Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction training reduces loneliness and pro-inflammatory gene expression in older adults: A small randomized controlled trial

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Abstract

Lonely older adults have increased expression of pro-inflammatory genes as well as increased risk for morbidity and mortality. Previous behavioral treatments have attempted to reduce loneliness and its concomitant health risks, but have had limited success. The present study tested whether the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program (compared to a Wait-List control group) reduces loneliness and downregulates loneliness-related pro-inflammatory gene expression in older adults (N = 40). Consistent with study predictions, mixed effect linear models indicated that the MBSR program reduced loneliness, compared to small increases in loneliness in the control group (treatment condition × time interaction: F(1,35) = 7.86, p = .008). Moreover, at baseline, there was an association between reported loneliness and upregulated pro-inflammatory NF-κB-related gene expression in circulating leukocytes, and MBSR downregulated this NF-κB-associated gene expression profile at post-treatment. Finally, there was a trend for MBSR to reduce C Reactive Protein (treatment condition × time interaction: (F(1,33) = 3.39, p = .075). This work provides an initial indication that MBSR may be a novel treatment approach for reducing loneliness and related pro-inflammatory gene expression in older adults.

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Mindfulness meditation training reduces loneliness and pro-inflammatory gene expression in older adults.

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Participants

Randomized participants (N = 40) were healthy older adults (age 55–85 years; M = 65 SD = 7) recruited via newspaper advertisements from the Los Angeles area, who indicated an interest in learning mindfulness meditation techniques (a self-selected group). The sample was 64% Caucasian, 12% African American, 10% Latino, 7% Asian American, and 5% Other, and was predominantly female (33 women). The trial occurred during October 2007–January 2008. All participants provided written informed consent at the

Preliminary analyses

The MBSR and WL groups did not significantly differ on any measured demographic characteristics at baseline (see Table 1), indicating success of randomization. A CONSORT flowchart (Fig. 1) depicts the flow of participants retained at each phase of the trial. Six participants dropped out of the study prior to completing post-treatment measures, reflecting a 15% dropout rate, which is comparable to attrition rates observed in published MBSR studies (Baer, 2003). More participants dropped out of

Discussion

Using a randomized controlled trial design, the present study identifies MBSR as a novel approach for reducing loneliness in older adults. Although previous studies suggest a role for mindfulness-based treatments in reducing distress (Brown et al., 2007) and in fostering improved relational well-being (Carson et al., 2004, Brown et al., 2008), this is the first study to show that mindfulness meditation training reduces feelings of loneliness. We note that although we had no enrollment criteria

Conclusions

The present work makes two novel contributions to the literature. This study provides a promising initial indication that the 8-week MBSR program may reduce perceptions of loneliness in older adults, which is a well-known risk factor for morbidity and mortality in aging populations (Hawkley and Cacioppo, 2010). Second, consistent with previous reports (Cole et al., 2007, Cole et al., 2011), we find that loneliness is associated with up-regulated expression of pro-inflammatory genes in

Acknowledgments

This project was made possible by generous support from National Institutes of Health (R01-AG034588; R01-AG026364; R01-119159; R01-HL079955; R01-MH091352 (MRI)), the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA, the Inflammatory Biology Core Laboratory of the UCLA Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center funded by the National Institute of Aging (5P30 AG028748), the UCLA Social Genomics Core Laboratory (P30-AG107265), and the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse Opportunity Fund.

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