| The purpose of this pilot study was to test whether completion of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR; Kabat-Zinn, 1982, 1990) program would associate with increases in mindfulness, and reductions in rumination in a nondepressed sample. Mindfulness Training has been found to prevent depressive relapse in chronically depressed patients participating in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT; Ma & Teasdale, 2004; Teasdale et al., 2000). In addition, MBSR has been found to reduce rumination in patients with lifetime mood disorders (Ramel, Goldin, Carmona & McQuaid, 2004). While the small sample (N = 7) and resulting low power could not offer any conclusive answer to the question posed in the title, some interesting preliminary results were found nevertheless. Completers of the MBSR class did show increases in mindfulness, and decreases in rumination and depression, as hypothesized. In addition, higher levels of mindfulness were found to associate with greater decreases in rumination. Implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations for future research are offered. |
