Psychological and neuroscientific correlates of mindfulness in clinical and educational settings

This thesis consists of the presentation of five studies, one in each chapter. These studies deal with mindfulness, the cognitive skill that favors meta-awareness of the contents and characteristics of one’s own mind, and that has significant correlates with mental health and psychological well-being. In this thesis, mindfulness was investigated both as a psychological trait that individuals possess to varying degrees and from the perspective of training programs aimed at improving this skill. This investigation was conducted with both healthy participants in schools and outpatients. The general aim of this thesis was indeed to deepen the understanding of the correlates of mindfulness as a trait and a practice in different contexts, by combining qualitative and quantitative measurements, psychological and neurobiological perspectives. In Chapter 1, a study is described that investigates the effects of mindfulness training on the psychological and professional well-being of school teachers, and the links of these effects with the personality of the teachers. Chapter 2 describes a study with mindfulness training in the same educational setting and again in relation to personality, but where the intervention was delivered by primary school teachers to their pupils. Chapters 3 and 4 are in the context of clinical interventions with mindfulness training for cancer patients and survivors: one chapter presents a randomized controlled trial, and the other a systematic review. Finally, in Chapter 5, a study is described on the relation between an index of dynamics of brain activity and self-reports of trait mindfulness and mind-wandering.