The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training on Positive and Negative Emotions, Psychological Well-Being and Cognitive Emotion Regulation in the Elderly

Background &

The elderly are considered to be one of the most sensitive age groups in society, and examining their cognitive and emotional health deserves attention. Negative emotions in the elderly are related to higher levels of physical and psychological problems such as pain and poorer perception of well-being. Treatments have been used to improve the cognitive regulation of emotions in people with emotional problems, among which the most important is mindfulness. In fact, the use of mindfulness treatments and the subsequent improvement of emotions leads to the improvement of a person's ability to find order in emotions and improve overall performance, and allows a person to instead of trying to suppress emotions and Avoid them, accept your emotions. Studies have shown that mindfulness therapy is associated with lower scores in emotion dysregulation and emotion avoidance. According to such findings, it seems that mindfulness can be effective in the cognitive regulation of emotion in elderly people. Psychological well-being is also one of the constructs worthy of attention in the field of old age and affected by the mind-awareness that first raised it. Psychological well-being consists of self-acceptance, purpose in life, personal growth, having positive relationships with others, mastering the environment, and self-following or autonomy. Therefore, it is one of the most important factors that has led to the change of the negative nature of old age and helps us to better understand the abilities of old age. Considering that the elderly are more vulnerable to the loss of happiness and psychological well-being, it can lead to the onset of emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety caused by the usual age-related deficiencies and problems in various fields. Research showed that mindfulness directly and indirectly and through mediating variables reduces negative emotions and leads to an increase in the psychological well-being of the elderly. In fact, mindful people are more capable of recognizing, managing, and solving everyday problems. Also, some research has shown that mindfulness has a direct effect on positive psychological well-being and physical outcomes. In fact, when mindfulness increases; The ability of people to stand back and observe states such as anxiety and depression increases. Therefore, considering that on the one hand, the environment in the centers for the elderly has emotional, emotional, and social problems, and most of the elderly living in these centers are weaker than their counterparts who live with their families in terms of psychological, social, and cognitive development. They are also, considering the importance of emotions, psychological well-being, and cognitive regulation of emotions in this group of people and the need to clarify the related psychological details in addition to meeting the basic needs of this society, which leads to increasing the capabilities of these people and their more effective presence in the society. In this research, we are trying to explain and investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness on positive and negative emotions, psychological well-being, and cognitive regulation of emotion in the elderly. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness training on positive and negative emotions, psychological well-being and cognitive regulation of emotion in the elderly.

The present study was a pre-test-post-test experiment with a control group. The statistical population included all the elderly residents of the nursing home centers of Kehrizak, Alborz province in 2020, with the number of 30 people as a sample, using the available sampling method among the elderly residents of the boarding centers of the nursing home. The criteria for entering the research were selected and then randomly replaced into two experimental groups (15 people) and control (15 people). The experimental group was trained based on the protocol of 8 sessions of mindfulness (one session per week and each session lasting 90 minutes). Before the mindfulness intervention, a pre-test was taken from both groups, and a post-test was also taken after the intervention. The criteria for entering the research include: age range of 65 to 75 years, have at least one year of hospitalization history and have not been treated with mindfulness method 3 months before the implementation of the treatment process. Exclusion criteria also included: having a diagnosis of homoeopathic disorder, absence of two sessions, which was considered. The research tools included mindfulness-based cognitive therapy protocol (MBCT), emotion regulation questionnaire, positive and negative affect scale (Watson et al., 1998), Tabasi psychological well-being questionnaire (2013).The analysis of the collected data was done using the analysis of covariance test by SPSS-26 statistical software.

According to the results obtained from the multivariate analysis of variance (MANCOVA) test, it can be said that there is a significant difference between the average of both variables of positive and negative emotions between the experimental and control groups. In this way, the average of positive emotions increased and negative emotions decreased in the post-test phase of the experimental group. While there was no significant difference in the control group. This means that the interventions performed on the positive and negative emotions in the experimental group and in the post-test stage have been effective. The effect size of 0.65 and 0.59 also shows that this difference is high and significant. Also, according to the results obtained from the multivariate analysis of variance (MANCOVA) test and the F statistic and p<0.05, there is a significant difference in the two experimental and control groups. In the variable of psychological well-being, F=30.95, sig>0.05, a significant difference is observed compared to the control group. The effect size is equal to 0.41; In other words, 41% of the differences between individuals in the psychological well-being post-test scores were related to the effect of the experimental intervention (mindfulness training). In the scale of cognitive regulation of emotion, there is a significant difference in the post-test scores of the experimental and control groups according to F=28.87 and sig>0.05. The effect size was equal to 0.39; In other words, membership in the experimental group justifies about 39% of the difference in post-test scores between the experimental and control groups. The effect size shows that about 39% of the differences between the experimental and control groups in the cognitive regulation of emotion were caused by group membership and experimental intervention (mindfulness training).

In general, the results of the research showed that the method of mindfulness training has a positive and significant effect on positive and negative emotions, psychological well-being and cognitive regulation of emotions in the elderly. Therefore, it is suggested that mindfulness training programs in the field of emotions and cognitive regulation of emotions be included in the list of services provided to elderly people and residents of rehabilitation centers by relevant organizations and those responsible for mental health and rehabilitation centers.