Mindfulness and Relaxation Interventions Reduce Depression, Negative Affect and Stress in Widow(er)s

Grief is a profound life stressor that impacts multiple psychological outcomes. Mind-body interventions like Mindfulness Training (MT) and Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) show promise for addressing negative psychological sequelae of grief. The present study investigated the effects of MT and PMR on secondary outcomes of grief including depressive symptoms, negative and positive affect, mindfulness, coping flexibility, stress, sleep quality, life satisfaction, and loneliness. Ninety-four widow(er)s were randomly assigned to a 6-week group MT intervention, or group PMR intervention, or a wait-list condition. Participants were older (M age = 67.5 years) White (98%) women (71%) and had been widowed for an average of 14.8 months. Secondary outcome measures of depressive symptoms (CES-D), stress (PSS), positive and negative affect (PANAS-X), mindfulness (MAAS), coping flexibility (PACT-flexibility), sleep quality (PSQI), life satisfaction (SWLS), and loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale) were each assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up. Repeated measures ANCOVAs revealed between condition differences for depressive symptoms (F = 2.91, p = 0.021), negative affect (F = 3.91, p = 0.004), and perceived stress (F = 2.96, p = 0.019). Compared to wait-list, MT and PMR showed greater reduction in depression symptoms and negative affect from baseline to post-intervention. MT also showed greater reduction in stress from baseline to 1-month-follow-up compared to wait-list. No other between condition differences were found. The results suggest that MT and PMR interventions have psychological benefits for widow(er)s, though, in the context of prior research, PMR appears to improve a wider range of important grief-relevant outcomes.