Mindful nonreactivity moderates the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder and depression.

PTSD and depression represent major individual and societal burdens. Depression is commonly comorbid with PTSD among veterans, although buffers of this relationship are unclear. We evaluated whether facets of mindfulness moderated the relationship between PTSD and depression in veterans with PTSD (N = 70). Three facets - nonjudging, acting with awareness, and nonreactivity - were assessed as moderators. Results indicated nonreactivity significantly attenuated the relationship between PTSD and depression (p=.013), such that veterans with high nonreactivity (+1 SD) showed a nonsignificant relationship between PTSD and depression, whereas veterans with average (Mean; p<.001) and low (-1 SD; p<.001) nonreactivity exhibited a significant relationship.

The Relationships Between Reduced Alcohol Use and Decreased Burnout Following Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training in Law Enforcement Officers.

Objective: This study is a secondary analysis of data collected in an earlier clinical trial of mindfulness-based resilience training (MBRT) (ClinicalTrials.gov registration number 02521454), where the MBRT condition demonstrated a significant reduction in self-reported burnout and trend-level reductions in alcohol use in law enforcement officers (LEOs). Given that MBRT is not designed to be a substance use intervention and does not contain explicit substance-related content, this study sought to clarify these findings by exploring whether improved burnout mediates reduced alcohol use. Method: Participants (n = 61) were sworn LEOs (89% male, 85% White, 8% Hispanic/Latinx) recruited from departments in a large urban metro area of the northwestern United States, and were randomized to either MBRT (n = 31) or no intervention control group (n = 30) during the trial. Results: MBRT group assignment predicted reduced burnout (b = 0.43, standard error [SE] = 0.14, p = 0.004), which subsequently predicted reduced alcohol use (b = 1.69, SE = 0.81, p = 0.045). Results suggest that reduced alcohol use was indirectly related to a reduction in burnout post-MBRT. Conclusion: Given that MBRT does not explicitly address substance use, these findings were interpreted to suggest that officers in the training acquired a new set of coping skills to deal with the operational and organizational stressors of police work.

Mindful Nonreactivity Moderates the Relationship between Chronic Stress and Pain Interference in Law Enforcement Officers.

INTRODUCTION: With high levels of both chronic stress and chronic pain, law enforcement provides a unique population in which to study the potential mitigating impact of cognitive and affective reactivity on the stress-pain link. The primary aim of the present study was to examine the moderating role of mindful nonreactivity in the relationship between chronic stress and pain interference in law enforcement officers (n = 60). METHODS: A regression analysis was conducted to determine if chronic stress predicted pain interference, and subsequently, to compute an estimate of the interaction effect of the chronic stress and mindful nonreactivity on pain interference. RESULTS: Results demonstrated the overall model was significant, F (3,55) = 5.29, p =.003, R2 = .47. When controlling for mindful nonreactivity, chronic stress significantly predicted pain interference, b = .76, t (55) = 3.40, p = .001, such that every one unit increase in chronic stress was associated with a .76 unit increase in pain interference. Results also demonstrated a significant interaction effect of mindful nonreactivity and chronic stress on pain interference, b = -.04, t (55) = -2.86, p = .006. The Johnson-Neyman technique was conducted and revealed among individuals with low levels of mindful nonreactivity, chronic stress significantly predicted pain interference. However, for individuals with greater levels of mindful nonreactivity, chronic stress no longer predicted pain interference. CONCLUSIONS: Findings contribute to a growing understanding of how mindfulness can mitigate harmful effects of stress.