Research Publications

Evidence suggests that mindfulness influences posttraumatic reactions; however, it may also be that experiencing a potentially traumatic event impacts mindfulness. Trauma exposure is believed to disrupt an individual’s assumptive world and alter attentional, cognitive, and affective qualities that have also been linked to mindfulness. Thus, posttraumatic reconstruction of an assumptive world may influence mindfulness.

Poor adherence to AET for early-stage breast cancer is associated with increased recurrence and mortality. Interventions to improve adherence have been minimally effective. Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose in the present moment with an attitude of openness and acceptance. In this cross-sectional study, we examined clinicopathologic, and psychosocial factors, including dispositional mindfulness, associated with increased concerns about medication.

Classical conditioning is a quintessential learning process; however, maladaptive forms of conditioning sustain many unhealthy behaviors (e.g., addiction). Mindfulness training is theorized to de-automatize conditioned behavior by decoupling stimulus and response.

The study used a mixed cross-sectional and longitudinal design to test whether a behavioral choice task, previously validated in stimulant users, was associated with increased opioid misuse severity at baseline, and whether it predicted change in opioid misuse severity at follow-up.

Preclinical studies have shown effects of chronic exposure to addictive drugs on glutamatergic‐mediated neuroplasticity in frontostriatal circuitry. These initial findings have been paralleled by human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research demonstrating weaker frontostriatal resting‐state functional connectivity (rsFC) among individuals with psychostimulant use disorders. We hypothesized that prescription opioid users with chronic pain, as compared with healthy control subjects, would evidence weaker frontostriatal rsFC coupled with less frontostriatal gray matter volume (GMV).