1. The Effect Of
Mindfulness
Meditation On
The Perceived
Quality Of Romantic
Relationships
Chris Tremblay, B.A.
Elizabeth P. Ossoff, Ph.D.
Saint Anselm College, Manchester NH

2. Meditation and Mindfulness
– Definition of Mindfulness: A state of consciousness during which one
consciously attends to his or her moment-to-moment experience with an
attitude of curiosity, openness, and acceptance. (Kabat-Zinn, 1993)
– Definition of Meditation: To engage in the practice of mental silence.
(Marchand, 2012)

3. 3 Components of Mindfulness
1. Intention: “WHY”. (Symptom reduction. Self-exploration. Self-regulation)
Shapiro found those whose goals was self-regulation attained self-regulation. (Shapiro, et al. 2006)
2. Attention: Awareness of moment-to-moment experience.
NO SLEEPING!!!
3. Attitude: Curiosity, openness, acceptance. Self-compassion
Accept things as they are.

4. The Practice of Meditation
Clinically found to Alleviate Symptoms of:
– Depression (Greeson et al., 2015)
– Anxiety (Garrison et al., 2015)
– Negative Symptoms of Coronary Heart Disease (Parswani, Sharma & Lyengar,
2013)
– Improved positive mood with Women undergoing Cancer Treatment
(Tamagawa, Et al, 2015)
2Month Program
MBSR

5. Mindfulness and Personal
Relationships
– The ability to identify one’s own emotions has also been shown to increase
empathy and a greater sensitivity towards his or her partner (McCreary &
Alderson, 2013).
– Kabat-Zinn (1993) and Welwood (1996) have suggested that mindfulness
promotes attunement, connection, and closeness in relationships.
Hypothesis
Brief meditation reduces perceived stress and conflict in relationships,
and thus improves overall relationship satisfaction.

6. Method
Participants
– 40 Undergraduate Students 27 Female 13 Male.
– In a Romantic Relationship for at least 3 months
– 68% of relationships had lasted longer than a year
– 41% had dated only 1 person
– 55% saw their partner on a daily basis
– 60% meditated only once over the last year
– 1 month later- N=21 (5 males 16 Females)

7. Method
Materials
– 18min MBSR Clip “Sitting Mediation Practice” (Sounds True, 2015)
– 18min audio bird sounds taken from ListeningEarth.com, “Kooyoora Autumn
Afternoon” (2011)
– Both had background Piano Music Titled “Compassion” from Signatures on
Water by Manes De moor (2015)

8. Method
Measures
– Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003)
– Self-Monitoring Scale (Synder, 1974)
– Quality of Relationship Scale; Conflict, Support, and Depth (Pierce, Sarason &
Sarason, 1991)
– Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale, (RDAS; Busby et al., 1995)
– 32-item version Couples Satisfaction Index (CSI; Fincham & Bradbury, 1987)
– 10-item version Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamarak & Merlestein, 1983)
Procedure

9. Results
Mixed ANOVA (2X2X2)
TIME
Pretest _ Posttest____
Measure M SD M SD F(1,36) parteta2
QRIsupport 3.72 .32 3.79 .36 *4.06 .10
QRIconflict 1.68 .31 1.60 .32 *5.91 .14
MAAS 4.15 .82 4.26 .88 *5.50 .13
RDAS 52.82 6.89 54.72 6.89 *29.25 .45
CSI 142.40 18.81 145.47 17.63 ***8.60 .19
*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001
TIME by GROUP
Pretest Posttest
Condition Control Meditation Control Meditation
Measure M SE M SE M SE M SE F(1,36) parteta2
RDAS 53.58 1.65 53.02 1.72 56.58 1.60 53.94 1.67 **8.93 .19
*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001
TIME by GROUP by GENDER
Pretest Posttest
Condition Control Meditation Control Meditation__
Measure M SE M SE M SE M SE F(1,36) parteta2
QRISupport Males 3.84 .12 3.81 .13 3.86 .13 3.98 .13 *4.71 .12
QRISupport Females 3.66 .09 3.68 .09 3.80 .10 3.65 .10
*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001

10. Results
Between-Subjects Effects
GENDER Male Female__
Measure M SE M SE F(1,36) parteta2
QRIdepth 3.75 .10 3.52 .07 *4.31 .11
PSS 10.40 1.54 16.65 1.07 **11.14 .24
*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001
GROUP by GENDER
Males Females
Condition Control Meditation Control Meditation
Measure M SE M SE M SE M SE F(1,36) parteta2
QRIConflict 1.50 .11 1.87 .12 1.64 .08 1.61 .08 *4.40 .11
*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001

11. 1 Month Later
Mixed ANOVA(3X2X2)
TIME
Pretest Posttest 1month___
Measure M SE M SE M SE F(1,36) parteta2
QRIdepth 3.52 .07 3.56 .08 3.70 .07 *4.82 .22
PSS 11.50 1.70 11.00 1.51 14.28 1.03 *4.13 .20
MAAS 4.31 .21 4.41 .20 3.41 .22 ***30.31 .64
CSI 145.55 4.30 148.72 4.01 120.00 2.93 ***29.13 .63
*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001
TIME by GENDER
Pretest Posttest 1month
Condition Males Females Males Females Males Females
Measure M SE M SE M SE M SE M SE M SE F(1,36) parteta2
MAAS 4.51 .37 4.12 .20 4.66 .35 4.17 .19 3.16 .38 3.65 .21 **7.18 .30
*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001

12. 1 Month Later
Between-Subjects Effects
GROUP
Meditation Control___
Measure M SE M SE F(1,36) parteta2
QRIdepth 3.47 .10 3.71 .08 *4.12 .20
*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001
GENDER
Male Female___
Measure M SE M SE F(1,36) parteta2
RDAS 57.78 2.94 51.00 1.61 *4.13 .20
PSS 7.17 2.24 17.35 1.23 ***16.00 .48
*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001
GROUP by GENDER
Males Females
Condition Control Meditation Control Meditation
Measure M SE M SE M SE M SE F(1,36) parteta²
QRIConflict 1.22 .21 1.75 .17 1.68 .10 1.55 .10 *4.72 .22
*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001

13. What’s it all mean…
For the future
– Results indicate that satisfaction and mindfulness increased pre and post condition whereas
distress and conflict went down as expected.
– Mindfulness meditation alone significantly reduced relational distress as measured by the
RDAS.
– Males in the meditation group showed increased levels of support for their partner.
– Females also showed significantly more perceived stress and greater conflict levels than the
males in this study.
– After a month depth in the relationship went up whereas mindful awareness went down,
males losing more mindfulness than females.
– Stress went up for both genders, but more strongly for females; whereas couples perceived
satisfaction went down for both genders.
– The results demonstrate that both conditions improved relaxation, which decreased conflict
scores and improved satisfaction revealing potential benefits of even short-term meditation
programs for relationship outcomes.

14. References
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