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Being mindful about mindfulness

Long-duration missions in isolated, confined, and extreme environments, including Antarctica and upcoming deep-space operations, can be a source of increased stress. The identification of countermeasures and protective factors is required to support health and performance in similar contexts. Mindfulness disposition is an optimal candidate, but no research has ever explored this potential association.

Twenty-four crew members from two Antarctic expeditions at the Concordia base were repeatedly assessed over the course of a 12-month mission for stress (Perceived Stress Scale) and mindfulness, using multiple assessment measures, including the Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Langer Mindfulness Scale (LMS), the Breath Counting Task, and the Triangle Task.

Results indicate a strong negative association over time between mindfulness and stress, particularly when measured with the MAAS and the LMS. Higher MAAS baseline values were also good predictors of lower stress patterns during the mission.

Mindfulness disposition was negatively associated with stress over time, suggesting that it can play an important role in stress mitigation in isolated and confined environments, including long-duration space missions. Furthermore, a mindfulness assessment could be added to the crew selection procedure.

We investigated whether self-compassion and mindfulness are associated with quality of life in patients undergoing antineoplastic chemotherapy.

A cross-sectional survey of 183 patients (100% response rate) undergoing chemotherapy was conducted at a Brazilian hospital between August and December 2019. A questionnaire was administered by the research team, collecting clinical and demographic data as well as responses to the Self-compassion scale, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General instrument. Data analysis comprised descriptive and inferential statistics, with multiple regression and Spearman's rank-order correlation testing for associations between quality of life, self-compassion and mindfulness.

Mean scores for the study variables were 4.23 (SD = 0.63) for self-compassion, 69.05 (SD = 13.27) for mindfulness, and 80.25 (SD = 12.62) for quality of life. Significant positive correlations were observed between quality of life and self-compassion (r = 0.466, p < 0.001), as well as for quality of life and mindfulness (r = 0.325, p < 0.001). Higher levels of self-compassion and mindfulness were associated with better quality of life.

This research suggests merit in further studies of self-compassion and mindfulness either as predictor variables or for direct causal effect on quality of life in cancer patients undergoing antineoplastic chemotherapy. We recommend that future studies incorporate an intervention and experimental design.

As space missions move from low-earth orbit operations to long duration exploration, the mission's crews will face a different set of experiences and stressors. In order to help prevent the development of cognitive or behavioral symptoms during these missions it is important to define preventative countermeasures. Recent evidence points to mindfulness and relaxation techniques as promising countermeasures for promoting cognitive and behavioral health.

We conducted a narrative review of the scientific literature to identify key factors relevant to the role of mindfulness and relaxation techniques in the military and other analog settings, which share some important similarities with the space exploration context. Our results indicate that cognitive (non-meditative) mindfulness is an important psychological construct that can help to promote resilience and to reduce stress in analog environments and particularly in the military. While the literature suggests that mindfulness can be promoted through focused interventions, most of the studied interventions to date are based on meditation. While efficacious, meditation-based interventions generally require a significant amount of time for training. Alternative mindfulness approaches have not yet been explored in these settings but have yielded potentially relevant results for space. Relaxation training is a helpful tool to manage stress and to reduce anxiety. In the military, relaxation techniques are sometimes integrated into psychological training before deployment, leading to improved performance and reduced negative emotions.

Even with a lack of specific literature about the application of these concepts in space, literature that describes the experiences from analog environments and military contexts as well as other studies on challenging conditions, suggest further exploration of interventions in these areas.