similarly, preferences for specific modality of mindfulness practice anchors (e.g., using breath, imagery, or auditory-phrase as a focus of attention), were found among novices (N = 117) who practice mindfulness and such preferences also underwent change over the course of mindfulness training in some individuals (Anderson and Farb, 2018). Unfortunately, most mindfulness training programs tend to present students with a multi-faceted package, encompassing a broad set of different mindfulness techniques, while overlooking the fact that individual preferences may exist with regard to the techniques that are taught; such preferences may have the potential to influence the outcomes of mindfulness training.…”

“…Although standardized programs enable a widespread implementation of intervention protocols in an easily controlled and accessible manner, customizing these multifaceted packages could potentially be illuminating at the individual level. For instance, prior work (Burke, 2012;Anderson and Farb, 2018;Tang and Braver, 2020, PsyArXiv) have already shown that individuals may not find every component of a mindfulness training program to be helpful, and that such preferences can be predicted by personality traits. Furthermore, there is also evidence from a recent survey study (N = 500) indicating individual preferences for certain delivery formats (group, internet, one-on-one) of mindfulness training (Wahbeh et al, 2014), which could potentially influence how well one practices and learns the training.…”

Personalising Practice Using Preferences for Meditation Anchor Modality

“…Dismantling studies could investigate adherence differences in MBI cohorts, comparing MBI-as-usual to an MBI supplemented with additional anchor options (e.g., phrase and image). We have shared our study materials to facilitate this future work (Anderson and Farb, 2016).…”

“…Questionnaires, stimuli, code, and practice instructions are shared on the Open Science Framework (Anderson and Farb, 2016). The raw data supporting the conclusions of this manuscript will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation, to any qualified researcher.…”