What Next After MBSR/MBCT? An Open Trial of an 8-Week Follow-on Program Exploring Mindfulness of Feeling Tone (vedana).

Objectives: The effectiveness of mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) has been established in many randomized controlled trials. However, effect sizes are often modest, and there remains ample scope to improve their effectiveness. One approach to this challenge is to offer a "follow-on" course to people who have completed an MBP and are interested in further skill development. We developed and tested a new 8-week course for this purpose based on awareness of feeling tone (vedana), an understudied aspect of mindfulness in many current MBPs, incorporating new developments in neuroscience and trauma sensitivity. We examined its effectiveness and the frequency and severity of unpleasant experience and harm. Methods: In an open trial, 83 participants, 78 of whom had previously taken part in an MBP (majority MBSR or MBCT), completed the program in nine groups. Participants completed questionnaires before and after and gave qualitative written feedback at completion. Results: Participants reported significantly reduced depression (d = 0.56), stress (d = 0.36), and anxiety (d = 0.53) and increased well-being (d = 0.54) and mindfulness (d = 0.65) with 38% meeting criteria for reliable change on anxiety and depression. As expected, about three-quarters of participants reported some unpleasant experiences associated with mindfulness practice during the course, but none reported harm. Five participants showed "reliable deterioration" (an increase) in either depression or anxiety, but four of these five also gave anonymous qualitative feedback describing benefits of the course. Conclusions: Findings support the added value of a follow-on course based on the exploration of feeling tone for participants who have a range of previous mindfulness experience. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12671-022-01929-0.

Content validation of the infant malnutrition and feeding checklist for congenital heart disease: a tool to identify risk of malnutrition and feeding difficulties in infants with congenital heart disease.

Infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) have a high prevalence of feeding difficulties and malnutrition. Early intervention decreases morbidity and long-term developmental deficits. The purpose of this study was to develop and establish the content validity of a screening checklist to identify infants with CHD at risk of feeding difficulties or inadequate nutritional intake for timely referral to a feeding specialist or dietitian. The Delphi method was used, and expert participants reached consensus on 24 risk indicators. This study is the first step in establishing the validity and reliability of a screening tool for early intervention of feeding difficulties and inadequate nutritional intake in infants with CHD.

Early sexual experiences of teenage heterosexual males in Australia: a cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVE: There are limited data on the patterns of early sexual behaviours among Australian teenage heterosexual boys. This study describes the nature and onset of early sexual experiences in this population through a cross-sectional survey. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey between 2014 and 2015 SETTING: Major sexual health clinics and community sources across Australia PARTICIPANTS: Heterosexual men aged 17-19 years RESULTS: There were 191 men in the study with a median age of 19.1 years. Median age at first oral sex was 16.4 years (IQR: 15.5-17.7) and 16.9 years (IQR: 16.0-18.0) for first vaginal sex. Most men had engaged in oral sex (89.5%) and vaginal sex (91.6%) in the previous 12 months with 32.6% reporting condom use at last vaginal sex. Of the total lifetime female partners for vaginal sex reported by men as a group (n=1187): 54.3% (n=645) were the same age as the man, 28.3% (n=336) were a year or more younger and 17.4% (n=206) were a year or more older. Prior anal sex with females was reported by 22% with 47% reporting condom use at last anal sex. Median age at first anal sex was 18.2 years (IQR: 17.3-18.8). Anal sex with a female was associated with having five or more lifetime female sexual partners for oral and vaginal sex. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide insights into the trajectory of sexual behaviours experienced by teenage heterosexual boys following sexual debut, findings which can inform programme promoting sexual health among teenage boys.