Exploring the Use of a Wrist-Worn Activity Monitor to Aid Mindfulness Practice and Improve Mood

Introduction: Mindfulness based interventions have collectively been shown to improve physical and mental health and reduce depression symptom severity (Cohen’s d ~.59 - .69). Home practice is a critical component of mindfulness based interventions that likely mediates the impact of the intervention on mental health outcomes. As the literature supporting the efficacy of time limited mindfulness based interventions continues to accumulate, it is necessary to develop methods to sustain these skills after the formal intervention has ended. In the present study we evaluate the feasibility of using a responsive, wrist worn activity monitor to support ongoing practice of mindfulness skills among individuals who previously completed an 8-week mindfulness intervention (M-Body).

Methods: Seventy-four women ages 18-65 with depressive symptoms who participated in an 8-week group mindfulness intervention within the last 18 months were invited to wear an activity monitor for 8-weeks, 39 women enrolled in the intervention and 19 women wore the watch for 50% of the days for four or more hours per day; data analysis was performed on these 19 participants. The activity monitor alerted participants with a vibration when they became “stressed,” which was calculated based on their standard deviation pulse pressure (SDPP). Participants were instructed to practice a mindfulness skill when they were notified that they were stressed. Heart rate and pulse pressure were continuously collected via the activity monitor. Mindfulness, self-reported stress, depression and trauma symptoms were collected via self-report surveys at baseline and 8-weeks. The association between physiological outcomes and self-report measures of psychological outcomes over time were assessed.

Results: SDPP over time was associated with the mindfulness construct “observe” at baseline and a change in the mindfulness construct “describe” over time. SDPP over time is associated with baseline depression and change in depression overtime. Percent time stressed over time was associated with the mindfulness constructs “non-react,” “non-judge” and “observe” at baseline and change in non-react and observe over time.

Conclusions: Preliminary data suggests that baseline mindfulness and increase in mindfulness skills overtime is associated with physiological measures of stress, i.e., standard deviation pulse pressure. Activity monitors may be a means of not only supporting ongoing practice of mindfulness skills to sustain psychological gains, but also monitoring and improving physiological indicators of stress.