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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Mindfulness
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1488204
Mindfulness Teacher Training Enhances Interoceptive Awareness and Reduces Emotional Distress: A Controlled Study
Provisionally accepted- 1 Istituto Mente Corpo, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
- 2 Department of languages, literatures, comunication, education and society (DILL), University of Udine, Udine, Italy
- 3 Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Friuli Centrale (ASU FC), Udine, Italy
Introduction: Several mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have shown efficacy in enhancing interoceptive awareness (IA), the ability to perceive and interpret bodily signals, leading to improved mental and physical well-being. However, no study has yet explored the effects of mindfulness practice on IA in individuals training to become MBI teachers. Thus, we investigated the impact of a Mindfulness Teacher Training (MTT) program on emotional distress and IA in individuals training to become mindfulness teachers. Methods: A group of 38 individuals undergoing MTT and a control group of 24 matched individuals were assessed before (T0) and after (T1) the 9-month MTT program. Emotional distress was assessed through the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and IA was assessed through the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA).Results: The MTT group showed significantly higher increases in the awareness of mind-body integration in comparison with the control group. Although no significant between-group changes were observed in emotional distress, increases in MAIA self-regulation scores within the MTT group were associated with decreases in HADS depression and total emotional distress scores.Discussion: This study offers further support to the positive impact of mindfulness practice on IA within an MTT program, suggesting that mindfulness training for future MBI teachers further enhances their ability to attend to and to regulate and interpret bodily signals. Future research should investigate the long-term impact of mindfulness training on IA and on mental health in comparison with active comparators.
Keywords: mindfulness teachers, mindfulness teachers training, interoception, mind-body integration, Anxiety, Depression
Received: 29 Aug 2024; Accepted: 02 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chiesa, Crescentini, D'Antoni and Matiz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Alberto Chiesa, Istituto Mente Corpo, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
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