Research Publications

Reduced parasympathetic regulation during inhibitory control challenge may indicate heightened opioid misuse risk among opioid-treated chronic pain patients.

A single session of a simple, scripted mindfulness-based intervention delivered before surgery decreased knee and hip replacement patients' preoperative pain, anxiety, and medication desire as well as accelerated their postoperative recovery of physical function.

Opioid misuse among people with chronic pain is associated with emotion dysregulation that occurs within the first few seconds of an emotional provocation. Treatments for opioid misuse should aim to remediate these deficits in emotion regulation.

Prescription opioid misuse among chronic pain patients is undergirded by self-regulatory deficits, affective distress, and opioid-cue reactivity. Dispositional mindfulness has been associated with enhanced self-regulation, lower distress, and adaptive autonomic responses following drug-cue exposure. We hypothesized that dispositional mindfulness might serve as a protective factor among opioid-treated chronic pain patients.

Reducing neuroticism in young adults is likely to reduce future psychopathology and improve quality of life. One method of reducing neuroticism may be mindfulness training.