The mindful attention and awareness scale is associated with lower levels of high‐frequency heart rate variability in a laboratory context

Abstract

Trait mindfulness has been associated with well‐being. A key component of trait mindfulness is intentional attention and awareness which is most commonly measured by the Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS). This study investigated the relationship between the MAAS and cardiovascular (HF‐HRV, heart rate) reactivity to two laboratory stressors that evoked different patterns of change in heart rate (HR). One stressor (viewing a video of a surgery) evoked HR deceleration while the other stressor (mental arithmetic) evoked HR acceleration. Undergraduate students completed the MAAS and were then exposed to the two stressors while ECG (electrocardiography) was recorded. Findings support the reliability of the stressors to induce expected differential cardiovascular responses and explicate the role of parasympathetic activation. Further, a main effect for MAAS was observed indicating that across laboratory conditions, persons scoring higher on the MAAS had lower HF‐HRV relative to persons scoring lower on the MAAS. These findings suggest that higher levels of intentional attention and awareness in a laboratory context might promote parasympathetic withdrawal because these participants were more vigilant, experienced higher cognitive load, and detected more threat cues. Implications for the MAAS and cardiovascular responses to stress are discussed.

Implementing mindfulness meditation in hand surgery training: a feasibility study

“…People differ in how mindful they inherently are. This so-called 'trait' mindfulness is most commonly measured by the MAAS [23]. Higher trait mindfulness is associated with better psychological and physical health, resilience, optimism, fulfilment, self-esteem, autonomy, and competence [4,24].…”

“…Higher trait mindfulness is associated with better psychological and physical health, resilience, optimism, fulfilment, self-esteem, autonomy, and competence [4,24]. Lower trait mindfulness is associated with neuroticism, negative affect, anxiety, depression, self-consciousness, rumination, and experiential avoidance [4,23]. Regular meditation is associated with an improved MAAS score, particularly if it is carried over into daily life [4].…”

Effects of a mindfulness‐based intervention on mindfulness, stress, salivary alpha‐amylase and cortisol in everyday life

“…In a recent study, for example, an inverse relationship was found between mindful awareness and parasympathetic activation, which the authors believe to be linked to laboratory-related aspects such as higher vigilance, higher cognitive load, etc. (Watford et al, 2020).…”

Psychological and Cardiovascular Effects of Meditation and Yoga

“…However, compelling evidence indicates that meditative practices have the potential to facilitate handling negative thoughts and emotions, induce a state of calmness and presence, and increase the activity of the vagal nerve [38,39]. In a recent laboratory experiment conducted by Koerten and colleagues [12,40], the authors investigated the effects of mindfulness, with a focus on nonjudgment, on recovery from stress in perfectionists. In the aforementioned experiment, the authors made use of heart rate variability analysis to further understand the impact of brief mindfulness meditation on cardiovascular responses.…”