The impact of a mindfulness based intervention on body awareness

Objective: Body awareness (BA; i.e., self-reported awareness of interoceptive and proprioceptive body sensations) has long been proposed as a working mechanism of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) and as a core feature of the mindfulness construct. However, the link between mindfulness and BA remains poorly understood. Preliminary research on the topic has found significant effects of an MBI on BA. However, existing studies lack methodological rigor and have not yet assessed the link between mindfulness, BA, and important psychological processes. Hence, the present study has four objectives: (1) to assess the impact of an 8-week MBI on self-report and behavioral measures of BA in an adequately powered controlled study, (2) to introduce a novel behavioral measure of BA and explore how it correlates with self-report measures, (3) to investigate the potential mediating role of BA in the relationship between an MBI and reduced symptomatology, and (4) to evaluate the impact of an MBI on important psychological measures (i.e., experiential avoidance, self-discrepancy, rumination, self-efficacy) and explore whether these variables act alongside BA in mediating the relationship between an MBI and symptomatology. Methods: A non-randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) intervention on various mental health measures was conducted. 148 French-speaking participants (n = 89 in the MBCT group and n = 59 in the control group) completed questionnaires assessing BA and the above-mentioned psychological variables before and after the intervention. Furthermore, a sub-sample of participants (n = 86) completed a behavioral task, which measured BA indirectly. Intervention effects will be assessed with multilevel models and mediation models will be calculated to investigate the mechanisms involved. Results: The hypotheses and data analysis plan for the present study have been pre-registered (see https://osf.io/uwngd/). Data is currently being analyzed and results will ...