Research Publications

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.

This study demonstrates that female patients with opioid-treated chronic pain who have extensive ACE histories suffer from emotion dysregulation and cue-elicited craving.

In 2006, Eric Garland began to contemplate developing a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) for the treatment of addiction. At the time, there were no empirically supported mindfulness-based treatments for addiction, and few studies of mindfulness for addictive behavior had been published.

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.

Opioid-treated chronic pain patients may be at risk for prescription opioid misuse due to heightened opioid craving coupled with deficits in attention to naturally rewarding, positive stimuli. Conversely, dispositional mindfulness, which is associated with reduced craving and increased responsiveness to...