Does motivation for practising mindfulness moderate the effects of mindfulness training on stressed adults?

Abstract

Background

Mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) has been associated with positive health outcomes in adults; however, there are important gaps in our knowledge of factors that influence which individuals are more likely to engage with and benefit from these interventions. Research on other types of behavioural interventions suggests that motivation changes over the course of intervention and may moderate attendance and therapeutic outcomes. This study investigated changes in motivation for practising mindfulness across an MBI and associations between baseline motivation and outcomes, to gain a preliminary understanding of the role of motivation in MBI adherence and outcomes.

Methods

In a sample of adults (N = 80) who received an MBI, we characterised change in motivation from pre- to postintervention and tested whether baseline motivation predicted change in attendance and outcomes.

Results

We found that some, but not all, dimensions of motivation for practising mindfulness increased and also were associated with attendance and pre–post change stress and emotion regulation.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that there may be potential for optimising MBI through attention to individual differences in motivation and change in motivation over time. The findings justify research with larger sample sizes, control groups and repeated measurements to test the temporal ordering of changes in these outcomes.