Daily Interaction Between Meditation and Endometriosis Pain and the Mindfulness Effect on Pain Interference in Activities Throughout a Brief Mindfulness-Based Intervention

Previous studies have examined simplified unidirectional associations between mindfulness, pain, and its functional interference, overlooking individual variations and complex interactions. The present study aimed to address this limitation by investigating the reciprocal lagged effects of mindfulness meditation and endometriosis-related pain while evaluating the impact of a brief mindfulness-based intervention (bMBI) on pain interference with activities (PI).

Minutes of meditation practice were positively associated with pain intensity during the initial period. Increased meditation practice above the average in the middle intervention days led women to perceive more pain, which produced a reduction in meditation practice. This pattern was reversed in the last intervention period, where the increase in the average meditation practice reduced pain. Also, the increase in pain motivated an increase in meditation in one cross-lag. However, the bMBI was unable to improve PI.

Women suffering from endometriosis-related pain show a bMBI trajectory involving predominant increased pain perception and associated meditation and activities avoidance in the early learning stage. Mindfulness skills became more effective in dealing with endometriosis pain and related meditation avoidance from the fourth week. The absence of improvement in PI indicates the necessity of alternative strategies to achieve this outcome.

Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials U1111-1233–4802.