For whom does mindfulness-based stress reduction work? An examination of moderating effects of personality

The aim of the present study was to examine potentially moderating effects of personality characteristics regarding changes in anxious and depressed mood associated with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), controlling forsociodemographicactors.Meditation-naïvearticipants from the general population self-presenting with psychological stress complaints (n= 167 participants, 70% women, mean age 45.8 ± 9.3 years) were assessed in a longitudinal investigation of change in mood before and after the intervention and at a 3-month follow-up. Participants initially scoring high on neurot-icism showed stronger decreases in bothanxious and depressed mood (bothp< 0.001). However, when controlled for baseline mood,only the time by neuroticism interaction effect on anxiety remained significant(p=0.001),reflecting a smaller decrease inanxiety between pre-and post-intervention but a larger decrease in anxiety between post-intervention and follow-up in those with higher baseline neuroticism scores. Most personality factors did not show moderating effects, when controlled for base-line mood. Only neuroticism showed to be associated with delayed benefit. Results are discussed in the context of findingsfrom similar research using more traditional cognitive behavioral interventions.