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A Pilot Study of Loving-Kindness Meditation for Social Anxiety Disorder
Sponsor: Komazawa University
Summary
The purpose of this study is to develop and test a mindfulness and loving-kindness based intervention, Positive Affect Training (PAT), to enhance positive affect such as compassion, love, and gratitude and reduce symptoms of social anxiety disorder (SAD). PAT involves a combination of practicing mindfulness meditation and loving kindness meditation in groups. Although PAT has been shown to be effective for dysthymic disorder, one area that remains unclear is whether the PAT protocol for SAD can address the social anxiety symptoms in Japanese adults with SAD. The goal of the research is to test the initial feasibility and efficacy in increasing positive affect and decreasing negative affect in individuals recruited from the general community who are social anxious. If PAT is also effective for Japanese SAD patients, it could be more cost-effective and noninvasive option to address social anxiety disorder.
Official title: Effect of Mindfulness and Loving Kindness Meditation on Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
20 Years - 70 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
80
Start Date
2016-12
Completion Date
2022-09
Last Updated
2026-08-28
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
Positive Affect Training for SAD
The PAT-S protocol will teach the participants the basics of mindfulness and how to be aware of their physical sensation, thoughts, and emotion at present moment by a nonjudgmental way in breathing, standing, or eating. After two mindfulness sessions, lovingkindness meditation (LKM) will be introduced. The participants will be taught to identify and focus the positive feelings such as gratitude, love, kindness, peacefulness, or friendliness when they wish their benefactor and beloved ones who they feel grateful or respectful, and transfer these feelings first to themselves, then to a neutral individual, to people whom they dislike, and finally to all living beings.
Locations (1)
Kwansei Gakuin University
Nishinomiya, Hyōgo, Japan