Dialectical behavioral therapy, mindfulness, emotion regulation, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia: A preliminary investigation into the effects of mindfulness practice in a transdiagnostic clinical population

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Publication Type honors thesis
School or College College of Social & Behavioral Science
Department Psychology
Faculty Mentor Sheila Crowell
Creator Chandler, Julia
Title Dialectical behavioral therapy, mindfulness, emotion regulation, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia: A preliminary investigation into the effects of mindfulness practice in a transdiagnostic clinical population
Year graduated 2015
Date 2015-03
Description Researchers have shown that mindfulness based therapies, such as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), are effective treatments in trans-diagnostic clinical populations with emotion dysregulation. Researchers have yet to determine the effect of mindfulnessbased therapies on respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a physiological measure associated with emotion dysregulation. In this study, we examine associations between mindfulness, RSA, and emotion regulation in a group of participants currently in therapeutic treatment for psychopathology associated with emotion dysregulation. Methods: Six participants completed interview and self-report measures of psychopathology and emotion dysregulation, and physiological measures during a baseline and mindfulness task. Results: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) were correlated with deficits in emotion regulation. Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) was not. RSA was not associated with reports of psychopathology or emotion dysregulation. However, across diagnoses and emotion regulation deficits, RSA increased during a brief mindfulness task. Discussion: Even very brief mindfulness instruction appears to be effective at raising RSA across diagnoses and emotion regulation deficits. A conceptualization of mindfulness that parallels facets of emotion dysregulation would prove useful in evaluating why this treatment is efficacious across diagnoses and emotion regulation difficulties. RSA and other physiological measures of the autonomic nervous system offer an avenue for exploring such mechanisms. Further, researchers should seek to understand whether increases in RSA due to mindfulness instruction are associated with improvements in psychopathology and emotion regulation. The results presented in this paper are part of a larger study exploring associations between the autonomic nervous system, emotion dysregulation, psychopathology, and mindfulness.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Dialectical behavior therapy; Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy; Paranasal sinuses -- Diseases; Respiratory sinus arrhythmia
Language eng
Rights Management Copyright © Julia Chandler 2015
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 83,513 bytes
Identifier etd3/id/3576
Permissions Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=1251525
ARK ark:/87278/s6mp8bjb
Setname ir_htoa
ID 197128
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6mp8bjb
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